I like to think that my reviews give readers a taste of a program. When I first started reviewing graphic software, the Internet was slow and just starting to blossom. Now while I explore and use programs prior to reviewing, I also like to suggest that people look at the features from the manufacturer's web site. In this case, the Adobe web site which is at: http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/main.html# and I also suggest that readers look at information from the User To User forums under Support on the Adobe web site. Not all companies provide this service. I would like to add just a word of caution to those individuals who have not accessed this type of feature previously. Just because someone might have a problem with a particular feature of a program, does not necessarily mean that the program is defective. Problems need to repeat themselves in a pattern.

Adobe's release of Illustrator 9 has been met with many accolades. Adobe has given to the program new features that have been wanted by many professionals, especially those preparing graphics for the web. The non-upgrade price for Illustrator 9 is about $395.

While Illustrator has gotten more powerful, its system requirements have also increased. On the windows side, the requirements are: Pentium or faster processor, Windows 98, NT 4 or 2000, 64 MB of RAM, 105 MB of available hard disk space, a CD-ROM drive, and a video card that supports 800x600 or greater. In addition, if a postscript level printer is used, it must support PS level 2 or greater.

Some of the new and exciting features that are inspiring artists are: unlimited vector transparency, SVG and Flash export capabilities, the ability to use graphic styles, a pixel preview mode for bitmap images, and nested layers with thumbnails.

The native format of Illustrator 9 has also changed. It is such that Acrobat 4 or higher can read a straight Illustrator (AI) file. I tried this bringing in an Illustrator file from 8 as well as from 9. The Illustrator (AI) file from Illustrator 8 did not open while the Illustrator (AI) file from 9 opened perfectly. No longer do Illustrator files have to be converted to the pdf format.

The new unlimited vector transparency functions and the exporting of SVG and Flash files are two features that really add punch to this edition of Illustrator. The transparency function is not limited to just GIF file formats, but it can be applied to many file formats including raster images to produce faded colors, ghosted images, etc.

Features that are common to Adobe Photoshop are now, also, common to Illustrator 9 such as creating opacity and layer masks and using editable feathering. Features such as this are bridging the gap between a bitmap editing program and a vector drawing program. This trend has been happening for the past few years and is very apparent in this version of Illustrator.

Since I rarely bring bitmap layers into Illustrator from Photoshop and then convert that file into a GIF file, I decided to try out this new feature. I first separated a flower from the background layer in Photoshop. I then made the selection into a working path which I saved and then turned the working path into a clipping path. I did not worry for this trial about how well the path followed the outline of the selection. I saved the file as an EPS and opened it in Illustrator 9. At this point I could modify it as I pleased and save it as an AI file if I liked. Once satisfied with it, I performed a save for the web. Save for the web is a new option of Illustrator 9. I had created in these few steps a GIF with a perfectly transparent background.

Another new addition to Illustrator 9 is an Effects menu as well as a Filters menu. While both appear to contain some similarities, they are in fact different. The effects menu allows for live editing. The changes are nondestructive which means that the original object can be edited as if no effect or effects had been added to it at all. Also effects can be removed without the original object being changed or damaged at all. The appearance menu lists the changes to the object when effects are accessed. Each effect can also be modified by clicking on it where it appears in the appearance menu.

Many other changes - both small and large - have been made in Illustrator 9. For a detailed description of all of them go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/keyfeature1.html

The following show some of the new features from their respective menus:

Selected Menus
Filter Menu	Effect Menu	View Menu	Window Menu