Macromedia Contribute (March 2003, page 57) caused considerable excitement with its ability to keep site content up-to-date, under control and within budget.

What makes PDF (Portable Document Format) unique is that it can provide an exact electronic replica of any document from any application on all major platforms, including all text, graphics and fonts. It’s an amazingly flexible format with a myriad of uses ranging from electronic manuals and e-books, through secure document exchange and archiving, to multimedia presentation and high-end commercial print.

An improved working environment and ground-breaking colour handling make Illustrator fresher than ever.

Photoshop moves beyond photo editing to conquer completely new territory.

Non-destructive image processing and creative filters feature in this comprehensive upgrade to the market leader.

New effects enable richer design results, while a host of other improvements boost productivity.

Powerful new versions of InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator, and now Acrobat 8 Professional too.

Microsoft finally recognises that web authoring needs a standards-compliant tool, albeit on its own terms.

Best-of-breed photo management, editing and sharing with great usability and value.

Existing export capabilities and new support for dynamic components make this a must for professional users

Piranesi gets the major overhaul of interface and tools that its extraordinary creative power deserves

Piranesi gets the major overhaul of interface and tools that its extraordinary creative power deserves

Improved interface, object and layer handling, plus integrated 3D painting add greatly to power, usability and value

New multiple page support and improved text handling, but the program’s main strength remains its underlying speed.

New realism for bristled brushes and automatic painting that approaches manual quality give Painter X an edge.

A simplified interface, strong photo-to-art Focus and the low price make painter essentials a great buy.

Efficient photo management and sharing, but let down by some surprisingly underpowered editing.

Four powerful and long-serving Photoshop plug-ins at a cut-down price.

FreeHand has had a long, distinguished career since its launch 15 years ago, but time has caught up with it. While Macromedia concentrated development on its Web-oriented MX applications, FreeHand was put on the back burner and fell seriously behind its main rivals CorelDRAW (see issue 60, p54) and Adobe Illustrator (see issue 51, p88). So, is this latest release evidence of further decline, or has FreeHand finally risen to the challenge?

Photoshop Album