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Need Help Mac/Apple Freehand 7 to Illustrator

Kemik

I sell stickers and sticker accessories.
I have a lot of old Mac files from a design firm we used for 20+ years, occasionally we need to access old artwork to produce new printing plates.
They used Mac's and I believe the older files were designed in Freehand 7. Does any one know how to convert the files to a Windows editable format? Ai, EPS, PS, PDF, SVG, etc.. I heard you could do this with CS5, but I have Illustrator CC.
 

Chuck Olson

New Member
You can open EPSs made by Freehand in Illustrator. You will run into font issues and color issues.
I do not know if there is an import filter that will import FH7 native files into illustrator.
 

Kemik

I sell stickers and sticker accessories.
You can open EPSs made by Freehand in Illustrator. You will run into font issues and color issues.
I do not know if there is an import filter that will import FH7 native files into illustrator.
Thanks for the info, but I don't have access to Freehand, the company we used to work with went out of business, and they gave us a back up of all our art files, but a lot of the older files are saved in Freehand which we can not open. For the odd file here and there I have recreated the artwork, but if I can just convert everything it would be a great time saver!
 

garyroy

New Member
2 quick ideas.
Go to Wikipedia and read the article on Macromedia Freehand.
Then go to EBay, search for Macromedia Freehand, and you might come up with a set of discs that you can buy and install, pretty cheap.
Also most of the time, higher versions are able to open files from previous versions. You just might not be able to save it as a 7 if you opened it in 9.
That's what I would try.
 

karst41

New Member
I have a lot of old Mac files from a design firm we used for 20+ years, occasionally we need to access old artwork to produce new printing plates.
They used Mac's and I believe the older files were designed in Freehand 7. Does any one know how to convert the files to a Windows editable format? Ai, EPS, PS, PDF, SVG, etc.. I heard you could do this with CS5, but I have Illustrator CC.
Rule 1

EPS 3 Always Archive each and every File as EPS 3.
 

Bobby H

Arial Sucks.
Kemik said:
I have a lot of old Mac files from a design firm we used for 20+ years, occasionally we need to access old artwork to produce new printing plates.
They used Mac's and I believe the older files were designed in Freehand 7. Does any one know how to convert the files to a Windows editable format?

I'm not sure what the solution would be on the Mac side. If you could come across some old Mac-based installer discs you'll likely have to install FH in an old version of OSX running on a vintage Mac that still works. On the Windows side Freehand 7 probably wouldn't run on anything later than Windows XP. Freehand MX might run on Win7, but not anything later. An old PC or a virtual machine running an old version of Windows would be necessary.

Adobe Illustrator used to have a Freehand FH import filter. CorelDRAW has a Freehand import filter, but I don't know if it would recognize Mac-based FH files. Even if it could "see" those files there no guarantee it will import the files accurately. CorelDRAW has enough problems just trying to import Adobe Illustrator artwork, much less any vintage Freehand files.

karst41 said:
EPS 3 Always Archive each and every File as EPS 3.

Saving everything down to EPS version 3 format isn't a practical solution. Many features and effects baked into modern vector-based artwork will "break" when saved down to a format that old and primitive. For instance objects with gradient fills will see those gradients rendered as lots of solid color object slices. On top of that, the EPS format in general does not support true transparency.

The PDF format is a safer hedge, but even it is not a perfect solution either.
 

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
I would actually go with EPS v.8 if that were an option now. I know it's not, but for feature reference that's what I would do. No matter the format, there is always an issue with it from an archival standpoint. Even if you used the native format of the program itself. Features are deprecated or removed (or the program ceases to exist for a variety of reasons), fonts especially are always going to be something that are going to have to go through a destructive process when thinking about archiving for years/decades.

There shouldn't be a difference importing a Mac or Windows base file since Freehand had been in development for both platforms for a long time (since what version 3? and as long as there was feature parity between the two platforms with the native program), it does depend on how good that import driver is just in general though. I would say though, Ai's would be the best as Adobe is the one that had Freehand in the end, so their ability would have been the best (at least in theory), so Corel (or any other program) would not have the best support (Inkscape never had it, and I recall the forums had people that wanted it, but it never happened and some were complaining about the Adobe importing as well). The only thing that would have gone in the other programs favor is that it was killed off, so there wouldn't have been any changes to the format. The only question is, was it worth it for them to keep development for it, probably not. I think Corel's supported importing 7 or 8 in the end, and Freehand, pre Adobe, had what 11 versions in total? So the question is, did they actually improve the import for 7 and/or 8 to the best that they could be or not, I doubt it, but it's possible.

Your best bet is going to be legacy. If wanting to do the Mac route, have to get an older box that runs Mac. Running it via emulation (this is different from a virtual machine (and the difference is key in a situation like this)) would be against the EULA and typically there are caveats with emulators about stability etc due to the EULA. So if you are wanting a smooth experience and you are able to get install discs, best bet is to run an old Mac box and do it that way. On the Windows side, would have the additional option of a VM (I would not go the emulation route for sure in this case and wouldn't need to at that, compared to really old Mac systems at least not yet), but would have to buy an installer for the older Windows OS as well, that may be harder compared to just finding an older Windows box (if you do find this and/or go this route, I would create ISOs of both discs to store digitally (along with any keys), this would make archiving the software far easier compared to dealing with optical media. Just in case a future need arises later on.
 

Kemik

I sell stickers and sticker accessories.
I would actually go with EPS v.8 if that were an option now. I know it's not, but for feature reference that's what I would do. No matter the format, there is always an issue with it from an archival standpoint. Even if you used the native format of the program itself. Features are deprecated or removed (or the program ceases to exist for a variety of reasons), fonts especially are always going to be something that are going to have to go through a destructive process when thinking about archiving for years/decades.

There shouldn't be a difference importing a Mac or Windows base file since Freehand had been in development for both platforms for a long time (since what version 3? and as long as there was feature parity between the two platforms with the native program), it does depend on how good that import driver is just in general though. I would say though, Ai's would be the best as Adobe is the one that had Freehand in the end, so their ability would have been the best (at least in theory), so Corel (or any other program) would not have the best support (Inkscape never had it, and I recall the forums had people that wanted it, but it never happened and some were complaining about the Adobe importing as well). The only thing that would have gone in the other programs favor is that it was killed off, so there wouldn't have been any changes to the format. The only question is, was it worth it for them to keep development for it, probably not. I think Corel's supported importing 7 or 8 in the end, and Freehand, pre Adobe, had what 11 versions in total? So the question is, did they actually improve the import for 7 and/or 8 to the best that they could be or not, I doubt it, but it's possible.

Your best bet is going to be legacy. If wanting to do the Mac route, have to get an older box that runs Mac. Running it via emulation (this is different from a virtual machine (and the difference is key in a situation like this)) would be against the EULA and typically there are caveats with emulators about stability etc due to the EULA. So if you are wanting a smooth experience and you are able to get install discs, best bet is to run an old Mac box and do it that way. On the Windows side, would have the additional option of a VM (I would not go the emulation route for sure in this case and wouldn't need to at that, compared to really old Mac systems at least not yet), but would have to buy an installer for the older Windows OS as well, that may be harder compared to just finding an older Windows box (if you do find this and/or go this route, I would create ISOs of both discs to store digitally (along with any keys), this would make archiving the software far easier compared to dealing with optical media. Just in case a future need arises later on.
I have access to an Windows XP machine, so if I can get a copy of Freehand 7 or above, it should be able to open the Mac files and convert to something Ai can open?
Or am I better off getting a copy of Illustrator CS5?
 

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
I have access to an Windows XP machine, so if I can get a copy of Freehand 7 or above, it should be able to open the Mac files and convert to something Ai can open?
Or am I better off getting a copy of Illustrator CS5?
As long as there was feature parity between the Mac and Windows versions, shouldn't have an issue with opening Freehand files that were created on one platform on another. Just like people that receive Ai files that were created on a Mac shouldn't have a problem opening them on their Windows box (unless they are going really back in time with the really old versions). Fonts may be the concern in how they are handled in the file and if the XP machine has access to those same fonts.

I cannot swear to it, but I had read that Adobe's importing of FH files was still spotty, so there is a chance that even with Adobe could have import issues. Again, that's only from what I had read, so take that for what it's worth.
 
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