Adobe Illustrator is the foundation for creating artwork from scratch. Developed for Apple Macintosh in 1985 (Wikipedia 2005), the budding software with its simple, easy-to-use interface gained popularity by the 1990s and began to branch out to other platforms. The early versions of Illustrator were impressive, but not jaw-dropping. It was not until Adobe Illustrator 7.0 was released that it began to garner attention. Adobe Illustrator 2.0 for Microsoft Windows was introduced in 1989 (Wikipedia 2005). Since then, it has become a vital part of the world of graphic design. This latest version further proves this point; Adobe Illustrator CS2 is packed with extras and little features to make creating artwork simpler. Two of the most impressive enhancements in Adobe Illustrator CS2 without a doubt are Live Trace and Live Paint.
Live Trace is a tool that is replacing Adobe Streamline and Auto Trace (present in former versions of Illustrator), both of which are considered elementary when compared to Live Trace. This feature converts scanned images and bitmaps into scalable vector documents that accurately preserve the look and feel of the original. Everything from sketches to faint lines are converted into vector paths and clearly defined onscreen. Small images can be enlarged without losing clarity.
Live Paint is a revolutionary new facet that solves the nagging problem of coloring objects with broken outlines. Normally, if an object has a break in its outline, any attempt to color that object would result in the color spilling out. Gap Options corrects this nuisance by automatically filling in broken lines, or coloring over an object while glossing over the tiny breaks. Live Paint also takes away the hassle of maintaining and coloring multiple layers. It fuses all the layers into one usable interface with multiple regions that can be colored separately.
Illustrator CS2, while having many advancements, also has slight setbacks. For instance, Live Paint is not compatible with all Illustrator effects. Converting an image modified with certain elements, such a specific brush stroke, for example, into Live Paint, might not be seamless. According to McCracken (2005), the result was that the brush stroke changed into a plain line. However, the advantages are clear: Illustrator CS2 is more powerful when used in tandem with Photoshop CS2 and InDesign CS2, and as the three possess consistent palettes, controls and color settings, efficiency is greatly increased.
