Adobe Announces Illustrator 8.0

Industry-Standard Illustration Software Redefines Computer Drawing

SAN JOSE, Calif., Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced Adobe(R) Illustrator^R 8.0, a powerful, innovative upgrade that spans the creative needs of professional designers and business users. This exciting upgrade redefines computer drawing by offering groundbreaking creativity tools which produce effects never before seen in a computer drawing application. Illustrator 8.0 software successfully combines the control and precision of computer drawing with results closer to those achieved using more traditional methods. Version 8.0 also boasts improved productivity and ease-of-use. Illustrator 8.0, together with Adobe Photoshop(R), Adobe PageMaker(R), Adobe ImageReady(TM), and Adobe Premiere(R) software, forms an exceptional, tightly integrated suite of graphics tools for print, Web and video production. Illustrator 8.0 will be shown in the Adobe booth at the Seybold San Francisco show September 1-3 and is expected to begin shipping in September 1998.

Superior Integration with Adobe Products and Other Software Tools
More than 80% of Illustrator customers rely on at least one other Adobe tool, such as Photoshop or PageMaker. To help users learn faster and work more efficiently, Adobe has designed its professional graphics products to work smoothly together by offering common tools, menus, palettes, and keyboard shortcuts. Illustrator 8.0 reinforces this integration by incorporating "Adobe Original" features -- such as the Actions Palette, the Navigator Palette, Free Transform, and the Links Palette -- which are available only in other Adobe applications. For example, Illustrator 8.0 software can now preserve layers when exporting to Photoshop allowing users to enhance and manipulate these layers in Photoshop, ImageReady, or Adobe After Effects(R). "All of the gorgeous bells and whistles of Illustrator aside, Illustrator remains faithful to one basic premise: it's a production tool that integrates seamlessly with my other core Adobe applications," says Eve Elberg, a graphic designer & multimedia instructor in New York City. "Without this, there would be no way I could accomplish what I do."

Productivity Enhancements for Faster, High-Quality Results
Everyone -- from graphics professionals to Web designers to corporate users -- can appreciate being able to complete projects more quickly. Illustrator 8.0 delivers an arsenal of new productivity features that help users meet deadlines without compromising high-quality results. In addition to implementing more than 100 productivity enhancements in response to customer requests, Illustrator 8.0 has several major new features like the Actions palette, the Text Eyedropper tool, and Smart Guides that offer tremendous productivity gains that can save literally hundreds of hours for users. At MAGELLAN Geographix in Santa Barbara, cartographers rely on Adobe Illustrator because they can be asked to deliver the world in a week. An official state map of California recently took a half dozen designers 800 hours. "Without the new features and enhancements in Illustrator 8.0, creating a map of California could easily have taken us an additional 300 hours," says Rick Woods, vice president of business development. "Illustrator 8.0 is the ideal software for us; it makes us more productive and lets us deliver a map to any of our clients under the tightest deadlines, no matter what platform they work on or what software they use."

Creativity Tools that Help Express Ideas in Ways Never Before Possible
The boldest innovations in Adobe Illustrator 8.0 software are powerful new creativity tools not available in other illustration programs. Four new types of live brushes -- Art, Scatter, Calligraphic, and Pattern brushes -- stretch and scatter art and calligraphic strokes along easily editable paths with precision and control. Users can begin working immediately with approximately 800 professionally designed brushes that will ship with the product, or they can easily create their own. The Gradient Mesh tool is another unique feature that lets users blend multiple colors in multiple directions and achieve painterly shading effects not previously possible using illustration software. "The Gradient Mesh tool opens up a whole new world of possibilities for creating backgrounds and effects," says Steve Larracey, senior art director at Ropkey Graphics in Indianapolis. "This new feature and many others give us ways to express our ideas we've never had before in an illustration program. Tools like Gradient Mesh and Live Brushes are invaluable as our creative division grows. We want to help our clients stand out in the crowd. Illustrator 8.0 just made that a lot easier."

Accessible Tools for a More Intuitive Creative Process
Illustrator 8.0 software provides innovative new tools that make the application easier to use for professional designers and business users alike. The unique Pencil tool lets users draw paths onscreen as simply as with pencil on paper. Curves are smoother than previously possible, and editing paths is as effortless as drawing a line. Bounding Box editing and new Smooth and Erase tools also help users easily edit their work. "With Illustrator 8.0, a novice can pick up the new Pencil tool or one of the new brushes and dive right in," says Lyn Bishop, creative director for Zama Online Design in Sunnyvale, California. "The types of powerful, intuitive tools offered in Illustrator 8.0 make it much easier for both new and longtime users to quickly take advantage of innovative new features and still achieve the same professional-quality results."

Pricing and Availability
Illustrator 8.0 software is expected to ship in North America in September for an estimated street price of $375 (U.S.). Registered users of any version of Adobe Illustrator can upgrade for $129 (U.S.). Additionally, in the U.S. and Canada, all registered users of Photoshop and PageMaker and users of other illustration software programs such as CorelDRAW, Macromedia Freehand, can purchase Illustrator 8.0 for only $199 (U.S.) with proof of purchase. Customers in the U.S. and Canada who purchased Illustrator 7.0 after July 23rd, are eligible to receive a free upgrade to Illustrator 8.0 with proof of purchase. For information, customers can call Adobe at 800-649-3875. French and German versions of Adobe Illustrator 8.0 are expected to ship within 15 days of the initial release. A Japanese version is in development and is expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 1998. Availability, pricing, upgrade, and support policies for localized language versions will be announced separately. For a complete listing of Adobe international distributors, please see http://www.adobe.com/international/intlsales.html on the World Wide Web. Based in San Jose, California, Adobe Systems Incorporated develops and supports products to help people express and use information in more imaginative and meaningful ways across print and electronic media. NOTE: Adobe, the Adobe logo, After Effects, Illustrator, ImageReady, PageMaker, and Photoshop are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Adobe Systems Incorporated
Web Site: http://www.adobe.com
CONTACT: Jill Nakashima of Adobe Systems Incorporated, 408-536-4288, or jnakashi@adobe.com