Editing Macromedia (section)

===Acquisition of FreeHand===
In January 1995, Macromedia acquired [[Altsys]] Corporation, developer of the vector-drawing program [[Macromedia FreeHand|FreeHand]] and font editor [[Fontographer]]. Adobe Systems had acquired [[Aldus Corporation]], which held the marketing rights to FreeHand.<ref name="ref12">{{cite book |last=Vadlamudi |first=Pardhu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejgEAAAAMBAJ&q=altsys+Macromedia+acquisition.&pg=PA24 |title=Macromedia's purchase of Altsys raises questions |date=November 7, 1994 |publisher=InfoWorld. |access-date=February 11, 2011}}</ref> Because of the program's similarities with [[Adobe Illustrator]], Altsys protested the sale and the [[Federal Trade Commission]] issued a complaint in October 1994, ordering the divestiture of FreeHand back to Altsys.<ref name="ref22">{{cite web |title=Federal Trade Commission Decisions, Complaint 118 F. |url=http://www.freefreehand.org/images/FTC.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524203011/http://www.freefreehand.org/images/FTC.pdf |archive-date=May 24, 2010 |access-date=February 11, 2011}}</ref> The company then sold itself to Macromedia.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=1995-01-25 |title=COMPANY NEWS; MACROMEDIA COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ALTSYS |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/25/business/company-news-macromedia-completes-acquisition-of-altsys.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 

With Macromedia's acquisition of Altsys, it received FreeHand thus expanding its product line of multimedia graphics software to include illustration and design graphics software. FreeHand's [[vector graphics]] rendering engine and other software components within the program would prove useful to Macromedia in the development of [[Adobe Fireworks|Fireworks]].  

Despite early success, Macromedia's stock ultimately plateaued at $63.75 per share in December 1995. By 1997, shares fell as low as $7.13 per share. [[Rob Burgess]] was brought on as president in 1996. He laid off 10% of the company's staff, discontinued many products, and put a larger focus on web development.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Evangelista |first=Benny |date=December 14, 1998 |title=`Cold Wind From the North' Invigorates Macromedia |url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/cold-wind-from-the-north-invigorates-macromedia-2972818.php |access-date=January 5, 2025 |website=SFGATE}}</ref>