Need some plugin help

[bruce1951]

I have installed the new version of Topaz Studio. (Studio is a platform for all of Topaz plugins plus new plugin replacements).

So I open Photoline. Open a file and then invoke an old Topaz plugin such as Impressions 2. All works fine.

Now along comes Topaz with Studio. I install it.
The I open Photoline. Open an image. Invoke Studio. Use one of their features, (NOT Impressions because it has its own bug). Do some editing then save back to Photoline. Now if I try to open Studio again nothing happens. Zilch.
So my question is - Can someone tell me if its a Topaz bug or is there some reason why Photoline wont open Studio for a second time? If I can confirm that Photoline isn't the problem then I can point a very nasty finger at Topaz.

Studio looks like a common sense approach to editing. But not while it don't work.

edit - fwiw. when I try to invoke Studio the second time my cursor, 'moving hand' sometimes changes to a cross hair.

bruce

[bruce1951]

FWIW the very same thing is happening when I use PaintShopPeox8.

bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

I have just called Topaz Studio (as a plugin, not as an external editor) three successive times with the same photo without a problem. However, in between calls I did the following:

1) flattened my current layer stack,
2) duplicated my layer,
3) unlocked my bottom layer,
4) called Topaz Studio.

as I normally do. None of these gave me any issue. I will try it without my normal processing steps and see what happens.

UPDATE:

Three successive calls doing nothing in between calls. That is, I loaded a raw image, flattened the image, but did not duplicate it. I then called Topaz Studio, adjusted the image, saved it, called it again, adjusted again, saved it again and so on, through three iterations.

Again, no problem. I am using PhotoLine version 20.51 and Topaz Studio version 1.5.3.

Will next try the app instead of the plugin.

UPDATE 2:

Again, 3 calls with no problems. This time using the Topaz Studio app instead of the plugin. All calls worked, all saves worked and the proper images were saved back each time.

[bruce1951]

Thanks.
Studio, 1.5.3., will open about 50% of the time for me. From both Pl, 20.50. and PSPx8.
However opening Studio/Studio and then opening Impressions, NOT Impressions 2, within Studio causes havoc. My Task Manager show around 6gig every time I use Studio / Impressions.
I start with 140meg tiff in PL. Duplicate it. Then send the top layer to Studio. I thought it may have been an issue with the 140tiff layer. However I find even 200k jpegs do the same thing. I'm using an i5, 8gig ram and Win 8.1.
Poking around on the internet I find numerous others with the same problem. I have a ticket in with Topaz so I will see what happens.

But as it is Studio is not viable. I will stick to my old Topaz plugins.

bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

So perhaps it is not Photo Studio, but Impressions that is causing this issue for you.

I do not use Impressions as that is not what I use Photo Studio for. In my testing I did what I usually do - call Photo Studio, adjust some things like Clarity or Precision Contrast or invoke the B&W functionality. Then I returned the image to PhotoLine and tried again, this time again invoking some different functionality.

I am pretty sure I have Impressions and will try it.

UPDATE:

I did the following.

1) Loaded a raw image. I have an action that automatically adds some adjustment layers, so I went through them, adjusting them so I had a good image, flattened the layers, unlocked the base layer, duplicated it and made sure I had the top layer selected,
2) Called Topaz Studio and selected Impressions,
3) Applied one of the Impression presets,
4) Saved the image back to PhotoLine,
5) went back to step (2) and repeated the process.

Two calls, no problem on my system.

I then went through the same 5 steps, but this time called the Impressions entry directly rather than first calling Topaz Studio and then selecting Impressions. Same thing. Two calls, no problem.

I then went through the same steps as above, this time using a jpg. Same thing. No problem. All calls were Impressions. I do not think I have Impressions 2, whatever that is. As I said I do not use Impressions so I am unfamiliar with any differences between Impressions and Impressions 2.

If you could give me a more exact set of steps I can try to repeat what you are doing more closely, but I do not see any problems on my system using PhotoLine to call Topaz Studio repeated times.

What OS are you on?
Have you updated to 20.51, as I have?

[bruce1951]

Mike I'm using Win 8.1.

Try - Open Photoline.
Load an image.
Open Studio/Studio.
Click on Impressions.
Then Click on the presets.
Scroll down until all the presets are loaded and visible.
What happens?

Impressions 2 is the 'old' Toapaz plugin. Impressions is the new version which only works within Studio.

Bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

Mike I'm using Win 8.1.

Try - Open Photoline.
Load an image.
Open Studio/Studio.
Click on Impressions.
Then Click on the presets.
Scroll down until all the presets are loaded and visible.
What happens?

Impressions 2 is the 'old' Toapaz plugin. Impressions is the new version which only works within Studio.

Bruce

I did as you requested.

When Studio loaded I clicked on Impressions and began clicking on the various presets. There are a lot of them, so after about 8 or so selections, and the associated application of those on the Studio display, I moved to the bottom of the list, waited for the presets to fully display and then started clicking on them from the bottom up. I suppose I clicked on perhaps 20 in total. All worked and, when I pressed Save, the latest preset got applied and the image was sent back to PhotoLine. That is, everything worked as I expected it to.

Perhaps the problem only exists on Windows?

[bruce1951]

Thanks Mike.

I have been 'talking' to Topaz. Seems they aren't interested in 'slow' CPU's. My i5, 8gig system runs a 4210Ucpu. Which is the 'problem'. Maybe?

Their answer to all of the folks who complain,and there's more than one, about this issue is that users need to have the latest hardware!!!! They are actually telling users that they are after just the top end of the market!! Those with the fastest setups. On their forum they are recommending various graphic cards. At a cost of course. And for those who can't turn a screw?? Go figure.

I'm cutting Topaz/Studio adrift.

Again thanks for your help.

bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

Thanks Mike.

I have been 'talking' to Topaz. Seems they aren't interested in 'slow' CPU's. My i5, 8gig system runs a 4210Ucpu. Which is the 'problem'. Maybe?

Their answer to all of the folks who complain,and there's more than one, about this issue is that users need to have the latest hardware!!!! They are actually telling users that they are after just the top end of the market!! Those with the fastest setups. On their forum they are recommending various graphic cards. At a cost of course. And for those who can't turn a screw?? Go figure.

I'm cutting Topaz/Studio adrift.

Again thanks for your help.

bruce

Interesting.

My Mac is almost the least powerful machine Apple sells. As a desktop it is at the bottom of the ladder, but I did configure it with an i7 (only available on the Mini as a dual core, not as a quad core) and 16GB of RAM. My previous laptop was more powerful than this desktop, but I guess it is fast enough for Topaz to work properly with PhotoLine as I am not seeing any of the problems you are seeing.

However I do have to say that Topaz's attitude seems offensive and dismissive and it makes me wonder when my machine will no longer be "acceptable". Maybe I should be looking elsewhere as well.

Good luck in your search.

[bruce1951]

Thanks Mike.

I 'only' have a i5 with a 4210u cpu. (HD Graphics 4400). They are looking for something with a faster GPU. CPU is 'not' important to them. It's all about Graphic speed. In fact they told me that their recommended card is 437% faster than mine!

My work/travel laptop is about 18 months old. A 'higher' end HP. Great laptop and runs all my software well. No speed issues. However Topaz is telling me that the market, ie them, has moved on and now demands much faster GPU's.

Simple fact is that they are not interested in the 'average' user. That's ok. But they should be far more upfront about their minimum requirements. Their 'free' Studio isn't worth the price if the average users can't use it without spending money on upgrading their hardware.

bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

I 'only' have a i5 with a 4210u cpu. (HD Graphics 4400). They are looking for something with a faster GPU. CPU is 'not' important to them. It's all about Graphic speed. In fact they told me that their recommended card is 437% faster than mine!

Hmm. What is really interesting is that the Mac Mini (my machine) has no separate graphics card at all. All graphics work is handled by the main chip, and it is only a dual-core, so there is not much left to do other stuff if the chip is handling graphics rendering.

Simple fact is that they are not interested in the 'average' user. That's ok. But they should be far more upfront about their minimum requirements. Their 'free' Studio isn't worth the price if the average users can't use it without spending money on upgrading their hardware.

Their attitude is really too bad, but at least Studio did not cost me any actual money. The stuff works alright on my system now but, given their emphasis on graphics card speed and the limits of my Mac Mini, I can assume it will stop working on my machine as well before too long.

Fortunately, as my other tools get better, I have less and less need for plugins.

[bruce1951]

I had two issues with them. They told me neither was an issue.
Well I have received an email from them saying they have fixed one issue and that will be in the next update!!! Go figure. (Studio refusing to start up a second time. Something many users have reported).

What I can't understand is that I can have a multi layered, 700+meg, image in PL and everything works fine. None of my other image software has issues with those file sizes. But Topaz Studio won't handle even a 200k jpeg. That they can't explain.

Maybe the folks at PL can give us a quick lesson on using CPU v GPU. And why would Topaz be relying on GPU whereas PL doesn't.

bruce

[bruce1951]

Just as an aside to this saga. The folks at Topaz asked for my computer details. Fair enough. They need to know that to sort out any issues. Well their answer was that my graphics weren't up to the task and that I should install a new card and driver. Well that sounds fine. Costs money. But the strange thing is that the laptop only has a single board with everything on it. No dedicated video/graphic board nor any slots or space to install one. So while they were telling me to update my computer they weren't aware of the fact that it was all but impossible to do so. So did they know what they were talking about?

Anyway they solved one problem. The one they denied having. So a 50% strike rate must be ok.

bruce

[bruce1951]

An update on the update!!! Sorry but once something gets under my skin I have to find the answer.

Test 1/

Open PL.
Open a tiff image.
Open Topaz Studio.
Edit and save.
I can do this multiple times. I've tested it 10 times in a row and all worked fine.

Test 2/

Open PL.
Open a tiff image.
Duplicate the image.
Select top layer and open Topaz Studio.
Edit and save.
Then select the top layer again.
Now Topaz Studio wont open.

So Studio is fine using a single layer image. But fails to open a second time if editing a multi layer image.

Now for the bomb shell.

I ran the exact same test using PaintShop Pro x8.

Er guys. Everything worked fine in PSPx8. Both the single layer test and the multiple layer test.

SO - So it seems the issue only occurs when I use PL.

Can someone test this and confirm my findings. Please!

Edit - There is a work around.
Open PL.
Open tiff.
Duplicate layer.
Send the duplicated layer via Filter/External Program to PSPx8. Open Studio. Edit. Save back to Pl. I can do this multiple times.

So the flaw is in Studio sending a second edit back to PL.

bruce

[MikeFromMesa]

But this is all on Windows machines, right?