Odd Plugin Bug? in v15.52

[Koyaanis]

After installing v15.52, I noticed how amazingly fast it loaded, compared to the 2-3 minutes Photoline normally takes to load on my machine. The time needed to scan for and load all the plugins on the plugins menu.

Come to find out that v15.52 didn't load any plugins at all, and that's why it loaded so fast. I tried to enable and disable the plugins paths in setup options, but that didn't get v15.52 to load them, then rebooted it, changing the plugin options a few times either way, that still wouldn't load them.

So I reverted back to v15.51 and all's well again (except for the agonizingly slow start-up time due to the extensive plugins I have).

Just in case nobody else has reported this yet, I thought I should.

(I so wish Photoline could handle the way it loads or remembers plugins better. That startup delay is getting quite annoying the more plugins I add over the years. I've asked this be improved for years now, but no luck.)

[winds350]

Yep, I'm seeing the same thing. Thanks for the tip about 15.51. The 15.52 problem exists with both 32-bit and 64-bit.

[OldRadioGuy]

After tinkering a bit with v15.52, I've found the "Search in Folders" tick box has no impact under Options>Extended>Plug-in Modules for PL32 on my Windows 7 64-bit system. Thus I have to point to the specific sub-folder for each plug-in inside my main C:\Plug-ins folder to get the plug-in to appear on the Filter menu, and there aren't enough fill-in option lines to accommodate the number of plug-ins I use.

Bob

[Koyaanis]

I just thought of something. In order to get around the ungainly time delay of loading Photoline with plugins turned on in options (it really does take 2-3 minutes for PL to load now, I go to the kitchen and get a snack or something after I click on the PL icon to load it), how about something like this:

Keep the options as they are to enable or disable plugin paths. But also include an option to browse to the .8bf file of your choice right on the filter menu. Since all my plugins are already sorted into folders by more descriptive names, instead of the annoying company name they now get listed by, it would be easier for me to find them. I could turn off that plugins path option in PL to avoid the LONG time delay to boot PL. Then I'd only have to load up the ones I need, as needed from the filter menu. Have Photoline retain the last plugin folder browsed to, or allow for inputting your default plugin path(s) to make it a little faster to get to your plugins folder.

This would solve most every situation. Or when wanting to test another plugin not even installed in your plugins folder. You could just browse to it on any hard-drive in mid-editing to try it. Or even use uninstalled plugins off of removable media, like I keep some pretty extensive plugins collections on DVDs and CDs.

Wouldn't that be a nice and universal workaround/addition?

[Koyaanis]

Well, it seems to be fixed in v15.53!

And even better, now it loads up in about 20 seconds, instead of 3-4 minutes or more. THANKS!

[OldRadioGuy]

My earlier problem with the missing plug-ins was solved. However now with version 15.54, I have one plug-in -- Imagenomic Noiseware Standard, which is listed twice:

Filters>Imagenomic>Noiseware Standard
Filters>Imagenomic>Noiseware Standard

All of my other plug-ins, including Flaming Pear, Alien Skin Image Doctor 2 and others, are listed only once.

This phenomonen with Noiseware Standard does not appear when I run Photoshop Elements 7 or Paint Shop Pro Photo X2.

All my external plug-ins are installed in the C:\Plug-in folder
My PL settings under Options:
Extended Plug-In Modules>Search in Folders selected, C:\Plug-Ins, active selected.

My operating system is Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium, so I see this problem when running PL32.

[Gerhard Huber]

My earlier problem with the missing plug-ins was solved. However now with version 15.54, I have one plug-in -- Imagenomic Noiseware Standard, which is listed twice

I tested this problem with the test version of Noiseware right now.
There is a 32 bit version of the "Standard" plugin only. So you have to start PhotoLine in 32 bit mode to see it.
I see the plugin only one time here. So I think there is a problem with your settings.
Do you have only one path set to the plugins folder of Noiseware? Is there only one NoisewareStandard.8bf in this folder?
Don't you have the plugin again in the "Plugins" folder of your PhotoLine installation?

Gerhard

[OldRadioGuy]

I see the plugin only one time here. So I think there is a problem with your settings.

Do you have only one path set to the plugins folder of Noiseware? Is there only one NoisewareStandard.8bf in this folder?
Don't you have the plugin again in the "Plugins" folder of your PhotoLine installation?

Gerhard

Thanks for the quick response, Gerhard.

With your suggestion, I located the problem. I did have two copies of Noiseware Standard installed -- one in the root C:\Plug-ins, and the other in C:\Plug-ins\Imagenomic. Apparently this occurred when I restored files after switching over to Windows 7 64-bit and mistakenly did another install of Imagenomic's Noiseware Standard with a different install option selected.

As I indicated in my previous posting, the dual listing of Noiseware Standard did not show up in Photoshop Elements 7 or Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 -- apparently just a slight difference in the way the applications recognize filters compared to PhotoLine.

I appreciate your help.

Bob