Article Information Modified Splat! issues encountered when using Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard ISSUE You may encounter the following issues if you are using Splat! on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Once you have run one of the Splat! filters on an image, and attempt to Browse the resource file folders from the Splat! user interface it will appear that the folders are empty. While browsing the Splat! resource file folders, you will not see a preview of the selected resource file. SOLUTION When browsing the Splat! filter resource files, you can double-click the resource file (... more) 4/14/2008 Use of Adobe Illustrator as a Host Application ISSUE The Adobe Illustrator product is different from the Adobe Photoshop products. It allows the user to alter both raster/bitmap images as well vector based images. Plug-Ins once installed will appear in both a Filter and an Effects menu within Illustrator. Their use depends upon the type of image file and the type of selection. Simply put, you can apply a filter to a selection much like you can with the Photoshop products using the Filter Menu with Illustrator. The Effects Menu allows (... more) 3/21/2008 Leopard Updates Don't Work on Photoshop CS and Earlier ISSUE I installed the Leopard update for my plug-in, but now it doesn't show up in the Photoshop CS filter menu. SOLUTION Since our products are Universal plug-ins, they will show up in the Filter menu of only Photoshop CS2 9.0.2, Photoshop CS3, Photoshop Elements 4.01 and Fireworks CS3.  Earlier versions of Photoshop, including Photoshop 7 and CS, will not load Universal plug-ins. Unfortunately, there's no remedy for the problem at this time.  If you need to update to (... more) 3/20/2008 Plug-ins Do Not Show Up In Filter Menu ISSUE After installing the plug-ins and starting the graphics host program, my plug-in does not appear in the Filter or plug-in menu. SOLUTION Install the filters again, making sure to choose the proper host application.  If you choose to install to a specific location, make sure it matches the location set in your host program's "Additional Plug-In Folder" setting.  In Photoshop you can find this setting by selecting Edit > Preferences > Plug-Ins and Scratch Disks from the (... more) 3/20/2008 Reseller Purchase - US Domestic Accounts US Commercial Resellers Alien Skin Software is available to domestic resellers via a direct partnership. We offer our accounts; No minimum orders Terms upon qualification Credit card payment options Account representatives who are made available to assist you with your order. Orders processed by 2:30PM EST will ship same day. Send your order to orders@alienskin.com If we haven't done business and you would like to set up for a buyer's relationship, please (... more) 3/4/2008 Volume Licensing Volume needs 5 & 10 user multi-packs: Alien Skin offers products in both 5 and 10 user multi-pack licenses.  Below is a list of titles and prices.  Product Number Platform Name Listed At 71310 Hybrid CD BlowUp - 5 Pack $746.00 71510 Hybrid CD BlowUp - 10 Pack $1,393.00 03150 Hybrid CD Eye Candy 5 Bundle - 5 Pack $746.00 03250 Hybrid CD  (... more) 1/2/2008 Image Doctor 2 Filter Runs Out of Memory ISSUE I get a message that an Image Doctor 2 filter ran out of memory either while rendering the preview or applying the effect to an image. SOLUTION Image Doctor 2 filters were tested on images up to 100 MB in size on a machine with 1GB of memory. This corresponds to an RGB image on a single, background layer with dimensions up to 6000 x 6000 pixels. You can check the size of the image and the dimensions in Photoshop under Image->Image Size. Note, if you have 2GB of RAM you will (... more) 12/19/2007 Alien Skin Plug-ins Running Slow After Upgrading to Mac OS X Leopard ISSUE Alien Skin Plug-ins and Photoshop in general running slow after ugrading to Mac OS X Leopard. SOLUTION Quit Photoshop. Create a folder titled Old PS Settings on your Desktop. Move the following files into the Old PS Setting folder you just created: /Users/Home folder/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop (version) Paths /Users/Home folder/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop (version) Settings /Users/Home (... more) 12/5/2007 Macintosh OS X 10.5 Leopard Compatibility ISSUE Alien Skin plug-ins crash Photoshop in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. SOLUTION We have identified the problem and have fixed it. Free updaters are available for you to download and install now to fix the crashing problem. A link is provided at the bottom of this article. If you purchased the plug-in as a download from our online store on November 20, 2007 and later, you should not need this update. Since our products are Universal plug-ins, they will show up in the (... more) 12/5/2007 International Distributors Argentina -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Woodlands Distribuidora de Informática Ltda Rua Tabapuã, 479 – cj 71 – Itaim 04533-011 – São Paulo – SP, Brazil Phone: +55 11-3167 6553 Fax: +55 11-3071 1578 E-mail: paulobh@quarklatinamerica.com Web: www.quark.com.br      Australia --------------------------------------------------------------------------------  (... more) 11/27/2007 Universal Plug-Ins Don't Appear in Photoshop CS2 or Elements 4 Filter Menu ISSUE I installed Alien Skin plug-ins, but they don't appear in the filter menu in Photoshop CS2 or Elements 4 for Macintosh.  SOLUTION Photoshop CS2 for Macintosh requires the 9.0.2 update in order to work with Universal plug-ins.  Without this update, the plug-ins do not appear in Photoshop's filter menu.  Universal plug-ins are designed to work with both Intel and PowerPC based Macintosh computers. Similarly, Elements 4 for Macintosh requires the 4.0.1 update in order (... more) 11/20/2007 Intel Based Macintosh Support Macintosh Universal updates are available for the following products from our Software Updates page. Blow Up Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Exposure 1 Exposure 2 Snap Art Xenofex 2 To receive Universal updates for Splat and Image Doctor 1, please contact our support staff using the e-mail address listed below.  (... more) 11/20/2007 Plug-Ins Don't Show Up in Filter Menu in International Versions of Photoshop CS/CS2 (Macintosh Only) ISSUE After installing Alien Skin plug-ins into the Macintosh version of an international (non-English) version of Adobe Photoshop CS/CS2, and restarting Photoshop CS/CS2, the filters aren't available in the filter menu. SOLUTION When the Alien Skin product installer prompts you to select a destination host from the list, click on the button labeled, "Choose Another Install Location." Then navigate your way to your language version's Photoshop CS/CS2 plug-ins folder and click (... more) 10/19/2007 Alien Skin Plug-ins not recognized by Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 ISSUE After the Alien Skin plug-ins are installed, they do not show up in the Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 Effects menu.   SOLUTION Ensure that you have restarted Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 since you installed the Alien Skin product. Access the File menu in Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 and choose Preferences > File Locations. From the File Types menu choose Plug-ins. Ensure that the Enable Plugins box is checked. If you do not see the Plug-In folder: C:Program (... more) 10/19/2007 Eye Candy for After Effects Now a Universal Plug-In for After Effects ISSUE I am not able to use Eye Candy for After Effects in Adobe After Effects CS3 on my Intel-based Mac. SOLUTION Alien Skin has released an update for the Macintosh version of Eye Candy for After Effects.  The new version provides native performance on the new generation of Intel Macintosh computers. It is only necessary to install the update if you are using Adobe After Effects CS3 on an Intel-based Macintosh. You can download the update from our software updates page.  (... more) 10/18/2007 Plug-in Doesn't Work in Photoshop Action ISSUE I made an action to apply my filter in a batch process, but it refuses to work. Can I use Alien Skin filters in a batch process?  SOLUTION Yes you can, but when you create the action, uncheck the 'Output to New Layer' checkbox in the filter user interface. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures  (... more) 10/10/2007 Microsoft Windows Vista Compatibility ISSUE Do Alien Skin plug-ins work with Microsoft Windows Vista?  SOLUTION All Alien Skin plug-ins are completely compatible with Windows Vista.  No product update is necessary. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure BlowUp Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Xenofex 2 Splat! Eye Candy for After Effects (... more) 10/8/2007 Conflict with onOne Plug-Ins Causes Crash on Filter Startup ISSUE Running an Alien Skin filter causes Photoshop to crash. SOLUTION This crash is caused by a conflict with plug-ins by onOne Software.  The current versions of each affected product are: Genuine Fractals 5.0.3 Mask pro 4.1.1 PhotoFrame Pro 3.1.1 Intellihance To fix the problem, update any installed onOne products to the latest version.  The problem is specifically in the file onOne Library.8li, which adds the onOne menu to Photoshop's menu bar.  The (... more) 10/3/2007 Rosetta Emulation Support ISSUE I want to use Alien Skin plug-ins with a PowerPC image editor on an Intel based Macintosh computer using Rosetta emulation. SOLUTION Although Alien Skin does not officially support using our plug-ins under Rosetta, we are not aware of any problems doing so. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure BlowUp Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Xenofex 2 Splat!  (... more) 10/2/2007 Filters Don't Appear in Filter Menu For Limited User After Installing as Admin ISSUE I've installed Alien Skin filters on a Macintosh using an administrator account, but users with limited accounts don't see the filters listed in the filter menu. SOLUTION The plug-in installer installs files with the wrong permissions.  This can be corrected by explicitly setting the permissions using the Finder.  Here's how: Locate the folder the plug-in was installed in.  For Photoshop CS3, this is /Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS3/Plug-Ins/Alien Skin/  (... more) 10/2/2007 Plug-Ins Don't Show Up in Filter Menu in International Versions of Photoshop ISSUE After installing Alien Skin plug-ins into an international (non-English) version of Adobe Photoshop, and restarting Photoshop, the filters aren't available in the filter menu. SOLUTION Alien Skin plug-ins check a registry location written by Photoshop to determine the location to install plug-ins.  International versions of Photoshop write an incorrect folder into this registry location.  For example, the plug-in folder for German versions of Photoshop CS2 is typically (... more) 10/1/2007 How to Increase Memory Available to Photoshop There are times in which our filters may seem to run slowly on larger images. There are a number of reasons why this could be, but the best place to start is by increasing the amount of memory that gets allocated to Photoshop. When you are running Photoshop (Windows), go to Edit > Preferences > Performance (Photoshop CS3, otherwise it's labeled as Memory & Image Cache) or for the Macintosh, go to Photoshop > Preferences > Performance (Photoshop CS3, otherwise it's labeled as Memory & (... more) 10/1/2007 Output on New Layer Issues and Elements 5.0 When you open an image in Photoshop Elements 5.0, there is a very good chance that it will be a background layer. If you are using Exposure 1, Exposure 2 or Snap Art and you have the "Create Output In New Layer Above Current" check box in the filter's user interface enabled, you will get an error message that reads, "Unable to create a new layer. If you are working with a 32-bit image in Photoshop CS2, there is no support for 32-bit layers. The 'Create Output in New Layer' check box should be (... more) 10/1/2007 Plug-In Installer Won't Locate Host Application In order to expidite the development cycle, we test our software in only the latest two versions of the most popular host graphics programs. According to our surveys, the most popular host graphics programs are Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.  If, when you are installing our software into a host graphics program that is other than these two, you will need to manually find the plug-ins folder. Please read this article to learn how to that: How to Manually Locate the Plug-In Folder.  (... more) 10/1/2007 How To Uninstall ISSUE How do I uninstall my Alien Skin plug-in?  SOLUTION Macintosh Users Find the plug-in folder in your graphics program's plug-in folder and delete it. Windows Users Run Add/Remove Programs from your Windows Control Panel.  Select the plug-in set you want to remove from the program list and click the Add/Remove button. This will remove the program and its components. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure BlowUp Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: (... more) 10/1/2007 Filter Fails When Transparency is Locked ISSUE While launching a filter, an error message is displayed saying "This filter requires editable transparency". SOLUTION Opacity is locked in the selected layer.  Turn off the Lock Transparent Pixels toggle in the Layers Palette. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Xenofex 2 Splat!  (... more) 10/1/2007 Preview Only Shows Transparent Pixels ISSUE The preview window seems broken. It only shows the checkerboard pattern. SOLUTION Sometimes the preview begins in a transparent part of a layer.  Click an opaque area of your selection in the navigation thumbnail. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure BlowUp Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Xenofex 2 Splat!  (... more) 10/1/2007 Troubleshooting Out of Memory Errors ISSUE I get a message that a plug-in ran out of memory either while rendering the preview or applying the effect to the image. SOLUTION Photoshop allocates a fixed amount of memory from the system when it is launched.  It's possible to adjust the allocation so that more memory will be available for plug-ins.  From the menu bar in Photoshop, select Edit > Preferences > Memory & Image Cache. Then, increase the Memory Used By Photoshop value.  You should not increase this (... more) 10/1/2007 Grayed Out Filter Names in Plug-in Menu ISSUE Plug-in names appear grayed out in the Photoshop filter menu. SOLUTION Grayed-out filters in the Filter menu occur if you are in certain color modes (such as CMYK, Lab or Bitmap) that won't allow a specific filter to work properly. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures Xenofex 2 Splat!  (... more) 10/1/2007 Plug-In Doesn't Work In A Graphics Program That Claims to Support Photoshop Plug-Ins ISSUE Alien Skin plug-in doesn't work with a graphics program that claims to use Photoshop plug-ins. SOLUTION Some host programs claim to work with all Photoshop plug-ins without testing thoroughly or strictly following the Photoshop plug-in standard.  If you'd like to use an Alien Skin plug-in with a host not listed in your product documentation, please visit the requirements page for the latest list of compatible hosts. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art  (... more) 10/1/2007 Insufficient Permissions to Install Plug-Ins ISSUE When I try to install the plug-in, I get an error dialog saying that I don't have privileges or permission to install the software. SOLUTION The plug-in installer, like most installation programs, needs to write files to secure folders on your computer.  If you use Mac OS X, the installer will prompt you for an administrator password so that the installation can proceed.  For Windows, you must be logged into an account that has administrator privileges.  For information (... more) 10/1/2007 Troubleshooting Registration Code Problems ISSUE The plug-in installer program won't accept my 12-letter registration code, or I can't find my code. SOLUTION The Product Registration Code is a 12-letter code located either in your manual, on the CD jewel case or, if you purchased the software for download, on the download page and in an email invoice. If you've registered the software with us (by purchasing directly from us, registering online or sending in a registration card), we'll have the code in our database. If (... more) 9/27/2007 How to Manually Locate the Plug-In Folder ISSUE The plug-in installer program doesn't locate my graphics host program, so I'd like to explicitly tell it which folder to install into.  How do I do this? SOLUTION During the installation process, the plug-in installer program will present you with a list of hosts to install into.  To install into a folder you specify, click the Choose Another Install Location button below the host list.  Then, locate the folder you want to install into in the dialog that appears.  (... more) 9/27/2007 What to do if you have been charged twice for a single purchase For a variety of reasons, a customer's purchase process will time out, necessatating a second attempt at purchasing the software. Only the second order will come through to Alien Skin's records, but the customer's credit card company will show two charges for the one successful order. In this case, all the customer needs to do is wait a few business days and the credit card company will automatically reverse the charge for the first, unsuccessful, attempt.  (... more) 9/27/2007 Using Eye Candy 4000 in Photoshop CS3 on an Intel-based Macintosh ISSUE Will Eye Candy 4000 work in Photoshop CS3 on my Intel-based Macintosh? SOLUTION Yes, but only in the Rosetta Emulation Mode. If you know that you installed the Eye Candy 4000 into Photoshop CS3's Plug-Ins folder, you'll need to find the Photoshop CS3 application file on your hard drive and do a Get Info on it. Once the Get Info window appears, you'll see a checkbox that reads, "Open using Rosetta." Check that checkbox and close the window. Run CS3 and it'll be running in (... more) 9/26/2007 Redownloading Software  In order to download the software again, you must contact Technical Support. The best way to obtain support is to send email to support@alienskin.com. Please include your full name, the product that you need help with, that product's 12-letter product registration code and whether this is for Macintosh or Windows. (... more) 9/13/2007 Mac Fireworks Crashes on Startup ISSUE Mac Fireworks crashes on startup when I have any Alien Skin plug-in installed. SOLUTION Uninstall any programs by Unsanity which you might have installed in Fireworks' Plug-Ins folder on your hard drive.  These programs (commonly called Haxies), are system extensions which are known to cause problems with plug-ins in Fireworks. APPLIES TO  Exposure 2 Snap Art Exposure BlowUp Image Doctor Eye Candy 5: Impact Eye Candy 5: Nature Eye Candy 5: Textures (... more) 9/13/2007 Accepted Credit Cards We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Sorry, Alien Skin Software does not accept PayPal payments. (... more) 8/30/2007 Download Assisting Software Download assisting software can cause a download failure when purchasing software from the Alien Skin Store.  Please disable any download assisting software.  Products such as Speed Download, Download Accelerator, and RealNetwork's Real Download will cause online delivery of our product to fail.  (... more) 8/30/2007 Installing Downloaded Software Windows Solution: You will not download a compressed installer file. It is a .exe file. Macintosh Solution: We compress our installation packages as a .dmg file. Mac OS X will automatically know what to do with the file when you double-click on it. (... more) 8/30/2007 BlowUp Resizing Limits ISSUE BlowUp won't enlarge anything beyond 30,000 pixels. SOLUTION The output size of images in BlowUp is limited to a maximum of 30,000 pixels in width or height. This limitation is due to our representation of pixel coordinates, which is 15 bits.  The largest 15-bit integer is 32,767.  This choice was made for performance and memory reasons.  We regret that this limit is too small for a few of our customers (some bus wrap and billboard folks in particular).  Unfortunately, (... more) 8/30/2007 Layer Types BlowUp Will Resize BlowUp resizes the following layer types: Background Layers Layer Masks Fill or Adjustment Layers (for example, Gradient Maps and Color Fills) BlowUp does not resize the following parts of images: Paths Clipping Paths Text Layer Styles APPLIES TO  BlowUp  (... more) 8/30/2007 BlowUp Doesn't Work In A Graphics Program That Claims to Support Photoshop Plug-Ins ISSUE  BlowUp doesn't work with a graphics program that claims to use Photoshop plug-ins. SOLUTION BlowUp is a special type of plug-in which only works with Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements.  There are no other compatible graphics programs at this time. APPLIES TO  BlowUp (... more) 8/30/2007 BlowUp Doesn't Appear in the Filter Menu ISSUE After installing the BlowUp and restarting the graphics host program, BlowUp does not appear in Photoshop’s Filter menu. SOLUTION BlowUp is an automation plug-in and will appear in Photoshop's File/Automate menu rather than the Filter menu.  If you don't see BlowUp in the Automate menu, install the filters again, making sure to choose the proper host application.  If you choose to install to a specific location, make sure it matches the location set in your host program's (... more) 8/30/2007 What to do when credit card is declined You can contact the Alien Skin Software sales department for assistance should your credit card be declined. Contacting the bank that issued your credit card may be the quickest way to find out why a card has been declined. You can reach the Alien Skin sales department at 919.832.4124 ext. 2 or via email at sales@alienskin.com. (... more) 8/30/2007 Internet Connection Requirements Anyone with connection rates lower than 33.6 Kbps should opt for physical delivery of our software. Because our files range from 2 to 10MB in size, any connection slower than 33.6 Kbps is just too slow to efficiently download our installer files. If your Internet connection is unstable or gets disconnected frequently, you should also choose the physical delivery method. Should your connection fail in the middle of the download process, you will need to contact technical support to get a new (... more) 8/30/2007 Problems Downloading from the Online Store From the Online Store Limitations—Do not select the download versions of our products if your computer meets any of the following conditions: If you have Internet connection rates less than 33.6 Kbps, choose the "physical delivery" version of our products. Because our files range from 2 to 10MB in size, any connection slower than 33.6 Kbps is just too slow to efficiently download our installer files. If your Internet connection is unstable or gets disconnected frequently, you (... more) 8/30/2007