Eye Candy 7 released with demo for download

Thanks to angelize I got to hear that Eye Candy 6 worked in Xara DPX. I promptly ugraded from version 4000 and loved it.

Well version 7 has just been released and although the effects are pretty much the same, with the addition of lightnig (from Xenoflex), the interface is much more visually orientated and I think easier and quicker to navigate.

I've just downloaded the demo and it seems to work in PS Elements 9 OK but not from within Xara.

Using plugins through Xara is a dream and it's a real shame that EC7 doesn't.

I'll try and contact Alien Skin and see if there is a fix but if anyone here knows a fix within Xara that would be brilliant.



Mike




I was registered on TG a few years back but changed my PC and lost/forgot login details :0( I frequently pop in to see what's happening.

Hi Mike, I have good news and not so good news. First the not so good news is that Alien Skin seems to have changed the way that the software installs and if you don't select a reconizable host for the installer to install into it won't work. But the good news is if you have a host program that the Eye Candy installer recognizes you can manually install the plug in into Xara's plug ins directory and they work perfectly!

1. install the plug in to a host in the list you see in the first installation panel in the EC set up ( in my case I am using PSE9)

2. once the installation is complete browse to the program files ( x86 if you have windows7) note: I don't have windows 8 to check but I'm guessing this would be much the same.

3. browse to the plug in location of the host program where you installed the EC plug in and open the Alien Skin folder and inside that you'll find a folder marked Eye Candy 7 copy this folder to the clipboard

4. while still in the program files browse down to Xara and find your version of xara, in the xara program files open the xara picture editor folder and in there open the PSplugins folder and paste the EC 7 folder.

5. if your xara program is open close it and restart it your Eye Candy plug in should show up in the plug ins list.

I've rarely use Eye Candy 4000. Never upgraded to Eye Candy 6. So, I'm not sure I would upgrade to Eye Candy 7.

But...

A great set of instructions for those who want to use EC7.
Well done, Frances.

Frances,


You're a star!

Your set up sounds very similar to mine so I'll give it a go later tonight and let you know how I get on.

BTW what do you think of the new EC7 UI?


Many thanks,
Mike.

@ Rik: The Eye Candy plug in has been improved greatly since the 4000 version and for anyone who has work to meet a deadline these effects can be a real time saver. The lightning for example can be set up and applied in a few seconds and it is really quite realistic. It would certainly be possible to draw lightning in Xara all vector but it would take a lot longer to do it that realistically. Another thing I like about Eye Candy effects is the ability to save your custom settings.

@ Mike: I like the new interface, it's great to be able to see visually each effect. I haven't had a lot of time to explore the new UI or the new effects but so far I like what I see. Now I just have convince my husband that this upgrade is a needed business expense! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by angelize

Hi Mike, I have good news and not so good news. First the not so good news is that Alien Skin seems to have changed the way that the software installs and if you don't select a reconizable host for the installer to install into it won't work. But the good news is if you have a host program that the Eye Candy installer recognizes you can manually install the plug in into Xara's plug ins directory and they work perfectly! ...

---

Hi, I work for Alien Skin and am one of the programmers responsible for the UI in Eye Candy 7. This is me.

I just wanted to pipe in with a little help. While, officially, we only support Photoshop CS5, CS6 and Elements 10 and 11 as host applications there are many other applications that implement Adobe's plugin API that enable our products to work fine in most cases. Fortunately, there's a much easier way to get our plugins installed with any host application you would like, it's just not heavily advertised.

There's already a support article which describes the process in full. So I won't bore you with the details here. But the short story is that following the linked to instructions will allow you to install the plugins to a host application that we don't officially support. All you need to know is that applications plugin directory and you are good to go.

I hope this will help you and any others trying to use Alien Skin software with Xara.

-Adam Haile

Frances,


I followed your instructions and "bingo" it works. I spent a couple of hours messing and it looks very promising.

Whilst using EC6 and again, whilst briefly using the EC7 trial I experienced Xara DPX occasionally "locking up" and sometimes crashing.

Seems to happen when layering effect on effect and then trying to edit one effect in the stack. Or when "unlocking" a locked effect where the object has been repositioned or resized.

Have you ever experienced similar?

I really love the look and feel of the EC7 UI though. My heart says yes.... but do I really need it? Probably not but I'll treat myself for Christmas :0)



Thanks for your help,


Mike.

Thanks Adam. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gwpriester

Thanks Adam. :)

---

I believe you are referring to the post I submitted about doing a custom install, but looks like it didn't actually show up...

Ah, it was probably moderated because you posted a link in a first time post. But it has been approved and is now visible to all.

Hi Adam, Thanks for this information! And Welcome to Talkgraphics ! :) Your post was there, it went into moderation because new users are not normally permitted to post links, and Gary must have missed that the post was moderated. I have approved the post so everyone can now see it :)

What I did was to install the plug in into a folder on my hard drive and point Xara to it

To do this, after running the Alien Skin custom install open your Xara program and open the options box (arrange> options) on the plug ins and effects tab click the set up button and in the plug in locations box that opens click add folder.

Browse to the location where you installed the plug in open the alien skin folder and select the Eye candy 7 folder, click OK

Click Ok in the plugins locations box (it's always a good idea to make sure host specific plugins is enabled first)

Click Ok on the main options box.

And yes I have encountered the same issues as Mike has mentioned. Best I can suggest is to lock the effects and keep them locked. If you are preparing graphics for Print you can set Xara to render live effects at any resolution ( I have mine set to render at 3oodpi) you can do this in the same plug ins and effects tab of the options just below the set up button set the default resolution for both default live effect and locked effect to your desired resolution (you can type any amount in these dropdown boxes)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gwpriester

Ah, it was probably moderated because you posted a link in a first time post. But it has been approved and is now visible to all.

---

Perfect, thanks! Hopefully my post will help :)

Adam,


Have you any idea why the EC7 plugin should crash when you try and unlock a locked effect after resizing a graphic? Also crashes if you try and change resolution from that which was first applied?

It's a great UI but these niggles are a bit of a distraction. SuperbladePro is also a great plugin but I hardly use it now because of it's annoying niggles. Of course I'm only referring to when Xara is the host program!



Mike

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tomahawk Kid

Adam,


Have you any idea why the EC7 plugin should crash when you try and unlock a locked effect after resizing a graphic? Also crashes if you try and change resolution from that which was first applied?

It's a great UI but these niggles are a bit of a distraction. SuperbladePro is also a great plugin but I hardly use it now because of it's annoying niggles. Of course I'm only referring to when Xara is the host program!



Mike

---

Hi,

My name is Robert. I handle technical support for Alien Skin Software. Since Xara is not a supported host program for Eye Candy 7 there may be crashes like the one you described. If you ever have these issues when using Elements, please let us know by submitting a support ticket.

Thanks,
Robert Lounsberry

Hi Robert, Welcome to Talkgraphics :) Thanks for that information. Is there any possibility of Xara becoming a supported host?

Welcome to TalkGraphics Robert. I appreciate you reaching out to the Xara community with support. I'm sure the Xara community would love to work with you and help you make Xara a supported host program for Eye Candy and other Alien Skin products. Xara and Alien Skin products do have long history of working well together.

It's a real shame that EC7 is so unstable with Xara especially when EC6 works so robustly with Xara DPX. You can throw prettly much anything at the EC6 and it works well, even stacking several effects.

EC7 won't even let you cancel the plugin without crashing Xara - you need to Ok the effect once EC is open. Also making any edits is more miss than hit.


I'm certainly no programmer but the effects and controls in EC7 seem to operate in a very similar way to EC6, all be it via a much more attractive UI. Could it be a relatively fix for the Alien Skin and Xara programmers? Please guys, get together. If it turns out to be something straight forward it's a win, win. If not, at least you tried!

I'd buy EC7 in an instant if it worked as well as EC6 does in Xara but as it stands it's far too clunky for me. Ho Hum! :0(



Mike

I thought I'd try installing the trial version of Eye Candy 7. The 32-bit plugin installed directly into 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Xara\Xara Photo Graphic Designer 2013\Xara Picture Editor\PSplug-ins' and appeared to work OK. I applied a lightening effect to some text.

The problem comes when the saved graphic is re-opened after closing Xara P&D. The graphic takes a long time to open. A message eventually comes up saying 'Unknown plug-in error has occurred'. The graphic will then open but without the effect applied.

Hi Mart, I had a chat with one of the Alien Skin support techs a few weeks ago and it seems that at this time they have no plans to address this issue anytime soon as their main customer base at this time are Photoshop users.

However if they were to get enough requests they may reconsider. They have a live chat support on their website. It certainly can't hurt for others to ask!

In the meantime you can apply the effects at a high resolution (at least 300dpi or higher) and then lock them. As for me I am sticking with version 6 of the Eye Candy plugins that I already have, I won't be upgrading as the hassle isn't worth it for me.

Hello Angelize - I don't really need Eye Candy, so probably won't pursue the problem. It's just that thought I might treat myself to the plug-in pack after all this time of using only what comes with Xara. A pity it didn't work properly but it does say what the program requirements are. I guess the money from non-Photoshop users wouldn't amount to enough for the company to worry about it too much.