About Free Plug-Ins

I noticed on Xara's website under product info for Photo and Graphic Designer 6 that several free plug-ins are included with the program (see http://www.xara.com/us/products/designer/plugins/). How are these plug-ins accessed or installed? It is my understanding they are part of the Live Effects function, but I don't see them anywhere.

I purchased and installed PGD6 in December of last year and am just now getting fully up and running with the program. Just wanted to do some experimenting and was wondering how to access the free plug-ins. It was actually a good selling point and was one of the reasons I ended up buying the program.

First, check to see if you already have some free plugins, Tex. I think some come with the program, and should already be installed.

Select an object (say, a rectangle), and click on the Live effect tool (Ctrl/F5). Click on ‘New >’ up on the menu bar, and your plugins should be listed there.

I saw those already. I dabbled with each one, but none match the capabilities offered by the free ones mentioned by Xara in their product description. Just curious how to access them. Maybe I'll check with Xara.

Hi

any chance of a screen shot of the menu you get when you click on 'new' in the live effect tool - just to see if it looks right

when you say they don't match capabilities can you be more specific ?

I'll try to attach a quick graphic image view of the Live Effects menu that appears when I click the Live Effects button. Pretty much just the basic filters and their related tweaks, which is still very good and useful. Referencing the Xara page link I mentioned above (http://www.xara.com/us/products/designer/plugins/), I would be very much interested in Eye Candy 4000's Chrome plug-in; Xenofex 2's Mosaic and Crumple plug-ins; Redfield's Craquelure plug-in; and AV Bros Page Curl plug-in. That's why I kind of got excited when it said they would be included with the software.

If they cannot be accessed (which would be unfortunate), just out of curiousity do you know of any good links to other sources of free Xara or Photo Shop plug-ins? I was going to do a Google search later and also view some of Xara's plug-in threadsfor ideas. And are they easily installed if I do happen to find some I like? Many thanks.

hi

the alienskin, eyecandy and xenoflex are marked demos as supplied - I cant remember if that means time limited, and they are not installed on my machine at present

the redfield filters are not marked demo


to install a filter you go to utilities > options > effects & plugins > setup and add the folder they are in, tick the box 'enable host specific plug-ins', click ok, click apply

not all photoshop filters will work

mehdi filters are good with xara

Thanks. I'll do some "plug-in" exploring later. Is there a way to know beforehand if any particular Photo Shop plug in will install and work properly, or is it just a matter of trial of error? And just for clarification, it is my understanding that any successfully installed plug-in will be accessed via the Live Effects button. Correct?

You may need to set the path to the plugin location. I depends where they are installed ofr added. Not all plugins are installed. Plugins native to a application may not work. Do a forum search.

I have been reviewing Eye Candy 6. The up grade from EC 4000 and the other versions appears reasonable.

EC 4000 is somewhat limited to the size of application. The UI is old as well. I have several hundred environments for Chrome, and it is tedious to select form a limited list. Try the trial version that comes with Xara.

Rich

Thanks, will do. I don't want to burden the program with a bunch of plug-ins, but as you know some design "extras" are sometimes handy to have around and play with. I'll take a look and see what is out there that may be compatible with Xara. Am I correct in assuming all after-market plug-ins, once installed, are accessible via Xara's Live Effects button?

Not all plugins work. AutoFX plugins do not work for instance.
If the plugins are installed in the Xara program group the ones that will work will most likely show up. If their installed under Photoshop, then you will need to set a path in Utilities. You can always remove the path to limit the use. Photoshop plugins up to ver 5.5 may work. Not everything does.

Rich

Thanks much, appreciate the help.

I searched the contents of the entire Xara folder in the file directory window and actually found the free plug-ins I have been inquiring about. Within the primary Xara folder is a folder named Xara Picture Editor and within that there is a folder named PSplugins. When I open this folder there are four other folders containing the free plug ins I've been looking for (a folder each for Eye Candy 4000, Xenofex 2, Redfield, and Mehdi. So at least now I know th plug-ins got installed when I originally installed PGD6.

However, when I go to Options under Utilities and click the Effects and Plugins tab, nothing happens when I click the Setup button. The button is active and allows me to depress it, but nothing happens or opens after doing so. I would assume that hitting Setup would automatically allow me to browse my file directory so I could choose the PSPlugins folder (or browse for anything for that matter). Any idea why the Setup button may not be working in this intance? This is the closest I've got to actually accessing the free plug-ins, so I hate to give up the mighty quest now. :) Even if they end up not working, at least I'd like to have the satisfaction of knowing I followed the correct process to find them and activate them.

there are in there in the right place then

how long did you wait after pressing the setup button - sometimes it can take a short while depending what it is searching for before the dialog box opens

if you haven't added anything though, this should not really happen

I'd:

a] run a full security check in case you have virus/trojan etc

b] if it still does not work uninstall/reinstall

The plugins in the program group don't need to be setup in utilities. Utilities- setup- add folders is for additional plugins elsewhere.
Use the plugin icon in the program window to turn on the plugin selection.

Rich

A couple of screen shots.

Rich

I went ahead and uninstalled and reinstalled PGD6 just to start with a fresh program. Still unable to access any plugins and the Set plugin folder button still dead. Molucca: What are you referring to when you advise "Use the plugin icon in the program window to turn on the plugin selection." Not sure what icon you mean. In the meantime, I've attached four screen shots just so everyone will have better understanding of what I am seeing on my PC.

Live Effects Menu: This is what pops up when I click the Live Effects button>New. Just shows the basic filters.

File Directory 1: This shows the opened Xara folder and subfolders, including the current Plugins folder. Clicking the Plugins folder will bring up the list of folders and files in the right pane (yellow highlights). The individual files that are listed appear automatically.

File Directory 2: For example, when I click the Alien Skin folder, and then the Chrome sub folder, the list in the right pane appears. Although nothing happens when I try to open the titles in the list.

File Directory 3: For example, when I open the Redfiled folder, it opens to several .8BF files in the right pane. None of which I can open to view.

Anyway, this is the predicament I am in. Also, I am unable to view any Photo Shop plug in files (.8BF) on my PC, although I thought I should be able to since Xara supports these plugins. Any advice on this issue?

One interesting thing is that, when the Plugins folder is opened (see File Directory 1 attach.), all the filters listed in the AV Bros folder and the Mehdi folder do actually appear by themselves (for example, erasureclassic.8BF, fur.8BF, grainnaturals.8BF, and AVBrosPageCurl2X.8BF). They appear in the list of stand alone files in the right pane. Go figure.

In a nutshell, it seems the freebie filters are installed, just don't know how to make them discoverable by PGD6. Further, I do not recognize any of the other stand alone filters that are listed in the right pane when the Plugins folder is opened. All I have at my disposal is what is shown in my Live Effects menu. I am wondering if these filters should be accessible somehow also.

Mucho grats to anyone who can help resolve this conundrum. In the meantime, I won't plan on using filters for any of my projects. Other than this frustrating issue, I really do enjoy PGD6 more and more as I delve further into the program. Just those dang plugins...

Yeah, something looks really off. I noticed one strange thing looking at your screen grabs. On the second picture I noticed in the left pane -- judging by the folder names -- that you have two versions of P&GD 6: Foto_Grafik_Designer_6 and Xara_Photo_Graphic_Designer_6.

Is it possible that the plugins are to be found in the Xara Picture Editor/PSplug-ins folder that's located in the Xara_Photo_Graphic_Designer_6 folder?

Edit: actually, I mean that the other way around. Clearly, the plugins are placed in the Foto_Grafik_Designer_6 folder but aren't you running the English version that's placed in the Xara_Photo_Graphic_Designer_6 folder?

I noticed the same early on, but when installing the program via CD this is the directory tree that appears when installation is complete. The Xara_Photo_Graphic_Designer_6 folder only contains a couple of help files and nothing more. All other program folders and files are located within the folder Foto_Grafik_Designer_6.

When viewing the contents of the "Foto_Grafik" folder, I did notice in the right pane a stand alone file named Foto_Grafik_Designer_6_en-US_setup.exe (see the attachment File Directory 4). Later today I am going to again uninstall PGD6. Then, instead of allowing the program to install automatically via the CD, I am going to open the files on the CD and use this executable file to try and open the program and see what happens.

Another option is to open the "Foto_Grafik" folder and drag all the folders that are indicated in the right pane and put them instead in the other folder you referenced in your reply: Xara_Photo_Graphic_Designer_6. Probably won't accomplish much of anything, but, as they say, desperate times........ :)

This has become a real challenge, but if nothing else it keeps my brain cells active trying to resolve the issue. If all this fails I will contact Xara technical support and see what they advise.

You're in the US, right? So, how come you have the German Magix version anyway? Seems that something is wrong here. Did you contact Xara support?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by handrawn

hi

to install a filter you go to utilities > options > effects & plugins > setup and add the folder they are in, tick the box 'enable host specific plug-ins', click ok, click apply

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I have the same issue and want to use the Eraser Classic. My Web Designer 6.0.1.13296 build is up to date and does not have the effects&plugins link in the utilities>options menu. Am I looking in the right place?

PS - how do I attach an image if one is requested?

Disregard previous request for help - posted a bit too soon. The plug-in was actually in my XPro5 under the plug-in icon which I have never used before.

Unfortunately the eraser feature doesn't do a very good job on removing the white backgroun of my jpg photo. I tried many iterations and still have jagged edges on the object in the photo. Are there other tools for swapping colors?

hi

can you post up the image?

click on the 'go advanced' button bottom right of the reply box and then scroll down and click on 'manage attachments' to upload

you can preview the post to check it worked

Here it is and preview worked.

Ah still with the riding crops...

in this particular case I'd give it a stained glass transparency and then make a bitmap copy [checking true color + alpha is set as colour depth] if you get warnings just click continue

colour shift is sometimes a problem with this method - but not here as far as I can see

Thanks, Steve. Works as advertised and the background is transparent but still not completely there. The whip color needs to be white. Changing both contones to white made the whip image disappear. What is the next bit of magic I need to perform?

ah now you tell me :D - since you've embedded stained glass transparency into the bitmap - you cannot now contone it white

so, go back to your original jpg and invert the image by setting contone light colour black and contone dark colour white

then as before but using bleach instead of stained glass..

[the effect the transparency types have on contoning is one reason for the warning]

Yep - still with the riding crops. using bleach and changing the contones did it. Many thanks for sticking with this to help.

pleasure :)

Hi DocRock,

Web Designer does not support the Live Effects offered in Designer Pro and Photo & Graphic Designer (and Xtreme Pro versions).

EDIT: Should have noticed more posts after the one I was replying to :eek: