Much used plug-in no longer works

Hi, I wonder if anyone can help.

For years I have used a plug-in:- "textArt", there are four plugins in a set called "Creativity", they are Blender, Elemental, Splatter and textArt. For me the most used is (was) textArt as this enabled me to quickly and easily provide good quality headings literally in seconds. The plug-in has a vast array of effects(fourteen headings, with around twenty four types in each heading - over 300 instantaneous effects, in any colour combinations you want) and access to all installed fonts.

The plug-in loads as CamBridge32.exe (32bit) originally from Digital Workshop, I notice that the icon in Task Manager shows the symbols 32/64 but I don't think a 64-bit version exists. The website Plugincreativity.net still exists and I have downloaded the plugin and reloaded it but this does not cure the problem. Does anyone still successfully use this plug-in?

Does anyone have a solution as to why after all these years it should stop working, perhaps the latest upgrade of XD Pro is the issue.

Alternatively does anyone know of a similar text creation utility, I have looked at several of the on-line heading creation sites, but would prefer a locally installed programme.

Kind regards
Martin

textart seems to work ok in xdpx15.1 - if you have upgraded have you made sure that the new version of xara is pointing to the correct folder for the plugin...

update - you don't say in what way it stopped working... playing around I see some fonts are crashing camb and therefore xara, is that what you were finding?

Works ok in PS.. actually no, just less badly - could be a windows issue

In trying to see what Textart plugin is I came across this about the cambidge32,

Rob explained that the cambridge32 is a bridge between 32 bit plugins and 64 bit Xara.
See this post:
https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...47-Xara-64bits

On the website for the plugin I came across issues with fonts causing the plugin to crash see the support page on how to identify.

http://www.plugincreativity.net/support/support.shtml

Ray

Hi Handdrawn and Ray,

Many thanks for your reply. I should have said what the problem is!

Note that I am using XDPro 16.1.1.56358. I have XP on two computers as per licence, can I re-load a previous version to run alonside ver 16.1.1 that might allow me to use the plugin?

Yes, what happens is that as soon as my cursor goes anywhere near the font selection drop-down the whole thing crashes and I have to use task manager to shut down XP and cambridge32 shows as not responding and also shuts down closely after XD shuts down. I have checked on two computers that the plugin is correctly addressed.

As an interim have simply created a close approximation to the specific effect of the plugin I was using. I could refine it a bit more, but by substituting all the headers then it will not be too noticeable. The top words are the effect of the plugin the lower ones are my rendition, only took a couple of minutes, so good practice (I will fine-tune the effect before I publish, don't know how to get the wavy line look).

However, it would be good to get the plugin working again

Many thanks fo ryour help and kindest regards
Martin

On Creativity's support page issues with TextArt and fonts on certain Windows installations is mentioned: http://www.plugincreativity.net/support/support.shtml.

From what you post, you don't really need the plugin anymore. :)

Thanks Boy,

I read the Creativity link and possibly it is the "Betty Noir" font that is the problem. Strangethat it should suddenly become unusable, I am leaning towards it being a XDP 16.1 issue. Iam wondering if I canstill use an older version of XP in parallel with 16.1.1 without upsetting my licence conditions.

OK to replicate this effect, for this occassion but textArt offers many others that are more difficult to replicate.

Many thanks
Martin

Riftvalley, I have just (literally just) installed Textart and played around with it. Yes I have the same issue and XWDP 16.1 throws 'Internal Program Error 4304.k.no.ct'. It means nothing to me of course, but you never know what others here have stored in their knowledge banks.

We can stop looking suspiciously at poor Betty too. I don't have Betty Noir installed.

Riftvalley,

You can run different version of Xara without a problem. I have never put an older copy on back on a computer. I have always just left them on the computer when I add new versions so I don't know how to do the license but I am sure other have done it and can offer ideas.

Ray

Hi Ray,

I came back to this issue and just read your post. Seemed a good idea so I downloaded XDPro X10 and then reinstalled the plug-in. Unfortunately I still get the same problem, so perhaps that means it is a windows update that has scuppered this program.

I have scoured the web and cannot find a similar program anywhere (online ones are ok but do not have the same flexibility and immediacy).

Shame really, as I used to use this little plug-in all the time for quick logo headers etc

Many thanks for your help
Martin.

Try to open Xara as an Admin.
For me it works with the textArt plugin perfect. This is an old plugin and requires Admin right to work properly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ernie-f

Try to open Xara as an Admin.
For me it works with the textArt plugin perfect. This is an old plugin and requires Admin right to work properly.

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This still doesn't work for me. Same as before, as soon as you try to choose a different font the whole thing crashes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris M

This still doesn't work for me. Same as before, as soon as you try to choose a different font the whole thing crashes.

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Not here! See the video. You must klick to run it.

http://xarafranta.000webhostapp.com/textart/

You are totally correct. Deleting the text that was already in the text box and typing something new made all the difference.

Also, thank you for going to the trouble of creating a video. I hope Riftvalley sees it.

@ernie :-bd

Hi Ernie-f,

Immediate promotion to Godlike. It never crossed my mind to delete the existing text. I had tried running as admin several times and it always stalled.

Works a treat now, just like an old friend returning from far away.

Thanks again

Martin

PS, I cannot understand why there are not alternative programs for this sort of quick creation of effects, this is brilliant for headers andbanners. I could not find anythig comparable, except for online offerings (which I find to be a pain in the rear).
M

Well. After making sweeping statements about everything being all fine and dandy, it now isn't.

I wandered back into the plugin to have a nosey around and now every time I try and change the font it goes non-responsive again. I can change everything but the font style. And yes, I remembered to type something in the text box.

It's the CamBridge32 that goes AWOL.

I'm using WDP 16.1 but had a friend with XDP 16.1 repeat the test and on restart they received the error below.

Attachment 124266Attachment 124267

That's very strange. In a clean new site the PlugIn works fine. One object or bitmap added and the whole thing crashes.
I've never needed such a PlugIn but I try it out to see what is hapen. I think too this is a bug in Cambridge32 and/or in Xara.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ernie-f

I've never needed such a PlugIn but I try it out to see what is hapen.

---

Yep, me too. I think I've gone about as far as I need/want to go with this. Next stop is the uninstall button.

Have you tried putting it in a new document and then cutting and pasting into the original document that you need the text in? Additional steps I know, but in the end, the end product is what you require.

"what happens is that as soon as my cursor goes anywhere near the font selection
drop-down the whole thing crashes and I have to use task manager to shut down XP..."

Hello everyone,
I've been a time traveler of sorts lately. I've been trying to install and use
ancient software (back to the xp era) on windows 10. Once something is installed
I've run into several problems just trying to use the stuff. One particular
problem I've run into is just trying to browse to find folders and files.
Browsing involves clicking to open a drop down list. With one particular old
app everytime I clicked to browse the app froze or returned a crazy error message
(I won't go into here). Only task manager would close the app. But I finally
(for this app) found an admittedly bizarre solution. Before running the app I
made sure the recycle bin was empty. If it wasn't I emptied it. Sometimes this
did the trick. Other times it was necessary to do one more strange thing.
I opened task manager and restarted file explorer. After doing one or both of
these things browsing was possible in the app.
Font selection and browsing seem like the same operation to me. Twenty million
lines of code in the os. Anything is possible. Maybe worth a shot ;))
Best,
steve