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Topaz AI Plugins


pixartia

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10 minutes ago, Cecil said:

I understand.  Both OS have Affinity Photo builds, as I understand, for each OS.  I also believe the Apple MAS and Affinity Serif Affinity Photo are the same application, so I don’t believe there is a difference in which store you download.  I could be 100% wrong.   Catalina update caused Apple Photos for me and many problems, which remain today.

I hope someone will notice this thread to provide more insight. Peace.

 

Cecil,

I hate to say that, but as you mentioned you are 100% wrong. These two versions are not quite the same.

Peace.

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1 hour ago, Cecil said:

Both OS have Affinity Photo builds, as I understand, for each OS.  I also believe the Apple MAS and Affinity Serif Affinity Photo are the same application, so I don’t believe there is a difference in which store you download.

Catalina update caused Apple Photos for me and many problems, which remain today.

 

Cecil, it would seem the difference is that the Apple App version is sandboxed.

In full disclosure while I've had AP for some time, I've only started to use it more seriously. Reason being is that with my older MacBook I was using Photoshop CS6 Perpetual License. And while back then I dabbled with AP I preferred the devil I knew vs the devil I didn't. That changed when I bought a new MacBook which had Catalina in which CS6 would not run.

Wanting a better sharpening tool I investigated to find one that used deconvolution. With a bit of research I bought the photographers bundle of Topaz Labs AI. When they wouldn't run I bought the Nik Plugins which after jumping through the preferences hoops ran just fine. I would still like the Topaz Labs to work, so looking forward to Serif fixing the issue.

It could very well be Catalina causing the issue. I can't say for sure being I've only run into the issue currently. But of the four differences, it appears to my inexperienced eyes that the sandboxing is the issue. Somehow the OS is looking at AP trying to invoke the AI apps as a security risk and preventing them somehow.

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I think the question remains if Serif AP macOS and Apple’s AP MAS macOS are identical in build.  I recall a thread, as I recall, which stated the only difference between the two was Apple’s 30% cost to Serif.  I cannot locate the tread to support.  It would be distributing, for me, if Serif released different builds or quality of AP application based on Affinity store purchase vs. MAS.  This is not something I want to get in a disagreement with any individual.

i would appreciate any Serif moderators response clarification on subject. A simple yes or no. Peace.

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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1 hour ago, Cecil said:

I think the question remains if Serif AP macOS and Apple’s AP MAS macOS are identical in build.  I recall a thread, as I recall, which stated the only difference between the two was Apple’s 30% cost to Serif.

I think this thread answers the question.

It list four difference with three being related to older OS version compatibility, updates and authorization. The third mentions the Apple Store version being sandboxed.

It seems to my inexperienced eye the sandboxing is causing the issue. Perhaps someone from Serif can confirm.

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1 hour ago, elec164 said:

Cecil, it would seem the difference is that the Apple App version is sandboxed.

In full disclosure while I've had AP for some time, I've only started to use it more seriously. Reason being is that with my older MacBook I was using Photoshop CS6 Perpetual License. And while back then I dabbled with AP I preferred the devil I knew vs the devil I didn't. That changed when I bought a new MacBook which had Catalina in which CS6 would not run.

Wanting a better sharpening tool I investigated to find one that used deconvolution. With a bit of research I bought the photographers bundle of Topaz Labs AI. When they wouldn't run I bought the Nik Plugins which after jumping through the preferences hoops ran just fine. I would still like the Topaz Labs to work, so looking forward to Serif fixing the issue.

It could very well be Catalina causing the issue. I can't say for sure being I've only run into the issue currently. But of the four differences, it appears to my inexperienced eyes that the sandboxing is the issue. Somehow the OS is looking at AP trying to invoke the AI apps as a security risk and preventing them somehow.

Exactly, and the very principle of this invoking should be different within the MAS version, which is not the case. We can blame macOS, but frankly we should say to Affinity please make them running smoothly as they should be running without claiming the sandboxing or anything else.

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I thought my point was Affinity macOS versions are the same.  macOS and Affinity have problems regardless of purchase from MAS or Affinity. @elec164 that was the thread, thanks for posting,

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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1 hour ago, pixartia said:

Thank you for your precision @elec164

Hope @Cecil now can see better what's the point.

 

This is totally unacceptable then for Affinity to release a version that will work on the same macOS from the store and not from MAS.  They are totally aware of Apple security and sandboxing.  Peace

Cecil 

iMac Retina 5K, 27”, 2019. 3.6 GHz Intel Core 9, 40 GB Memory DDR4, Radeon Pro 580X 8 GB, macOS,iPad Pro iPadOS

 

Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Hi, Im new to posting on the forum, but read regularly, but this issue is still here, and frankly doing my head in..  I cannot believe that no Serif support person has been back on this thread to even give a glimmer of hope to us how have purchased Topaz AI Apps to run on our Apple AppStore bought AP.

I am currently running the new Big Sur OS version on my iMac and most up to date version 1.8.6 of AF. The Topaz DeNoise plug-in loads, looks as it should but doesn't carry out the noise reduction when asked to. I have spent the best part of last week working with Topaz support, (excellent) to try many different things to sort out this problem, to no avail,  but we know it is defo a AP "Permissions" problem.

I am a complete novice as to how computers work but surely Serif can sort this glitch without too much trouble? I have at least 6 friends who have AF who are fed-up and are now going back to Photoshop as they want to use Topaz Apps with their editing.

Come on Serif, pull your finger out!!    PLEASE..

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I got the impression from Affinity Photo that they considered this a problem with having the application "sand-boxed" for sale in the Apple Store and they aren't going to fix it.  I bought the bullet and bought a copy of Affinity Photo directly from Serif (during their latest sale) and installed that.  I took a little work to transfer my customizations but I managed to do that.  After doing that, my Topaz plugins, Topaz studio 2 and On1 plugins worked okay.  I am not too miffed at having to buy the software over again, because I have been using the sandboxed version since it came out, but I could see that if you just bought it from the Apple Store you would have the right to be upset.  The Apple Store version should have a disclaimer indicating that some features won't work properly.

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2 hours ago, GregHH said:

I got the impression from Affinity Photo that they considered this a problem with having the application "sand-boxed" for sale in the Apple Store and they aren't going to fix it.  I bought the bullet and bought a copy of Affinity Photo directly from Serif (during their latest sale) and installed that.  I took a little work to transfer my customizations but I managed to do that.  After doing that, my Topaz plugins, Topaz studio 2 and On1 plugins worked okay.  I am not too miffed at having to buy the software over again, because I have been using the sandboxed version since it came out, but I could see that if you just bought it from the Apple Store you would have the right to be upset.  The Apple Store version should have a disclaimer indicating that some features won't work properly.

Very strange this politic of silence. Affinity didn't seem to be Adobe-like-big-corp-snobes at a first glance, but in reality I would like they disavow this feeling as soon as possible.

Since many month I try to make them answer these compatibility concerned questions - without any visible success. Meanwhile the AAS version is still there where it was, has been never changed.

PITY.

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15 hours ago, Craig Bell said:

I am a complete novice as to how computers work but surely Serif can sort this glitch without too much trouble? I have at least 6 friends who have AF who are fed-up and are now going back to Photoshop as they want to use Topaz Apps with their editing.

 

I would think someone should be able to fix this. I'm no computer expert either but I bought DxO NIK plugins and they work fine when invoked from within Affinity Photo (granted I had to jump through some hoops to get them all to show up in the Filters menu). That seems to indicate that it can be done. It just depends on who's end the issue is, Serif or Topaz. The plugins show up in the Filters drop down menu and when you click on one they show in the history that the plugin was invoked, but nothing happens. On the other hand when I click on the NIK plugins in the Filters drop down menu the image opens up in the plugin and when saved the results show up in Affinity Photo. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi everyone and happy new year.

I'm still facing the same issue with Topaz Denoise Ai and Sharpen Ai plug-ins: the plug-ins open but they don't effect the photo.
I've bought Affinity Photo from the App Store and I'm running the latest version 1.8.6 on macOS Big Sur 11.1.
The Topaz customer service says me that the problem could be related to the version of AP downloaded from App Store which is Sandboxed.
I don't know what is mean, but the only way to solve the problem seems to be to download AP directly from the Seriff site and reinstall it.
However this is not possible without a new purchase.

Please Seriff solve it! Thanks in advance.

Edited by icio85
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  • 2 weeks later...

I got the same problem as I'm using macOS Big Sur and AP 1.8.6 App Store version.  I can't load Topaz Lab Studio 2.0 as a plug-in.  I also have a Windows version of both AP and Topaz Studio 2.0 on my PC, the latter both run smoothly in Windows 10.  Is there any fix from Serif?

Edited by Fivebugs
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Hi Folks, after spending at least 2 weeks with Topaz support then Serif support, before and after Xmas, there is no fix on Apple IMacs using Big Sur. The issue is purely the Apple AppStore bought apps are “Sand boxed “ by Apple to protect the app from malware etc.  
You have 2 options..

1.. delete your AppStore bought AP and re-buy it direct from the Serif website...bit of a ball ache I know but all your apps inc Topaz will run like a dream..

Or... 

2... If you’ve already purchased your AP from the Apple AppStore.. UNLUCKY!! Try and blag a free version from the Serif customer support as it just won’t work with the Apple version..

Good luck with whichever way you do it.

Best wishes, Craig.

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  • Staff

That option is only available on the new macOS with an Apple M1 chip. If yours is from 2018 it still uses an Intel chip. The Mac App Store version have issues with some plugins as the app runs in a sandboxed environment. I haven't tested Topaz Lab Studio 2.0 specifically yet but that's most likely the case. Other Topaz plugins also have issues with the Mac App Store version.

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I get the following 2 questions:

1. If I purchase a web version to replace my Mac App Store (MAS) version, what steps should I perform to replace it?  e.g. can I just download the web version and install it to overwrite the MAS version?  Or should I delete (un-install) the MAS version on my iMac before I proceed to install the web version? 

2. When will the AP version 2.0 be available?

 

Thanks

 

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I had to do some stuff to change from the mac store version to the web version including:

1 export all my custom macros

2 export all my custom brushes

3 make a copy of all of the files in the directory ~/Library/Containers/com.seriflabs.affinityphoto/Data/Library/Application Support/user/

4 Uninstall the mac store version

5 Install the web version.

6 copy the files saved in step 3 to ~/Library/Application Support/Affinity Photo/user/      I did this one file at a time, for only the files I knew I had customized.

7 Import brushes and macros

8 Set the plug in permissions in "preferences"

 

Some of this might be redundant, as the library files may contain some of the customizations, but this was the process I followed.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/14/2021 at 11:38 AM, MEB said:

That option is only available on the new macOS with an Apple M1 chip. If yours is from 2018 it still uses an Intel chip. The Mac App Store version have issues with some plugins as the app runs in a sandboxed environment. I haven't tested Topaz Lab Studio 2.0 specifically yet but that's most likely the case. Other Topaz plugins also have issues with the Mac App Store version.

Studio 2 as well as Sharpen AI open but don't do much or anything.  With Studio 2, you have access to filters but not looks.    Sharpen AI doesn't do anything after opening.  Denoise AI shows an error message Denoise AI model is missing or corrupted as shown in screen shot below.  I had a long talk with Topaz Support.  Nothing they can do as they don't support Photo. It's a real shame that Serif cannot provide a solution to this.  We spent a ton of money on plug-ins as well as on AP and are left to figure this out on our own. 

Screen Shot 2021-01-29 at 1.44.34 PM.jpg

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