Topaz Labs / Hemi / NIK as Plugin

[Patryk]

Hey folks,

I'm facing the issue that I can't use any Plugin in Affinity Photo anymore. 

I used Hemi and Nik before on my late 2012 MacBook Pro, but I switched some weeks ago to the M1 Mac mini.

As nothing happened when choosing the Plugin beside of "Plugin" was mentioned as step in the protocol I have done the following:

- Uninstall Affinity Photo (Apple AppStore Version)

- Empty the trash bin

- Purchase Affinity Photo for a second time via Serif website

- Download dmg installer and re-install Affinity Photo

- Add all plugin folders and check the box to allow unknown Plugins

- restart Affinity Photo

- Open a random JPG

- try out and see that nothing changed

Starting Topaz Denoise or any NIK app independently works fine, but I want to reduce the steps of interchanging between apps. 

Any hints or did I just throw additional 28€ to the bin? 

[MEB]

Hi @Patryk,
In the Photoshop Plugins section in Affinity Preferences, click the Authorise Global button there, then press the  Authorise button again in the Finder dialog that will open next. If done correctly you should see a forward slash in the Plugin Support Folders area.
Then go to the Applications folder, right-click the Affinity Photo app, select Get Info then tick Open Using Rosetta in the General section to force Affinity Photo to run as an Intel application instead (to ensure compatibility with photoshop plugins).
Let us know if you still have issues after following those steps.

[Patryk]

1 hour ago, MEB said:

Hi @Patryk,
In the Photoshop Plugins section in Affinity Preferences, click the Authorise Global button there, then press the  Authorise button again in the Finder dialog that will open next. If done correctly you should see a forward slash in the Plugin Support Folders area.
Then go to the Applications folder, right-click the Affinity Photo app, select Get Info then tick Open Using Rosetta in the General section to force Affinity Photo to run as an Intel application instead (to ensure compatibility with photoshop plugins).
Let us know if you still have issues after following those steps.

This worked out and the Plugins working right now. Thanks for the help... Now the major question... would "open using Rosetta" also fix the limited access of the Plugins in the Apple AppStore Version?

[MEB]

Hi @Patryk,
No, sorry. Some Topaz plugins specifically will not work in the sandboxed environment all mac apps from the Mac App Store must run on. They will crash the app.

[Patryk]

That's a pity as you do not know it when buying like proposed on the Serif homepage in the Appstore

[MEB]

Hi @Patryk,
It doesn't depend just on us, some plugins simply don't work in sandboxed host apps while others do work fine with the Mac App Store version - only the plugin's developers can fix it.

[BGMALC]

Hi I am new to Affinity and have found that my Topaz plugin's , although they appear to load ok , will not run. I have followed this blog and was surprised when it stated that they will or will not work dependant on where Affinity was purchased from The term "sandbox" has been used which I have to heard of before. If there are limitations , based on purchase location, surely it is someones responsibility , either Affinity or the other app supplier, to let the purchaser know. I have used Photoshop for many years and have yet to look at using a plugin where that information is not out there for the public to find. Has anyone found a way round this issue yet I would be very thankful for a solution otherwise I will probably have to drop Affinity as I use Topaz De Noise a lot . Thanks in advance.

[MEB]

Hi @BGMALC
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Unfortunately Topaz DeNoise (2.4.2) doesn't work with the Mac App Store version of Affinity Photo 1.9x. It displays an error as soon as we run the plugin or touch any of its sliders: Processing Error. DeNoise Ai model is missing or corrupted. (TF).
This issue was logged internally but there's nothing we can do to make it work, only the plugin developer can fix this. I advise you contact Topaz directly and let them know about the issue.

[Calo]

On 4/8/2021 at 8:41 AM, MEB said:

Hi @Patryk,
In the Photoshop Plugins section in Affinity Preferences, click the Authorise Global button there, then press the  Authorise button again in the Finder dialog that will open next. If done correctly you should see a forward slash in the Plugin Support Folders area.
Then go to the Applications folder, right-click the Affinity Photo app, select Get Info then tick Open Using Rosetta in the General section to force Affinity Photo to run as an Intel application instead (to ensure compatibility with photoshop plugins).
Let us know if you still have issues after following those steps.

Thank you @Patryk, this looks very promising to the problem of opening Topaz plugins from within Affinity Photo (v1.9.3) on M1 Mac Mini.

Can you comment on performance of the AP app using Rosetta on the M1? I really enjoy the speed of the AP app and don't wish to impact its performance, or performance of anything else (so far no Rosetta is being used).

Also, Topaz states on their website: "PHOTOSHOP PLUGIN NOT WORKING ON M1/SILICON MACS: If you recently updated your Photoshop to version 22.3 on your M1 device and can no longer see our plugins please know there is a conflict between Adobe and Apple preventing the use of our plugins on M1 devices. While waiting for this to be resolved, you can run the M1 native Photoshop through Rosetta and our plugins should appear." (Link: https://help.topazlabs.com/hc/en-us)

So, is this an Adobe Photoshop fix? And if Adobe fix is needed, can we look to AP help solve this (other than the Rosetta solution) independently of Adobe? Long Live Independence from Adobe!

Please discuss, thank you!

Carl

Edited May 18, 2021 by Calo

[BGMALC]

Hi all and thanks for the input. I have made progress - sort of. I was using an APP STORE version of Affinity and was having issues making Topaz plug-ins to work.with this version I finally gave up and purchased Affinity Photo direct from Serif  and proceeded to load in three Topaz apps  - DeNoise, Sharpen and Mask. All loaded and alll work as expected. I open in "filters" and action each plugin - they load  and I make adjustments as per normal. I then do a final "apply" and they proceed to process the changes and then the changed image goes directly back into the layers stack in Affinity as expected. The only complaint for me is the processing time in Affinity is slightly longer than it was in Photoshop.

The only Topaz plug-in I still have to get going is Gigapixel.

 I went back to Apple Support ( Apps Store support ?) and explained what I had done. They did not have any answers for me on why the plugins will not work on the Apps Store version ( I did mentioned "sandbagging" which had been mentioned to me but they ruled this out), but did on the direct purchased copy from Serif.

What they have asked me to do is reload the Apps Store version again and then to try and load and run the Topaz plugins on this version. They have provided me with a means of recording me doing all this and a means to send back to them. There is a bit of work in what they have asked for but I will do so when I have a bit more time. Thought you may be interested what I found.  

[BGMALC]

Hi I looked at your suggestion about "open using Rosetta" and looked at get info and there is no mention of rosetta at all. I have checked the Apps Store version as well and agin no mention of requiring Rosetta in get info. With it missing I do not see a way of activating it .