BenVista PhotoZoom Pro 7

[Suetonius]

Good morning All

When using Photoshop, I used PhotoZoom Pro as a plugin; worked very well.

It was unusual in that, instead of behaving like other plugins, it used to appear as a menu item under File>Automate.

When I tried to get A. Photo interested in it, it completely ignored it, even though I placed it in the default plugin folder.

Didn't list it at all, even as "Unknown".

I can use it as a stand-alone program, but it's a lot more convenient as a plug-in.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[Suetonius]

Ooops! Sorry.  Further to my question, I should have said I'm using Windows 10 (and likely to do so for some time       )

[DWright]

It is not possible to use PhotoZoom Pro as a plugin with Affinity Photo

[Suetonius]

4 hours ago, DWright said:

It is not possible to use PhotoZoom Pro as a plugin with Affinity Photo

H'mm! Have to say, thought that might be the answer.  PZ advertises its plugins as being compatible with 'most' programs that use PS plugins, but I really don't see that.

Thanks for your input, anyway.

[walt.farrell]

14 minutes ago, Suetonius said:

PZ advertises its plugins as being compatible with 'most' programs that use PS plugins, but I really don't see that.

That's something to discuss with the developers of PZ

Affinity Photo does not support plug-ins that appear in PS under File > Automate.

[Suetonius]

5 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

That's something to discuss with the developers of PZ

Affinity Photo does not support plug-ins that appear in PS under File > Automate.

Yup. Already dropped them a line, but no reply so far ... although it only was this am.  😁

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Affinity Photo does not support plug-ins that appear in PS under File > Automate.

In fact, AP only supports some but far from all PS filter plugins. PS filter plugins have a Windows extension of 8bf; on Macs they have the 8BFM type code. As explained here, most host apps other than those from Adobe support filter plugins only, & like AP often support only a limited subset of that plugin type.

[firstdefence]

With regards Photoshop, the word plugins is a bit of an umbrella term that encompasses...

1. Plugins: These appear in the Filters Menu and some but not all will work with Affinity Photo, JixiPix being an excellent example of what will work. 
2. Extensions: These can have panels and show up on the Windows menu of PS. These will NOT work with Affinity Photo.
3. Panels: Also called extensions, they group functions and automate some processes in a single panel for a particular workflow, such as colour work, retouching, astrophotography etc. These will NOT work with Affinity Photo.
4. Scripts and Automates: Run sets of instructions, these are more powerful than actions/macros. These will NOT work with Affinity Photo.

 

[Suetonius]

Thanks for the information, all ... much appreciated.

I'm afraid I was originally of the opinion that a plug-in was a plug-in and should work.

Since then, I've done a bit of digging and realise my thoughts were naïve in the extreme.

In fact there are three files involved with my problem - an 8bf (the 'standard' filter plug-in ... but with 'Automation' in the title), an 8li Automation file and an 8be Export file, so I can now understand the problem.

I well appreciate that the Affinity suite of programs is still coming up to speed as far as matching the likes of PS and I think they are doing a pretty darn good job.

I hope that, in the fulness of time and devlopment, these problems might be addressed and overcome, but, in the meantime, I shall be using PZ in its stand alone mode ... a small inconvenience.

Thanks again for all your help and thoughts.

 

[Alfred]

46 minutes ago, Suetonius said:

In fact there are three files involved with my problem - an 8bf (the 'standard' filter plug-in ... but with 'Automation' in the title), an 8li Automation file and an 8be Export file, so I can now understand the problem.

I well appreciate that the Affinity suite of programs is still coming up to speed as far as matching the likes of PS and I think they are doing a pretty darn good job.

I wouldn’t get your hopes up! Serif PhotoPlus was in development for about twenty-five years but it only ever supported Effects (*.8bf) plugins.

[Komatös]

It's not because of Serif. Many extensions use programme interfaces and functions that are only available in the Adobe programmes. If Serif were to try to copy these, they would certainly have patent lawsuits on their hands in no time.