Failing to install Portrait Pro Studio plugins

[mypointofview]

Hi!

I know there's a thread regarding this topic from 2016, but I'm completely failing to get this to work on my Mac (M1, Monterey)

I bought the Portrait Pro Studio Version, but since I don't have Photoshop on my Mac anymore it refuses to install the corresponding plug-ins.

only the stand alone app gets installed, which is useless in my workflow.

I opened the app and tried to manually install them, but that doesn't work either.

 

I'm completely lost!

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

 

thanks! 

[firstdefence]

It should be as simple as manually placing the plugin into Affinity's default plugin folder, you you can easily find by going to settings > plugin section and there is a link to that folder but... I think you'll find the PortraitPro Studio (PPS) plugin will crash Affinity Photo, although you may be lucky and it not.

I extracted the plugin prior to install from the pkg file using the app suspicious package which I installed via terminal and homebrew: 

brew install suspicious-package --cask

I tested all this out with the PortraitProTrial and it crashes my Affinity Photo v2.1.1 on Ventura 13.4.1

[firstdefence]

Here is snippet from Anthropics website support.

- How do I install the Photoshop plug-in files manually?

For Windows please use the Photoshop Plugin Installer and this should install the plugin correctly. If you still have any problems then please read on for the manual copying instructions.
The 64-bit Windows plugin is called PSFilterPPLauncher64.8bf and you can find it in the PortraitPro folder:
C:\Program Files\Portrait Pro Studio 17
Copy this file (PSFilterPPLauncher64.8bf) to your 64-bit Photoshop Plug-ins folder. This can be found at:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC\Plug-ins
The 32-bit Windows plugin is not usually needed now that most computers are 64 bit. It is called PSFilterPPLauncher.8bf and you can find it in the same folder as the 64 bit plug-in. Use the above instructions to install it.
The Mac Plugin file is called PSFilterPPLauncher.plugin.
You can find it by going to /Applications/PortraitProStudio or /Applications/PortraitProStudioMax right-clicking and selecting "Show Package Contents". In the new window that appears, go to Contents->MacOS, and you will find the plugin bundle there.
To install it into Photoshop, copy the plugin bundle to your Photoshop Plug-ins folder. You can usually find this at:
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CC/Plug-ins. Or in Affinity's case ~/Library/Application Support/Affinity Photo 2/Plugins

[mypointofview]

@firstdefence

thanks for elaborating!

I followed exactly that description in FAQ on the Anthropics website, with absolutely no luck.

The Portrait Pro plugin doesn't get installed, since it couldn't find a Photoshop version on my Mac. When I take the Portrait Pro Studio App and reveal the content it does show plugins but not the actual plugin file.

When I start the PPStudio app, I can go into preferences and plugin and it doesn't let me start a manual plugin installation, it just shows "show plugin folder" button instead... 🤪

there I find a plugin (Lego cube symbol) and when I put in the dedicated Affinity folder in (alt) library, Affinity Photo v2 does recognise it, but I can't get activated, no matter what I try when I allow "unknown" and global.

 

I don't even get that far, it could crash 🙈

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, mypointofview said:

but I can't get activated, no matter what I try when I allow "unknown" and global.

Please show us your Photo Settings, Photoshop Plugins section.

What happens when you try to use it?

[mypointofview]

This is what it looks like, when I put the plugin into the dedicated AP plugin folder under (alt) library.

And what it looks like within APv2

 

thanks! 

 

PS: as you can see my plugin is called differently PortraitProPSFilter and not PSFilterPPLauncher.plugin

[mypointofview]

Update: even though the plugin seems to be unknown, within Affinity Photo there is under filter -> plugins -> Anthropics -> PortraitPro

 

I tested a file and clicked the above filter (plugin) and the PortraitPro Studio app opens. And I can make all alternations.

I made a new background layer before, to keep it non destructive.

 

Works fine... so strange it still tells me in prefs it's still "unknown" 🤷🏻‍♂️

[R C-R]

5 minutes ago, mypointofview said:

Works fine... so strange it still tells me in prefs it's still "unknown" 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have never understood what exactly "Unknown" is supposed to signify but the status of quite a few plugins that work are listed as "Unknown," yet that does not, as you have seen, mean they won't work. So for instance, i have the old Google NIk Collection & Filter Forge 8 plugins installed on my Mac, & the status of almost all of them are listed as "Unknown," but they all work to one extent or another.

[mypointofview]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

I have never understood what exactly "Unknown" is supposed to signify but the status of quite a few plugins that work are listed as "Unknown," yet that does not, as you have seen, mean they won't work. So for instance, i have the old Google NIk Collection & Filter Forge 8 plugins installed on my Mac, & the status of almost all of them are listed as "Unknown," but they all work to one extent or another.

thanks for pointing that out to me!

I'm a binary person, I like a yes or a no! 😂

 

At least no crashes! 👍🏻

[Alfred]

26 minutes ago, mypointofview said:

I'm a binary person, I like a yes or a no! 😂

 

At least no crashes! 👍🏻

If I have a choice between a yes or a no, and no crashes, then give me yes every time!

 

[firstdefence]

Might be an idea to ask the question of Anthropic's Portrait Pro Studio and Affinity Photo, I know they have probably answered the question in a generic way, considering any app that can use a photoshop plugin, but with the amount of users Affinity has it wouldn't hurt for them to create a install for Affinity Photo. 

[mypointofview]

2 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Might be an idea to ask the question of Anthropic's Portrait Pro Studio and Affinity Photo, I know they have probably answered the question in a generic way, considering any app that can use a photoshop plugin, but with the amount of users Affinity has it wouldn't hurt for them to create a install for Affinity Photo. 

couldn't agree more!

But I guess PS/Adobe is still their main target... but honestly I haven't missed Photoshop or Indesign for a minute! 🤓

[firstdefence]

11 hours ago, mypointofview said:

couldn't agree more!

But I guess PS/Adobe is still their main target... but honestly I haven't missed Photoshop or Indesign for a minute! 🤓

I agree and although Affinity lacks a lot of the refined features that Photoshops programmers have developed over the years, I still find myself using Affinity Photo more than Photoshop CC. I still have a preference for Illustrator but that is to a degree because of the awesome Astute plugins and HotDoors Cadtools, But I'm growing more fond of Designer as the iterations come out and the devs are really moving it forward.

[Herodirector]

Same problem here, I keep trying to use my product, and each time, I give up because Anthropic isn't doing its job at all.

Terrible company and service.