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Posted (edited)

I'm considering switching to Affinity Photo 2 and I frequently use the plugin Exposure X7 on Photoshop.

I installed the plugin in Affinity Photo 2 and it shows in the menu. 

image.png.584ab464d398d201802f1b05947818d7.png

I authorized the plugins and they are showin up in the preferences menu

image.png.d5dad410d7cea3f36f058b4e0f188150.png

When I try to use the plugin, in the History menu "Plugin" appears, but nothing happens.

image.png.1e5a8e32da06a7b97bff634b5c803b44.png

Any info on how to fix?

Edited by il_poli
Posted

Hi @il_poli, and welcome to forums!

Please first make sure that you apply Photoshop plug-ins on a Pixel layer (though I think they will not even be available when other kinds of layers  are chosen). Note too that the plug-in effect will not be applied on a new layer copy (as in Photoshop) but on the selected layer itself.

Other than that, I am not sure what you have as a problem. I myself have not been able to use Snap Art and Blow Up filers in context of Affinity Photo (I do not have the latter even visible as a detected plug-in).

You show the History panel in your post, but I am not sure why? You would apply plug-in effects from the Plugins menu (as you have displayed in your first screenshot), and only go back and worth in the document history using the History panel.

Posted
On 9/29/2024 at 11:43 AM, lacerto said:

Hi @il_poli, and welcome to forums!

Please first make sure that you apply Photoshop plug-ins on a Pixel layer (though I think they will not even be available when other kinds of layers  are chosen). Note too that the plug-in effect will not be applied on a new layer copy (as in Photoshop) but on the selected layer itself.

Other than that, I am not sure what you have as a problem. I myself have not been able to use Snap Art and Blow Up filers in context of Affinity Photo (I do not have the latter even visible as a detected plug-in).

You show the History panel in your post, but I am not sure why? You would apply plug-in effects from the Plugins menu (as you have displayed in your first screenshot), and only go back and worth in the document history using the History panel.

Thanks for your feedback.

I showed the History pannel to show that "Plugin" appears in history, but nothing really happens on the file.

Pixel layer is selected when I try to apply, but it doesn't work. I'm not sure what the issue is

 

Posted
7 hours ago, il_poli said:

but it doesn't work

Did you try with Exposure X7 itself, or with the bundle filters? (I have not been able to use have the bundle filters operating with Affinity.Photo, though they do work with Photoshop 2024 installed on the same computer). But Exposure seems to work ok.

Where do you have them installed (not that it should matter, because they have been detected) -- but just for curiosity (because you have managed to have the Blow Up bundle filter detected, while I have not).

One thing that might also have effect is hardware acceleration, and OS version. I have Metal computing enabled and Sonoma 14.6.1. My Affinity Photo is 2.5.6.  

UPDATE: Here's a screenshot of my Exposure plug-in detection:

image.png.b4564dd9b8d3aa81906238f5540ba0c0.png

I have no clear understanding on the difference of search and support folders.Note that  I have Blow Up showing here, but it is not visible in the Plugins menu within Affinity Photo 2. Snap Art 4 launches but nothing is visible of the pixel layer that is being processed there...

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, lacerto said:

I have no clear understanding on the difference of search and support folders.

Nor do I but I am fairly sure you need to add a path to a folder to the Plugin Search Folder field pointing to where the *.plugin is located. 

Edited by R C-R
Removed the stuff I am less sure about

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.7 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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Posted
7 hours ago, R C-R said:

Nor do I but I am fairly sure you need to add a path to a folder to the Plugin Search Folder field pointing to where the *.plugin is located. 

On Windows this works a bit differently:

image.png.adff6640079575895bdcbace845bc4c1.png

...so there is no separate definition for "support folder", but on the other hand, a default folder. I have no idea whether certain plugins might operate better when placed in Affinity plugins folder? Anyway, as for Exposure plug-ins, both Expores X7 and Snap Arto 4 operate properly there. But I have not been able to laucn Pop Up 3 on Windows, either (it works fine in context of Photoshop CC 2024, though, on both platforms).

Posted

It just occurred to me that on macOS, this might also be a security thing, and might be resolved if you try to access the plug-ins from within another app (Photoshop, e.g.), where you might get a security notification displayed and given a chance to give necessary permissions to access your files. Check the app specific Privacy & Security settings on your Mac.

permissions.thumb.png.5f9334add030b153d7f94ed0247c6220.png

I have a new Mac and do not e.g. have yet any security settings related to Affinity Photo here, but e.g. Photoshop has similar settings as Exposure X7 to access files under Desktop and Documents folders. On the other hand, as mentioned, Exposure X7 does operate fine in context of Affinity Photo 2 on my Mac.

Posted
9 hours ago, lacerto said:

Did you try with Exposure X7 itself, or with the bundle filters? (I have not been able to use have the bundle filters operating with Affinity.Photo, though they do work with Photoshop 2024 installed on the same computer). But Exposure seems to work ok.

Where do you have them installed (not that it should matter, because they have been detected) -- but just for curiosity (because you have managed to have the Blow Up bundle filter detected, while I have not).

One thing that might also have effect is hardware acceleration, and OS version. I have Metal computing enabled and Sonoma 14.6.1. My Affinity Photo is 2.5.6.  

UPDATE: Here's a screenshot of my Exposure plug-in detection:

image.png.b4564dd9b8d3aa81906238f5540ba0c0.png

I have no clear understanding on the difference of search and support folders.Note that  I have Blow Up showing here, but it is not visible in the Plugins menu within Affinity Photo 2. Snap Art 4 launches but nothing is visible of the pixel layer that is being processed there...

I have installed this under /Users/********/Library/Containers/com.seriflabs.affinityphoto2/Data/Library/Application Support/Plugins but the folder shown in PLUGIN SEARCH FOLDER is /Users/********/Library/Containers/, I'm not sure why...

Posted
45 minutes ago, il_poli said:

I have installed this under /Users/********/Library/Containers/com.seriflabs.affinityphoto2/Data/Library/Application Support/Plugins but the folder shown in PLUGIN SEARCH FOLDER is /Users/********/Library/Containers/, I'm not sure why...

I would try if moving/copying the plugins in a typical Adobe plug-in location (like shown in my post) might help? The plugins themselves might assume something like this, or there might be some permission issue in Serif Labs based locations??? Just guessing.

Posted
4 hours ago, lacerto said:

I would try if moving/copying the plugins in a typical Adobe plug-in location (like shown in my post) might help? The plugins themselves might assume something like this, or there might be some permission issue in Serif Labs based locations??? Just guessing.

I tried this, but nothing changed.

Exposure works fine if I start it as a stand alone software, but won't work as a plugin

  • Staff
Posted

Hi @il_poli,
Have you added the path to the location where you installed the plugins in the Plugin Search Folder section?
In your screenshot there's no path set there. Please add the path there, launch Affinity Photo again and check if the plugin works.
Alternatively uninstall the plugins and re-install them again but this time in the select hosts section of the plugin installer create manually a folder in Finder named Exposure X7 Plugin or similar in the Applications folder and point the installer to that path. Then when the plugin installer finishes, run Affinity Photo and add the same path to the Plugin Search Folders section. It should then work for you.
I've installed the trial on my system (MacOS) and Exposure is working fine.

Snap Arts seems to have issues displaying the image inside the plugin and respective filter previews - it kinda works if you select a preset (it outputs the image plus the effect selected but you can't see the preview image inside the plugin itself). I'm still checking if this is an issue with the plugin or Affinity Photo.

Posted
34 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi @il_poli,
Have you added the path to the location where you installed the plugins in the Plugin Search Folder section?
In your screenshot there's no path set there. Please add the path there, launch Affinity Photo again and check if the plugin works.
Alternatively uninstall the plugins and re-install them again but this time in the select hosts section of the plugin installer create manually a folder in Finder named Exposure X7 Plugin or similar in the Applications folder and point the installer to that path. Then when the plugin installer finishes, run Affinity Photo and add the same path to the Plugin Search Folders section. It should then work for you.
I've installed the trial on my system (MacOS) and Exposure is working fine.

Snap Arts seems to have issues displaying the image inside the plugin and respective filter previews - it kinda works if you select a preset (it outputs the image plus the effect selected but you can see the previews image inside the plugin itself. I'm still checking if this is an issue with the plugin or Affinity Photo.

I tried this solution, but didn't work for me either... I'm going crazy 

  • Staff
Posted

What solution exactly? Adding the current plugin's path to the Search Folder section?
Have you also tried to create a custom folder in the Applications folder and instruct the plugin to install the files there?
I believe the Default plugin folder is mostly to install plugins which do detect and support Affinity Photo as a host directly. While installing plugins there may also work if pointed correctly from the Plugin Search Folders section (I will have to double-check this with dev team) It's probably better to use a custom folder for plugins which doesn't officially support Affinity Photo directly.

Posted
2 minutes ago, il_poli said:

I tried this solution, but didn't work for me either... I'm going crazy 

What specifically did you add to the Plugin Search Folder section?

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.7 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Posted
1 minute ago, MEB said:

What solution exactly? Adding the current plugin's path to the Search Folder section?
Have you also tried to create a custom folder in the Applications folder and instruct the plugin to install the files there?

Sorry, I tried both solutions you suggested. 
I tried adding the path (first with PS original plugin location, then with AP2 plugin standard folder installing/uninstalling the plugins in the specific folder). It didn't work.
Then I uninstalled everything again, created a folder in my Applications folder and installed the plugin there, adding the path as you suggested in Settings menu.

Same issue as before

Posted
4 minutes ago, MEB said:

Can you post a screenshot of the Photoshop Plugins section in Affinity Settings dialog and one of the folder in Finder where you installed the plugin files with the file path visible (View > Show Path Bar in Finder)? Thanks.

 

Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 15.34.27.png

Screenshot 2024-10-01 at 15.36.38.png

  • Staff
Posted

Thanks. The current path In the Plugin Search Folders ( /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/Exposure ) doesn't match the path where the plugin files were installed ( /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/Exposure Software/Exposure X7 ). They have to match.
So remove the current path in the Plugin Search Folders section, then click Add and browse to /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/ . That's enough to detect the plugin files in all nested folders inside that folder.

Posted

You appear to be selecting the highlighted Exposure Software folder in the middle column of your video at around the 8 second mark. What happens if you just click OK at around the 5 second mark before you highlight that folder? Do you then get /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/ in the Plugins Search Folders field?

Either way, did you restart AP to make the change?

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.5.7 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
A
ll 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Posted
11 hours ago, R C-R said:

You appear to be selecting the highlighted Exposure Software folder in the middle column of your video at around the 8 second mark. What happens if you just click OK at around the 5 second mark before you highlight that folder? Do you then get /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/ in the Plugins Search Folders field?

Either way, did you restart AP to make the change?

I already tried with both path /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/ and /Applications/Plugin Affinity Exposure/Exposure with no results.

Also, I always restart AP after making changes

Posted

Try if creating (if necessary) first the Adobe specific plug-in folder, and then installing under that folder:

exposurepluginpath.png.99120aa054f6bf72bde295a5afe28d8b.png

When having this, I can have Exposure X7 operating normally in context of Affinity Photo 2 (on Sonoma). The other two plugins do not work on macOS as plugins. Snap Art 4 launches, but nothing is shown. On Windows it works fine. Blow Up 3 is not shown on either platform in menus, even if it is shown as a detected plugin. All three plugins operate fine with Photoshop 2024 on both platforms.

UPDATE: I noticed that even if Snap Art on macOS 4 does not show anything in the plugin interface, the effect that is chosen in the interface will be actually applied on the selected pixel layer.

Posted
5 hours ago, lacerto said:

Try if creating (if necessary) first the Adobe specific plug-in folder, and then installing under that folder:

exposurepluginpath.png.99120aa054f6bf72bde295a5afe28d8b.png

When having this, I can have Exposure X7 operating normally in context of Affinity Photo 2 (on Sonoma). The other two plugins do not work on macOS as plugins. Snap Art 4 launches, but nothing is shown. On Windows it works fine. Blow Up 3 is not shown on either platform in menus, even if it is shown as a detected plugin. All three plugins operate fine with Photoshop 2024 on both platforms.

UPDATE: I noticed that even if Snap Art on macOS 4 does not show anything in the plugin interface, the effect that is chosen in the interface will be actually applied on the selected pixel layer.

I tried also this suggestion. It did't work.

I'm starting to think that there is something outside AP that is interfering... 

Posted
1 hour ago, il_poli said:

I'm starting to think that there is something outside AP that is interfering... 

It might be security/permission related. Do you have activated plugins, or trial versions? If I remember correctly, I got the permission related dialogs displayed only after having activated the plugins, and launching them first in context of Photoshop might have helped... Do you have any other plugins that you could test to see if there is some generic problem?

UPDATE: There might also be something strictly Affinity-specific. I just launched all three plug-ins from within CorelPHOTO-PAINT (macOS version), from their Photoshop-based locations, and all three plugins operate without issues.

Posted

The plugin is activated and it works just fine as stand alone or through PS. 
I think the issue is on the interaction between AP and the plugins.

I think I'll be fine, after all, and I want to thank you all for your support

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