Troubleshooting

We’ve documented the most commonly-asked tech support questions here. A regularly updated troubleshooting guide can be found in the Support section of our Web site. If you get really stuck, send E-mail to support@alienskin.com. Include in the E-mail your 12-letter registration code, whether you are using Mac or Windows, and your graphics host program (Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, etc.).

This chapter covers the following troubleshooting issues:

• Installation Problems

• Performance Issues

• Error Messages

### Installation Problems

#### Problem

The installer won't accept my 12-letter registration code, or I can't find my code.

#### Solution

Lost registration code

The product registration code (serial number) is a 12-letter code located in one of the following three places:

• Your user manual (physical version).

• On the CD jewel case (physical version).

• On the download page and in an email invoice (electronic version).

If you've registered the software with us (by purchasing directly from us, registering online or sending in a registration card), we'll have the code in our database.

If you didn't register with us, contact us at support@alienskin.com to receive a new registration code.

If you have the code

Make sure that you are entering the 12-letter code and other registration fields correctly. The Name field must contain at least three characters.

Make sure that you are using a valid code. Product registration codes are not interchangeable. For example, an Eye Candy 4000 code will not work with any other product. You will need to use the code that you received when you purchased the software. This 12-letter code can be found on the web page from which you downloaded the software, in an email invoice you received while downloading the product or on a sticker inside the front cover of the manual.

#### Problem

When I try to install, I get an error dialog saying that I don’t have privileges or permission to install the software.

#### Solution

The installer, like most installation programs, needs to write files to secure folders on your computer. If you use OS X, Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you must have administrator privileges. For information on configuring your user account for these privileges, see your system administrator or your operating system manual.

#### Problem

After installing the plug-ins and starting the graphics host program, the filters do not appear in the Filter or plug-in menu.

#### Solution

The filters were not installed in your graphics program’s plug-in folder. Find out which folder your host program uses for plug-ins. With Photoshop, you can determine this by going to Edit > Preferences > Plug-ins. Then, install the filters again, making sure you select the proper plug-in folder.

Also, remember that after installing new filters, you must restart your graphics host for the plug-ins to become available. With other host programs, consult your user manual for more information about where plug-ins need to be installed and how to access them.

#### Problem

My software doesn’t work with a graphics program that claims to use Photoshop plug-ins.

#### Solution

Some host programs claim to work with all Photoshop plug-ins without testing thoroughly or strictly following the Photoshop plug-in standard. If you’d like to use our software with a host not listed in this manual, please visit our Web site for the latest list of compatible hosts.

#### Problem

How do I uninstall my software?

Macintosh Users:

Find the Nature folder in your graphics program’s plug-in folder and delete it. Also delete the
/Users/<user name>/Library/Application Support/Alien Skin/Nature folder.

Windows Users:

Run Add/Remove Programs from your Windows Control Panel. Select Nature from the program list and click the Add/Remove button. This will remove the program and most of its components. To remove your settings, navigate to the
/Documents and Settings/<user name>/Application Data/Alien Skin/Eye Candy 5 Nature folder.

### Performance Issues

#### Problem

Some or all of the filters appear grayed out in the Filter menu.

#### Solution

Grayed-out filters in the Filter menu occur if you are in certain color modes (such as CMYK, Lab or Bitmap) that won’t allow a specific filter to work properly.

#### Problem

I get a message that my software ran out of memory while rendering the preview.

#### Solution

There are a few things you can do to free up more memory. In Photoshop, the history palette and other features take up a lot of memory. You can free this memory by selecting Edit > Purge > All.

To free up even more memory in Photoshop, select Edit > Preferences > Memory & Image Cache. Then, increase the Maximum Used value.

If you routinely work with huge images, we recommend that you have ten times as much physical RAM as the image size in memory.

#### Problem

The preview seems broken. It only shows the checkerboard pattern.

#### Solution

Sometimes the preview begins in a transparent part of a layer. Click an opaque area of your selection in the navigation thumbnail.

#### Problem

A filter makes the graphics program or the entire computer crash or freeze up.

#### Solution

Sometimes freezes or crashes occur when your computer runs out of available memory. If you are using Photoshop, you can sometimes free up large amounts of memory by selecting Edit > Purge > All.

Also, make sure that your computer system meets the minimum requirements to run our software. Shut down other programs before you run your image editing program, as there might be a conflict between another program and our software. If you notice such a conflict, we will love you very much if you try to identify the problem program and inform us of the conflict at support@alienskin.com.

#### Problem

I can’t switch between filters inside the Eye Candy user interface.

#### Solution

The feature only works in Photoshop CS and Elements. Other hosts don’t support the necessary parts of the Photoshop plug-in specification.

Also, if you switch filters using the menu on the filter dialog, the new layer feature will be disabled in the filter you’ve switched to. If you want to apply a filter in a new layer, make sure you start with the filter you plan to apply.

### Error Messages

Error Message | User Remedy
--- | ---
This host application does not support enough of the Photoshop filter specification for this filter to run. | Sorry! Your host graphics program is incompatible with our software. Consult the list of compatible host programs in the Host Requirements section of the Getting Started chapter.
This filter requires editable transparency. Please turn OFF Preserve Transparency in the Layer palette. | In the Layers tab, deselect the Lock Transparent Pixels button.
The filter ran out of available memory while rendering the preview image. | The history palette and other features take up a lot of memory. In Photoshop, you can free up this memory by selecting Edit > Purge > All. You may not have enough physical memory (RAM) to handle the image that you’re working with.
Macintosh users only: This filter only runs on Mac OS X 10.2 or later. | Check the operating system requirements for this software in your user manual. Nature only works with Mac OS X 10.2 or later.