PhotoLooks plugin doesn't load (X3 Ultimate bundle)

[wds937]

I purchased the PaintShop Photo Pro X3 Ultimate bundle from the Corel website. The Magic Bullet PhotoLooks plugin that is part of this package installed successfully, but I can't get it to work.

If I have an open image, and I go to Effects > Plugins > Magic Bullet > PhotoLooks... , I get the following error dialogs in succession:
° Magic Bullet Looks render engine did not load successfully.
° Sorry, can't render this image.
° Not enough memory to complete this operation; close one or more documents or applications and try again. If this
does not correct the problem, you may need to adjust your memory settings or work on a smaller document.

Each dialog has only an OK button, and clicking it displays the next error dialog. Clicking on the last one closes the error dialog with no further action. Task Manager shows about 1.3 GB of physical memory available at the time.

I have tried this on various sized images and various formats (PSP, jpg, gif, etc.). I have also tried updating the graphics driver, and I have uninstalled/reinstalled. None of these changes anything.

Any ideas on how to get this to work would be appreciated.

[Kathy_9]

I also recently purchased the X3 Ultimate bundle and fortunately am not having any issues with the PhotoLooks plugin. I don't know if this will help you or not but wanted to mention there was a Magic Bullet PhotoLooks patch that came with it. Did you see this and apply it? Just a guess but if you didn't apply it, that may be the issue.

[wds937]

...I don't know if this will help you or not but wanted to mention there was a Magic Bullet PhotoLooks patch that came with it. Did you see this and apply it? Just a guess but if you didn't apply it, that may be the issue.

Unless it was already included in the installation on the DVD, I don't think I received any such patch. I searched the DVDs, the printed material, and what ultimately got installed, and I found no mention of, or link to, any patch.

Thanks for the suggestion, though. I'll see if I can find the patch on Corel's site.

[Kathy_9]

Not sure about the DVD as mine was downloaded from Corel. The patch was shown as a separate download. Here's a cut and paste from my download email.

Extras
Download the Magic Bullet PhotoLooks Compatibility Patch for PaintShop Photo Pro X3 users
http://www.corel.com/akdlm/6763/downloa ... _Patch.exe

[wds937]

Thanks for the link, Kathy_9. I downloaded the patch, but I guess the DVD must already contain it. I got the message "No update of your installed software is required at this time." when I tried to install the patch.

[Kathy_9]

Sorry that wasn't it - it would have been a quick, easy fix.

[wds937]

I opened a support incident with Corel a week ago today. Their first suggestion was to uninstall/reinstall (again), after downloading a fresh copy. I did that, with no success.

Today I received an e-mail update from Corel, saying that I need to telephone Corel support. I did this a little while ago. After about 40 minutes of long distance (about half of which was waiting on hold), it still isn't working.

The support representative looked at my computer (by remote), and suggested that I update my video driver and DirectX. I verified that I have the latest version of DirectX for Windows XP. The support representative left my web browser on the download page for the video driver. I downloaded the driver and installed it, but this did not resolve the problem.

The support representative also suggested that this plugin might not work with the video adapter in this machine. This machine meets the published requirements for this package. The support representative had no further suggestions.

This doesn't look too promising. No, I will not buy new hardware just to get one plugin to work. For now, I'll see what Corel's next response is; the support incident is still open.

[wds937]

An update:

I haven't heard from Corel on my support incident in 2½ weeks, so I opened a chat session to inquire about its status. The support representative on chat said he does not have access to support incidents, but he'd try to help anyway. After four chat sessions and numerous uninstalls/downloads/reinstalls, I am no farther than I was.

By this point, I have also tried this plugin with PSP X2 Ultimate and with Corel Photo Paint. I get the same errors from all three. Also, the standalone LooksBuilder program crashes upon launching, prior to displaying anything, whether or not PSP is running. This leads me to believe the problem is with PhotoLooks and not with PSP. One of the Corel reps today agreed with me.

After re-explaining everything from the beginning to this new rep (apparently, they do not have access to prior chat sessions either) that rep's suggestion was to open another telephone support incident. Based on the lack of success last time, ending with Corel having no further suggestions, I haven't done so yet.

His other suggestion was to open a support case with Reg Giant. The Reg Giant web page that is displayed when installing PhotoLooks says that support is provided by Corel (hmm ??). I don't know how far this will go, but I have opened a support case with Reg Giant. We'll see what happens.

[wds937]

OK. I give up, now.

My trouble ticket with Red Giant was closed with "I don't think that you will be able to get this to work on your system." My open ticket with Corel hasn't been updated in nearly two months, leading me to suspect that it won't be. I guess this is another case of the published system requirements, both from Corel and from Red Giant, not being sufficient for the software.

What is also disappointing is that I got X3 Ultimate (as opposed to non-Ultimate) primarily for the PhotoLooks offer. You win some; you lose some. Thanks to all who tried to help.

[Grandmaster B]

PhotoLooks uses the GPU for rendering its interface, with an integrated graphics card from Intel you are screwed. It says to support OpenGL and DirectX but in practice this often does not work. If there is someone to blame here its Intel. I recommend you to plug in some cheap graphics card from AMD/ATI or Nvidia, you probably have a PCIe port for that.

[wds937]

The computer in use at the time had integrated video from Nvidia. It did not have PCIe, but it did have an AGP slot. The integrated video was part of the problem. Another part of the problem was that the published system requirements, both from Corel and from Red Giant, were insufficient for this plugin. The third part of the problem was that, according to Red Giant, the plugin should resort to using the CPU instead of the GPU, though at reduced performance, if the video card was insufficient; apparently that didn't happen.

However, none of this matters now, as that computer died a few weeks ago. I have since replaced it with a new computer, and the new computer's integrated video does just fine with the PhotoLooks plugin. Thank you for your recommendation, though.

[katsim57]

I got the PSP X3 Ulitmate Package which has a serial number for PhotoLooks. When I click on the installation link, it takes me to either install the demo, or select to enter the serial number, but then the "next" is grayed out.

Anybody else have this issue?

Thanks!

Kat

[gerald]

I have the same problem, the plugin does not load.Also I cannot access RAW files and when I try photo preview, it wants to reinstall PaintShop Photo Pro X3. I use a Nikon D50 which is suppose to be compatible with this program. I would appreciate any help!

[wds937]

I have the same problem, the plugin does not load.

Though your video card is listed only as "onboard," the rest of your system description suggests that it is from the same design era as the one I had when I first posted this problem. If so, there may be an issue with the video hardware on your computer being insufficient (not new enough or not capable enough) for the PhotoLooks plugin.

One thing you can try though, before giving up on that, is to be sure that you have DirectX version 9. Use the DxDiag program (Start > Run... > dxdiag) to display the DirectX version; it will be near the bottom of the System tab. While that display is on your screen, also check the amount of video memory available to the video adapter (on the Display tab). If you have the ability to change this value (such as via the BIOS setup on your system), write down the value that is displayed (so that it can be restored if there are resulting problems), and try increasing the amount of video memory. Do not change any other settings.

Corel support had suggested to me that I update the video driver. I did so, and that did not resolve the PhotoLooks problem, but it did cause other problems. Rolling back the driver resolved the newly-created problems. Depending on the specifics of your system, that may or may not help.