HELP-PSPX3U - Filters & Dropping Pixels issues

[nhlisa]

Hi,

I just had this message almost done and I lost it. Arrgghh...

Ok, I have PSPX3U. Just installed it on my new computer last week. I can't be sure, but I do believe I let it update. I then had the bug where Filters Unlimited filters don't work properly on a raster layer. I had this problem on my regular X3 (not ulltimate) after doing updates. My only option was to un-install PSP and re-install it and not update.

Now on this new computer, I did un-install and re-installed. I honestly don't remember, but I do think I still had a problem without doing any updates. I think I did one of the updates and my Filters Unlimited was back to working the way it should.

Now today I was working on something and found out that I have the dropping pixels bug. I thought I saw something off the other day. I do know this is a problem and I do see there's a fix. But it says that you have to install update 4 first.

My PSPX3U version is 13.2.0.35.

I'm afraid of installing the updates because I can't afford to hae that filter bug again...but I also can't afford to have the dropping pixel bug.

What should I do?

I tried to look at the updates to see which one(s) I would need to install, but only the first one tells you if you have a certain version then you don't need it. I couldn't find this for the others...unless I'm not looking in the right spot.

Please help! I need to get this issue resolved and hopefully not cause the other issue to come back.

Lisa

[Ron P.]

Welcome to the forums,

Someone else will probably recommend something different, and possibly more correct. My opinion given the mess that PSP X3 is, would be to tolerate the dropping pixels bug. Otherwise I think you'll find yourself in a vicious uninstall/install cycle...

[nhlisa]

Hi Ron,

I definitely don't want to uninstall and install again since I did already do that once. This is a new computer (a week old) and I don't want to be messing it all up.

I've been doing more reading and so far I haven't seen this mentioned....I open a new image. I select all. I open another image and copy it. Back to the new image, paste into selection. The bottom pixels are dropped. I was doing a tutorial pick for a group I am head moderator for. Later in the tut, I had to add a border, select it and paste another image into that selection. Again the bottom pixels are gone. I'm not floating, defloating or merging down. It's just a straight copy & paste into selection.

I had to jump through hopps to get through the tut. I had to use the pick tool to stretch it down. But I had to seelct none first and then go back and get my selection back so I could do the other steps. The problem with that is that, then my selection was too far down.

I wish I could install the pixel dropping fix without installing anything else first.

I definitely don't want that filter bug back either. I had that problem on my other computer for ashort period of time and it wasn't just Filters Unlimited that wouldn't work. It was Simple Top Left Mirror and a few others.

Thanks for your opinion.
Lisa

PS. Oopps...I forgot my manners..Thanks for the welcome.

Welcome to the forums,

Someone else will probably recommend something different, and possibly more correct. My opinion given the mess that PSP X3 is, would be to tolerate the dropping pixels bug. Otherwise I think you'll find yourself in a vicious uninstall/install cycle...

[nhlisa]

Update on version.

In looking at another PSP forum, I know what I did. After installing PSPX3U with no updates, I had that plugin problem. I then looked at the updates> I knew update 1 wasn't needed because it said if your version was a certain number or highter, you didn't need it. So I installed update 2. I figured it wouldn't let me install something that I shouldn't or that I didn't need. But the number of my version is not the number of the version for X3U, it's the number for regular X3 with update 2 installed. So it looks like it downgraded my version. Which allowed my plugins to work, but now I have the selection bug. I don't have the merge down bug as someone called it. I can select part of an image, float, defloat, or select none and nothing dissapears. It's just when copying & pasting into a regular selection that I'm looking those pixels at the bottom.

I'm half tempted to try the Update 3 and see what happens.

But if my plugins don't work....I'd be very upset. Is it possibly to roll back by doing a system restore to a point before installing the update?

What about doing update3, then 4 and then the one for the pixel bug and then if the filters don't work, is it possible to run update 2 again and go back?

Lisa

[LeviFiction]

The dropped pixels can be avoided if you avoid Merging Down or defloating a selection. If you must merge a layer down, use Merge Visible or Merge Group. Obviously this requires you either place the layers into a group or make sure they are the only ones visible but these two methods, at least in my testing, did not experience the dropped pixels bug.

So always promote the selection to a new layer, and only merge when necessary using a method other than Defloat or Merge Down and you should be fine.

[nhlisa]

Hi,

I have posted two messages in this thread since earlier and so far they haven't been approved. I explained more about the issue.

The problem is NOT happening when I merge down or defloat a selection. I actually tried that and I don't have that problem. I can make a select and then float & delfloat or select none or merge down, with no loss of pixels at the bottom.

My problem is with a straight selection, no floating or defloating or merging down.

For instance, I open a new image and select all. I then copy another image (background, texture, photo, whatever) into the selection. When I copy it in, before I do anything else, the bottom few rows of pixels are not there. If I select none, they still aren't there.

I just tried something else....I made a small rectangle selection...I then copied & pasted another image into the selection and again the bottom rows of pixels are missing.

If the merge down was my issue, i would just deal with it. But I don't know how to get around this issue.

Lisa

The dropped pixels can be avoided if you avoid Merging Down or defloating a selection. If you must merge a layer down, use Merge Visible or Merge Group. Obviously this requires you either place the layers into a group or make sure they are the only ones visible but these two methods, at least in my testing, did not experience the dropped pixels bug.

So always promote the selection to a new layer, and only merge when necessary using a method other than Defloat or Merge Down and you should be fine.

[LeviFiction]

Sorry, the only time I've ever heard of or seen this bug is in the form of Merge Down and Defloating. While something similar is occurring, there is a merge down operation after stretching the image to fit into the selection, in Paste into Selection it's odd that it's not occurring the other way. Hoops must be gone through to avoid it. But it could be a good thing as you learn new ways of approaching a problem. Not much else can be done but to work around it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. There was an instance where someone mentioned they could not replicate the Merge Down portion of the bug because of the dimensions of the image they were working on. When they changed the dimensions they could replicate the bug perfectly. I don't think anything specific about the dimensions was brought up to explain it though.

You could try setting a restore point and if the third patch does break your plugins simply restore to that point using Windows System Restore. When the problems with plugins first occurred this was a recommended approach to updating X3.

[nhlisa]

Awww heck...leave it to me to have a problem that no one else seems to have had before. I'm trying to think outside the box to see what is causing this issue but so far haven't come up with anything. First I thought because I had my text & icons in Windows set to medium (125%) because this hew notebook has a higher resolution than the old one and although it looks awesome, some things are a wee bit small. I tried changing it and then opened PSP again and nope, same problem.

I have PSP set to display large icons for the same reason. You don't think that could have anything to do with it, do you? I wouldn't think so.

Maybe some kind of setting somewhere...hmmm....

I opened my PSPX2 and I can do the copy & paste into selection just fine...no dropped pixels. Of course I don't want to have to revert to using X2. It's just on here as a backup...or if I need to test a tut and the X3 slot is filled but the X2 slot is open.

Maybe someone else will read this thread and have an idea.

What would happen if I tried to run that one fix without having the 4th update installed? Would it just give me an error and not install?

Lisa

[LeviFiction]

Most likely. I believe it does check the current version to make sure you aren't updating things out of order which is important for interdependence of the various APIs.

[nhlisa]

Well, I gave it a shot. I installed update 3, my filters unlimited stopped working properly....but my selection problem was fixed. I figured what the heck and installed update 4. Filters still weren't right. So I said to myself...wonder what will happen if I install update 2 now...it worked and I reverted and my selection issue was still fixed...and my filter issue was sorta fixed. By that I mean that now when I put a tube on a raster layer and went into FU, instead of it having a white background with the tube and showing the effect, it was a black background. But things worked normally. But later when I went into Eye Candy to use gradient glow to test on a tut...nope...it wasn't seeing the tube layer properly, was seeing it with a black background and the glow went around the edges and not the tube. So off with it's head...

I shouldn't have done it. So I just uninstalled and am re-installing it again.

Live and learn...
Lisa

Most likely. I believe it does check the current version to make sure you aren't updating things out of order which is important for interdependence of the various APIs.

[teknisyan]

Hello,

I think this was already address by this KB article: http://corel.force.com/index/articles/e ... re-dropped

You may also want to download all patches up to service pack you can visit http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ ... 9872271743 to download all the patches.

[nhlisa]

I've read all that information. I tried to install update 3 & 4 and the dropping pixels fix. It helped that issue but then my filters didn't work properly again. I tried to revert, it didn't work. I uninstalled and re-installed and it sorta worked. Still had dropping pixel issue and my filters sorta worked, but they had a black screen in preview instead of white and they were treating a tube as the whole layer. So I removed it all again. Used teh cleanup tool, ran my disc cleaners and am now going to try to install again.

Should have left it alone and just dealt with the pixel issue.

Speaking of which, if you read my posts...my pixel issue wasn't the one that's been discussed. It had nothing to do with merging down, floating or defloating. It was when copying & pasting into a regular selection. The pixels at the bottom were gone.

Lisa

Hello,

I think this was already address by this KB article: http://corel.force.com/index/articles/e ... re-dropped

You may also want to download all patches up to service pack you can visit http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/ ... 9872271743 to download all the patches.

[nhlisa]

One last message for the night...

I won't do that again...LOL! I should have known better. As I said, the first uninstall / reinstall sorta worked. Fixed one problem, caused another. Anyway, re-installed X3 ultimate again and had that dropping pixel issue...and my Filters Unlimited wasn't right (but at least it wasn't screwed up like before, it was the normal kind of not right)...yep, I know I'm not making senese, but that's ok.

Anyway, I did what I did the first time I installed X3 Ultimate and found the FU problem. I ran update 2. It worked and knocked my version back down. So it no longer says ultimate when it starts up but everything is there and working. Except I have that dropping pixel issue with the selections.

I wisht it was the one where you just can't defloat, select none or merge down...I could easily deal with that. Nope, mine has got to be wierd. Plain old straight copy & paste into selection with no float, no defloat, no nothing...doesn't work right. Will have to find a way to deal with it. And hopefully they will get this problem fixed along with the filter issue in the next update.

Of course, I'll be afraid to install it because I don't want to have to do this again.

Lisa