Runtime Error Crashing Program

[Misskendall1985]

HELP! I'm on a deadline and the program keeps crashing. I always save my work (graphic designer) as a PSP and a JPG, so I can come back and work on it if need be later. Well today I have started getting a runtime error after every PSP save and it crashes the program. So I cant save it as a PSP. I contacted Corel, they took me through all these steps, unistalled the program, cleaned a bunch of stuff, installed the program again, and its still doing it. I have a huge list of work that has to be done by midnight tomorrow night and I am starting to panic!

[hartpaul]

Did they advise you to use the windows uninstall and then use the cleanup tool? Cleanup tool removes anything left behind in odd places and not removed by Windows Uninstall. It is found here
https://forum.corel.com/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=52337

Then you install the program again.

Have you also tried setting up a different administrator windows account, then log out of the one not working and log into the new account and see if that helps.

[migf1]

Is your file heavy on layers, especially adjustment layers?

In my experience, PSP has random issues with such files. I have lost hours of work because of this, since PSP not only crashed, but it also made my saved file unusable (corrupted it). I have found that files heavy on layers can cause serious issues in PSP. I have also found that such files with Local Tone Mapping adjustment layer combined with Curves/Levels or HSL adjustment layers are more prone to crash or even render the file completely unusable.

Maybe worth to check it out, if that's your case. If so, a good start would be to remove Local Tone Mapping adjustment layers from your file. You can merge all layers below as a new layer (PSP2020 has a dedicated command for that, but you can do it manually too in more steps). Then apply the Local Tone Mapping adjustment (probably as a normal destructive adjustment, instead of an adjustment layer).

[ken1171]

I have been experiencing exactly the same issues with Paintshop Pro for the last 10 years or so, but not just with "Local Tone Mapping", but any of the adjustment layers - especially when used inside a group. Paintshop Pro has had many new versions since then, but the problem remains. Using adjustment layers is risky, for they can corrupt the image, crash Paintshop, or even corrupt the native pspimage saved file. Like you, I have also lost all my work many times because of this, since the saved files can no longer be opened - they just crash the program.

I have tried reporting this to Corel tech support many years ago, with hopes it could be fixed in a later patch or version, but they kept claiming they could not reproduce it until I gave up on reporting. I even sent them a copy of one of my saved project pspimage files that Paintshop has corrupted, but Corel simply replied it was corrupted, which was rather pointless.

In Corel Paintshop Pro 2021, I had my image corrupted earlier this week by simply adding a "Fill Light/Clarity" adjustment layer to a layer inside a group (to isolate its effect), and it was impossible to merge it down, or even merge the entire group to avoid corrupting the saved file. The image got ruined by artifacts no matter how I tried to merge the adjustment layer down, and consider this was using just 1 single adjustment layer. The more we use these, the riskier it gets.

My "solution" in all these years has been the same as you have suggested - merge down the adjustment layers, making the effects permanent, which kind of defeats the purpose of adjustment layers being non-destructive. I am surprised if other people haven't noticed this out there, since I have been experiencing this since adjustment layers were first introduced over a decade ago.

[migf1]

Hi Ken, I agree. I haven't used adjustment layers extensively with PSP 2021 yet, but all previous versions I've used do have random issues with adjustment layers, especially when combined with groups and/or masks. Sometimes even corrupting the file irreversibly, as we 've both pointed out already.