Troubleshooting Hidden Power Tool Installations for Elements 4.0
If you are experiencing any difficulty with Hidden Power tool installation with Photoshop Elements 4, this page is intended to help you solve the problem. Please read through all applicable portions of this troubleshooting page before contacting the author.
The troubleshooting information on this page covers installation of Hidden Power tools made for use with Elements 4 on Mac and PC/Windows. If you are looking for troubleshooting information having to do with Hidden Power tools and any other version of Elements, please see the Hidden Power pages for the appropriate version of the program.
Hidden Power tools for Elements 4 should not be installed to any other version of Elements; if you are attempting such installations to Elements versions other than Elements 4, the installation is not supported. You may be able to complete the installation, but the tools will not all function as designed. Likewise, attempting to install tools intended for other versions of Elements into Elements 4 is not supported. The installations may appear to complete, but the tools will either not appear in Elements 4, or they will largely not function as designed.
Anyone attempting installation of Hidden Power tools for foreign language versions of Elements will need to use custom installation procedures outlined for their platform in the instructions on this page. Hidden Power 4 tools should be entirely compatible with foreign language versions of Elements 4. Please select your installation path as appropriate translations of the paths shown here in English.
In general, installation of Hidden Power tools will not reduce or otherwise effect performance of Elements or your computer system. If you have trouble with your system or Elements after installation, it is likely that you are running low on disk space, RAM or have other issues with your system that are not at all associated with the Hidden Power tool installation. If you are looking for troubleshooting information for Elements itself that is clearly not associated with Hidden Power tools, it may be best to consult Adobe's troubleshooting forum for Elements.
Troubleshooting Starts Here
Troubleshooting starts with attempting installation. There are two types of installation for Elements 4 tools. Click the category for the type of installation you are attempting.
automated tool installation
This set of instructions is for automated tool installation that is enabled by the Hidden Power Tool installers for Elements 4. It applies to only the 100 tool Hidden Power tool sets included on the CD or purchased via download from the Hidden Power site. If you are not installing the 100 tool set, use the manual tool installation instructions.
manual tool installation
This includes all extra and free Hidden Power tools downloaded from the web sie not included in the 100 tool set. The tools that require manual installation are the free 16 tool set, single tools like Dynamic Image, and other packages like Bud's Frames. If you are installing the 100 tool set, only automated installation applies.
Automated Tool Installation
Automated tool installers for Hidden Power tools are created to help users install the tool set for Elements 4 with little or no user intervention. Tools install automatically to default installations of Elements 4 on Macintosh and Windows. So long as you have chosen to install Photoshop Elements 4 using defaults, the installation of Hidden Power tools will occur when initiated without any user intervention. If you have trouble with Hidden Power installation there may be several things getting in your way, not the least of which are issues with your operating system (such as viruses, and virus protection), resource drains (too many programs running, lack of a firewall), and many other asides. Steps defined here help remove interference from additional potential sources of trouble, so please try all of the suggestions when attempting your installation before requesting special help. If you get error messages please note the exact wording of the error(s).
General Installation Instructions (Mac and Windows)
1. Disable/turn off virus protection software
2. Close out of all programs
3. Shut down/power off your computer
4. Disconnect physical connection to the internet
5. Restart your computer
6. Attempt automated Hidden Power tool installation using the appropriate installer
7. Enable/turn on virus protection
8. Shut down/power off your computer
9. Reconnect physical connection to the internet
10. Restart your computer
After installation, please read the readme.htm file found in the Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects folder. The Hidden Power tools will appear in the Styles and Effects palette. You may have to wait several minutes for Elements to fully rebuild the cache so that all the tools appear. Locate the tools by opening the Style and Effects palette (select Styles and Effects from the Windows menu in Elements), choose Effects from the drop list at the upper left of the palette, and then choose any one of the Power_ categories from the drop list at right. If you check in the Styles and Effects palette and still see no Hidden Power tools, continue on to the troubleshooting for your platform (Macintosh or Windows) below and attempt custom installation.
Macintosh
The instructions in this section are specific to the Mac version of the Hidden Power tools installer for Elements 4. This information is meant to be used in conjunction with the General Installation Instructions above.
Separate packages are included for installation, including Easy Install, Cache Delete, and Custom Install. Usually you will use *Easy Install* if you are installing to a default installation on Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 (in Systems:Applications:Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0). This routine includes full tool installation and cache deletion. Cache delete is necessary for proper loading of new tools on restart of Elements. If you are presented with a list of Effects Cache folders to delete, choose the Effects Cache that is associated with the Elements 4.0 application for deletion by clicking on it.
Cache can be deleted in a separate installation procedure by choosing *Custom Install*, and then check Cache Delete. This will locate Effects Cache folders only and delete if there is only one, or it will offer the user a list of Effects Cache folders if more than one exists. Use this custom event with caution if you may have named another folder on your system Effects Cache. The folder will be moved to the trash, rather than being deleted outright. You can reclaim the folder by moving it from the trash. If you experience difficulties and there is an error when trying to delete, empty the trash and run the Cache Delete again.
For those who have chosen to install Elements in a place other than the default Adobe installation path, you can use the *Custom Install* option to manually select the installation path. Once the path is selected, the tools will install and the cache deleting process will be evoked. If you have trouble with the manual install, create a new folder on the desktop, install into that folder and then move the Power_ folders that are installed into the corresponding Effects folder inside the Elements program folder. The cache deletion process will be evoked at the end of the custom installation, and you will need to choose the appropriate cache folder to delete.
Windows
The instructions in this section are specific to the Windows version of the Hidden Power tools installer for Elements 4. This information is meant to be used in conjunction with the General Installation Instructions above.
The Windows installer for the Hidden Power tools allows custom installation using the Browse capabilities of the installer to change the Path for the installation. Custom installation is useful if you installed Elements to any drive other than the C drive by purposely choosing a location other than the default when installing Elements. To install Hidden Power tools to any Photoshop Elements installation that is not in the default location:
1. Launch the installer
2. Click OK on the alert that tells you that you will be installing Hidden Power tools.
3. Click the Browse button to the right of the Extract to Folder field. The browse button looks like this: [...]. It is recommended that you browse for the path instead of trying to type it in. The folder you want to locate is the Effects folder inside the Previews folder in the Elements program folder (Photoshop Elements 4.0/Previews/Effects).
4. Click the Extract button. This will start the installation.
If you are installing from the CD that comes with the book, you will be asked for a password; please locate the password in the book's introduction. The tools will install in a few moments and a confirmation and readme file should appear after completion. If you seea black screen flash, it is likely that the tools have successfully installed. Restart elements and look for the tools in the Styles and Effects palette.
Other Troubleshooting Measures to Try
If following standard installation procedure fo the tools doesn't get it done, there are quite a few other things to try. The list here is extensive, and I have tried to order them by what will most likely solve the problem first.
A. Be sure you have followed all the instructions in the installation instructions above, including disabling virus protection and restarting your computer before bothering with troubleshooting.
B. Reboot your computer, then restart Elements. Check for the tools in Elements by looking at the Styles and Effects palette.
C. If the installation terminated with an error, please take note of the exact error as it appears on screen. You may need this later when contacting the author for technical support. Attempt the installation again to see if you can duplicate and verify the error.
D. If the tool installer appears to hang during the installation, try the installation again. After you try the installation again, reboot and try to use the tools in Elements.
E. If the tool installation appears to complete, but the tools do not appear in Elements, check to see if the tool folders are installed in the Elements Effects folder. The Effects folder is in the Previews folder, inside the Photoshop Elements program folder. The tool folder names are: Power_Adjustments, Power_Extras, Power_Masking, Power_Paths, Power_Playback, and Power_Separations. You can find the Effects folder in the Elements program folder on Mac or Windows as follows in default installations:
Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 4.0\Previews\Effects\
Mac: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4: Previews: Effects:
If the tools have appeared to install completely on your system and there seems to be no other problem, reboot and check for the tools again.
F. If the tools are still not available after reboot, check to be sure the Elements program is installed only one time and that the tools are running out of the program folder where the tools have been installed. Do this by restarting Elements using the application file found in the program folder. To be sure you are running the right application, locate where the tools are installed, back out from the folder where the tools are installed to the Photoshop Elements 4.0 program folder and start the program by double-clicking the application file (.exe on Windows, .app on Mac).
If there is no application file, you will need to locate where the Elements application is and reinstall to that folder using the custom installation options.
G. Delete the Effects Cache folder manually. You can find the Cache folder inside the Previews folder in the Elements program folder. After deleting the Cache, reboot and try to use the tools in Elements.
H. Do a custom installation of the tools and be sure to target the correct folders.
Custom installation options are outlined in the Macintosh and Windows sections earlier on this page.
I. If the tools still do not appear to have installed at all after running both automated and custom installations, create a folder on the desktop of your computer called Hidden Power Tools and do a custom install to that folder. If the tools install to that folder, move them using the manual installation instructions later on this page.
J. Rebuild the Adobe Photoshop Elements Settings file. To do this, see Rebuilding the Settings File below. After the file is rebuilt, check for the tools again.
K. If you have completed A through J, and you see the files in the right place but the tools still do not appear in Elements, reinstall Elements, and then reinstall the Hidden Power tools from the CD. It is preferable to first uninstall and then reinstall Elements to be sure the installation is clean.
I. While it is highly unlikely that you will get this far without a solution, you aren't a lost cause yet. Contact Richard by sending an email to: thebookdoc@aol.com. Please use the Subject: Installation Trouble HPPE4. Include information about what tools you are trying to install, what version of Elements you are running, what platform computer you are on, and any information you have concerning errors (and wordings of those errors), along with a description of what is happening during the install.
Rebuilding the Settings File
To rebuild the Settings, hold down the Command+Option+Shift/Ctrl+Alt+Shift keys (Mac/PC) on the keyboard when starting up Elements -- immediately after choosing Edit and Enhance Photos on the Welcome screen, if you are on a PC. Hold the keys down until the prompt to delete the Adobe Photoshop Elements settings file appears, and click [YES]. The deleted file will be re-created automatically. This will restore default palette placement and tool settings, and will delete your color settings — so it should be used late in the troubleshooting process.
Manual Tool Installation
Automated tool installers for Hidden Power tools are created to help users install the tools without intervention. Tools install automatically to default installations of Elements on Macintosh and Windows. So long as you have chosen to install Photoshop Elements using defaults, the installation will occur when initiated without any user intervention. However, if you run into installation problems, you will be directed by the troubleshooting instructions to do a manual install and you will need to follow the instructions here.
Other s ingle tools downloads, such as Dynamic Image, and free tool sets will require manual installation. Please follow the instructions here. Manual installation for Mac and Windows is very similar.
1. Unzip the tool package or use the custom installation procedures above to install tool sets to a folder on the desktop. Zipped files will be marked with a .zip extension, and these will need to be expanded before installation. You can use Stuffit Expander on Mac and Windows, but please be sre you have the latest version of the free expander (version 10 as of this writing).
2. Place in the unzipped tool folders into the Effects Folder. The tool folder should be moved as a unit. If the tool folder has a name like Power_tools+, look inside that folder to find the real tool folder. All Elements 4 Hidden Power tools from the book will have Power_ as a prefix. Free tools are Free_Hidden_Power. Other tools will be named according to their name (e.g., Dynamic_Image). the Effects folder is located here:
Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 4.0\Previews\Effects
Mac: Applications\Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0\ Previews\Effects
3. Delete the Previews Cache. Do this by dragging the Cache folder into the trash and emptying the trash. The Cache folder is located here:
Windows: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 4\Previews\Cache
Mac: Applications\Adobe Photoshop Elements 4\ Previews\Cache
4. Restart Elements and rebuild the preferences. To rebuild the preferences, hold down the Command+Option+Shift/Ctrl+Alt+Shift keys [Mac/Windows] on the keyboard immediately after restarting. Hold the keys down until the prompt to rebuild appears, and click [YES]. This will restore default settings and palette placements.
To Uninstall the 100+ Hidden Power Tools Set
Uninstall for Hidden Power tools is unnecessary in almost any case: the tools do not take up much disk space, and they will not sap resources used for other processes. If you decide that you need to uninstall, however, it can be done manually by deleting theHidden Power files and folders in Elements that were installed.
1. Close Photoshop Elements.
2. Locate the files installed for Hidden Power and drag them to the trash.
3. Delete the cache folder
4. Restart Elements.
These folders and files to delete are the following (Mac path format shown here, PC locations are in the same paths):
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Adjustments
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Extras
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Masking
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Paths
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Playback
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:Power_Separations
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Effects:readme.htm
The Cache is located here:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0:Previews:Cache
After restart, the cache will be rebuilt and the tools will no longer appear on the Effects palette.
Copyright © 2006 Richard Lynch, Hidden Power
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