PICO Pro - moving plug-ins to new menu spots, some won't...

[Marc A]

Is there any way to move plugins manually or edit them so they go to new menu groups, if PICO won't move them?


I've got a number (including some from Plug-In Site freebies, and a bunch from Xero, Unplugged series, etc.) that PICO won't change to another menu.

This is getting in the way of "consolidating my working tools down to 3-4 menu items, which would greatly streamline my workflow.

(e.g. PhotoEFX, GraphicEFX, SpecialEFX, StrangeEFX).

There are lots of plug-ins I'd like to retire from my list, so only the "most useful" (IMHO) exist.

Ideas??


Thanks in advance.

-m

[HaraldHeim]

I guess you are refering to Plugin Commander Light, which only lets you change the category of Filter Factory plugins and not of other Photoshop plugins. You need the Pro Version of Plugin Commander to move all Photoshop plugins to another sub menu.

[Marc A]

Hi, Harald...

Actually, I have PICO Pro (not lite). When I attempt to change categories, the message is:

!Changing the category didn't work for x plugin(s).

There can be two reasons for that:
1. the new category name had too much letters.
2. the Plugin isn't a Premiere 4.2, Mac FF, or isnt a filter plugin at all.

BUT, some of the plugins from the same "batches" move OK, others don't (eg. Unplugged Tools: LOMO, which is identifed as a FF 3.04 plugin, will not move).

I am using Photoshop 8 (CS), is that any issue?

Actually, what's the best way to organize this stuff (placed in the FILTERS directory below plug-ins, or as a series of directories in the plug-ins directory?)

m.

[HaraldHeim]

Plugin Commander doesn't recompile the resources of the plugin files (which would be possible, but would need too much work), so you can't give a category name that is longer than the previous one. For example if the the category/submenu is "Unplugged", it consists of 9 letters. That means you can't give that plugin a category name that is larger than 9 letters. Of course there are some exception like FilterFactory plugins where you can use up to 33 letters.

So I guess you ran into this limitation. I don't know any tool that recompiles PiPl resources to allow category names of unlimited size. It is only possible to do it manually, but you need Visual C++ and the Photoshop SDK for that. So it already quite an amount of work just to change the category of a single plugin, so Plugin Commander is very convenient even with this limitation.

As far as organizing your plugins is concerned, I gave a lot of tips in my "Plugin Essentials" article at http://thepluginsite.com/knowhow/tutori ... uction.htm
Please read it. Basically it is best if you install each plugin product into a sub folder inside your plugins folder, otherwise it will be difficult to remove certain plugins.

[Marc A]

Ah, that makes sense. So the "acceptable" plug-in category name length is variable depending on the space in the compiled code.

Thanks ! Sounds as though I can use short names and make it work... I'll let you know if it still gives me problems, but I'm "hopeful."

Maybe it's worth including a note to that effect in the "product version notes," or install help somewhere? The error message isn't clear (at least it wasn't to me).

Awesome. Have a great day !

-m

[Marc A]

that also means I'm limited to "the shortest category name" length when combining into heading groups... so if it's XERO, I've only got 4 characters to work with.

ufda.

-m

[Marc A]

Hi, Harald:

OK, I moved a few more (including a mac entry that needed to be converted), but there are still some I cannot get to move... even with ultra-short category names (2-4 characters, original was much longer).

Example: VDL Unplugged Colors +Photocopy..

What else can I try?

-m

[HaraldHeim]

I just tried and I had no problem changing the category of the Photocopy plugin. So I don't know why you have.

Can you please download all VDL Unplugged Colors plugins and try again?

[Marc A]

I can do that.

FYI, my machine is Win2k Pro, Pentium III/700, plenty of RAM & disk space, Photoshop CS.

Thanks for all your efforts.

m