New User - Need Help

Hey Mahogany

No wonder you're confused - Filter Forge is both a plugin and a program

You can run FF as a normal program (standalone) and save your renderings to various formats (some of them supports transparency, for example PNG). You can also run FF as a plugin from your image editor (as long as it supports Photoshop plugins).

If Filter Forge is not showing up as a plugin in PSP it is because the plugin is not present in the correct plugin folder. See this discussion for more info.

Ah, I see! Ok, this is because Filter Forge by default opens that lifesaver image. You need to click "New Image" in the "File" menu and set the preferred size and background color (and transparency). So if you want a transparent rendering, make sure alpha is zero for the background color

hi mahogany,

i have a 64 bit system and both filter forge 1 and filter forge 2 installed on it and psp x3. what you need to do is to tell psp where to find the plugin, FF. to do that you go to x3 and hit the 'file' menu item. pick 'preferences' and then 'file locations'. fr om there pick 'plugins'. on the right, pick 'add' and this will open up a browser type thing to help you locate where the .8bf file is in FF. if you have FF2 then you would browse to 'driveletter(usually C:)\(x86)program files\filterforge2\plugin' . click 'apply' and FF2 shld show up then as a plugin in 'effects\plugins' in x3. if you have FF1 then the path would be different and i forget what that is right now, but you shld be able to figure it out fr om what i've posted so far.

psp used to use a 'plugins' folder to hold all of your plugins. that was back in like version 10 or so. then, somewhere in there, they went to simply pointing to wh ere the plugins resided normally so that you didnt have to move all of your plugins to a special folder. so, now you just point to them. every time you wish to add a new one, simply go through those same steps as above with the only difference being wh ere you point psp to look.

also to note, though you have a 64 bit system and may even have 64 bit windows, FF2 will currently only work as a 32 bit application. this is why you find it in the '(x86)program files' folder instead of 'program files'.

and welcome to FF

remember, FF is a plugin (when talking about it in psp). it works on images you've already imported in psp. open your images in psp, not FF when using as a plugin. you can only load one instance of FF in psp and it closes down as soon as you 'apply' your texture or effect, but, also remember that it will apply that to the layer you currently have selected in psp. psp is the senior application when using FF as a plugin but FF is the senior program when using it as the stand-alone program.

so, to use it as a plugin, load x3, load an image (actually, it's best to make a duplicate of the background in x3 first and open FF on that), then call up FF. you can even call up FF on a blank layer in x3 if you so wish, but all external images, when using FF as a plugin, MUST be called in x3 first. this is why those items are grayed out in FF when using it as a plugin.

it's down in the lower right. it may be hidden partially. just go to the upper right and hit the 'maximize' square thingie by the x to close the window. the button gets hidden because the FF window doesnt show all the way until you hit that button. the 'apply' button shld then show up. you may even be able to see it a tiny bit as it is, but hit that windows maximize button and you shld see it.

the demo includes everything the pro version has, including saves. the only limit is time.

you're welcome. post some stuff works when you get a chance.. or filters

Thank you, Sphinx and Craig, for helping new users while the support team is on the weekend

Mahogany, don't hesitate to ask questions if there are any unsolved issues.

Thank you so much for this post!! I had been trying to solve this problem on my own and finally decided to check here. Problem solved! Next time I will come here first!