Filter FAQ

Help! My filters won't work!

If you've followed all of the instructions on the filters page, and the filters won't work, the most common solution is to close PSP and then re-open it. Usually when you do that you'll find your filters are merrily loading when you check for them.

The second most common solution is that you don't have an image open. Open one. :)

Your filters are loaded and they still won't work. Your image is in the wrong format. Increase color depth to 16 million colors.

How do you make filters?

Posted by Sandy Blair

The real professionals write them in C++ usong a developer kit on the Adobe site (Paint Shop Pro filters conform to Adobe Photoshop specification) However even if you can do a bit of C++ they are very difficult to do.

BUT....

There is a limited Filter maker called Filter Factory. The interface is pre designed (and not that great). It can't 'subsample' so it looks a bit jaggy, and the amount of code you can write is limited to a few lines of maths and despite that it is hours of fun.

You can get the filter maker and links to some tutorials at the pluginhead site

How do I download the .dll file to make the plugin filters work?

Posted by James
Try this to download the DLL file... You *don't* need a plugin to do it .

• Right mouse click the link with the DLL file
• Go down to the SAVE LINK AS or SAVE TARGET AS if you are using MSInternetExplorer... Specify the foldeer you wish the .DLL file to go into.
• To create a new folder-- This is what I did. Click My Computer >>then>> C: >>then>> Program Files >>then>> Paint Shop Pro >>then>> FILE >>THEN>> new >>then>> Folder >>then>> type plugins

To get to the Plugin's Option:

• OPen PSP file >> Preferences >> General Programing Preferences >> Plugin's Tab >> Specify the directory >> C:\Program Files\Paint Shop Pro\plugins Check the enable plugin filters box, and then click OK.

That should get you thorugh the though stuff... It might be a little different depending on how you have win95 set-up. Put the .dll file into Windows/Systems

My special effects and filters are greyed out...

Select Color/increase color depth on the menu bar and increase your colors to 16 million.

Getting filters that aren't the standard 56k size to work in PSP

Posted by Duncan Long
PSP won't work with filters that aren't the standard 56K in size. But there is a workaround that I've discovered (but not seen printed anywhere).

• First, get a copy of Plug-in Manager (it's freeware and a little searching will lead you to it on the net). It's really useful for renaming filters and getting them into a useful order. As such it's a good addition to PSP.
• When you find a filter that PSP can't recognize highlight it in the Plg-IN Manager program and then hit the FF button.
• After this, choose the Advanced tag and then push the "Save as 8BF" button.
• Save the filter with a new name so you can recognize it later.
• Now you've created a filter that will work in PSP.
• BUT you need to go to explorer and delete the old one.

There are a few more steps maybe to get the filters arranged and updated in Plug-In Manager, but this is basically it. Then you can use about any filter you come across on the web. You can also use Plug-In Manager to locate the name of filters you don't need and then use explorer to delete them so they don't load into PSP. This saves a lot of "clutter" in the custom filters.

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