To install ColorSafe™, drag the plug-in from its folder to your plug-ins folder. It is normal to place filter plug-ins such as ImageVice™ within the Filters folder inside Photoshop's Plug-ins folder, but this is not necessary for Photoshop to load plug-ins. It is only for organizational purposes.
After you have placed ColorSafe™ in your plug-ins folder, ColorSafe™ will be available the next time you launch Photoshop. If you aren't using Photoshop, you may need to refer to your image editing application's documentation for instructions on installing plug-in filters.
Once you have properly installed ColorSafe™ it will appear under Filters -> BoxTop Web Tools -> ColorSafe... menus in Photoshop. Other applications may locate filter plug-ins under an "Effects" menu, but in all applications ColorSafe™ will be under the "BoxTop Web Tools" sub-menu.
Installation troubleshooting:
If you have properly installed ColorSafe™ and it does not appear in Photoshop's Filters menu after relaunching you should check the following in order:
1: If using Photoshop, delete its preferences file, which is located in the System Folder with versions 3.0 and 4.0. If you have Photoshop 5.0 or newer, the preferences file is located in the application folder within the Adobe Photoshop Settings folder. It is common for Photoshop to slightly corrupt its preferences file, and this will often prevent it from recognizing any new plug-ins.
2: Confirm the location that Photoshop is set to look for plug-ins in its preferences.
3: If you used Stuffit Expander to decompress the original archive containing ColorSafe™, it is possible that it corrupted ColorSafe™ during decompression, which may happen if Stuffit Expander's preferences are corrupted. This has recently been reported in increasing frequency, so we are under the impression it is a new problem with the new version of Stuffit Expander. You should delete your Stuffit Expander preferences and download a new copy of the archive and install a new copy of ColorSafe™ if Photoshop still will not recognize it.
5: If using another application besides Photoshop as your host application, it may be that it is simply unable to run ColorSafe™. Many applications that claim to support Photoshop plug-ins do so only in limited ways. We can only guarantee that ColorSafe™ will work with Photoshop.
General usage:
ColorSafe™ works much the same as the fill command in Photoshop. You use it to fill selected areas with hybrid colors or patterns while creating original graphics. (If your goal is to take existing graphics and convert them to use the Web safe palette, then PhotoGIF is the tool you would use for that task.)
Hybrid colors created from the Web safe palette allow any visual color to be used in a graphic and still remain Web safe so the colors will not dither unexpectedly.
Refer to the ColorSafe™ FAQ for specific information on usage.
About the ColorSafe™ demo:
The ColorSafe™ demo is fully functional. There are no limitations on features or how it may be used for evaluation purposes, but ColorSafe™ is not free. If you continue to use it, please purchase it. Then the annoying reminder dialog will go away.
Please refer to the ColorSafe™ 1.6.1 Read Me file for purchasing information. The cost is only $49.95 and many purchasing options are available for your convenience.
Getting help with ImageVice™:
You should refer to the ColorSafe™ FAQ included with this distribution and then to the Web based version of the FAQ maintained at http://www.boxtopsoft.com first for the answers to most common questions.
Questions not answered in the FAQs should be emailed to info@boxtopsoft.com
BoxTop Software, Inc.
PO Box 2347
Starkville, MS, 39760
voice 662-263-5410
fax 662-263-5412
http://www.boxtopsoft.com
info@boxtopsoft.com
ColorSafe™ is Copyright 1997 - 1999 BoxTop Software, Inc. All rights reserved. ColorSafe™ is a trademark of BoxTop Software, Inc., which may be registered in certain jutisdictions. All other trademarks are recognized as the properties of their respective holders.
Document published: May 19, 1999
Copyright 1999 BoxTop Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved.