1. colortheory@groups.io
   Date   
What Photoshop 2021 means for the PPW panel

Davide Barranca
 

Dear list members,

at the Adobe MAX 2020 there's been a crucial announcement that will have a considerable impact on the PPW panel development, regardless of the current state of the affairs.
The big news goes under the name of UXP, and the point is that it's now available for third-party developers in PS 2021. If you're interested in the technicalities I'm currently blogging/video-recording about it, but in a nutshell:
  • UXP (Unified Extensibility Platform, the new) is going to replace CEP (Common Extensibility Platform, the old).
  • The two will coexist for an undefined amount of time. Mind you, "undefined" does not mean "infinite", but rather "nobody knows" – my bet is a couple of years, likely more, to allow developers to port their products.
  • UXP impacts, i.e. transforms completely, both the way User Interfaces are built (the PPW Panel with its buttons, dropdowns, etc) and the Scripting that lies behind the interface (all the heavy lifting of creating layers, applying, curving, adding magic, etc).
  • All the modal/modeless dialogs that are part of the PPW panel (e.g. the ones that pops up when you click the "MMM + CB" button) will vanish too.
The above is to say that we're not facing the usual major version update where Adobe screws up few things here and there and you need to check everything and fix a couple of bugs. We're talking about a complete rewrite from the ground up. UI-wise and Scripting-wise.

The good news is that the PPW panel won't self-combust tomorrow, nor in a month, nor in a year. Very likely, CEP is going to be around for a long time (I would bet >2 years, but again, it's not a question of being under NDA or not: nobody really knows – I doubt that even Adobe engineers have the faintest idea now.) Comparisons with other CC products are meaningless because the pace with which UXP is going to be implemented in AE, IL, ID, PR, etc. and consequently the CEP EOL date, is team-dependent. Photoshop is starting first, others will follow later. 

That's it – well, there's much more actually, but the rest is "just" implementation details. If you're interested I'd point you to my blog, where I currently am, and I will be for the following months, releasing developers-related UXP content.

All the above is to keep the ACT community informed about the current situation, and especially better frame the development efforts needed to transition the PPW panel into the future.

Thanks, stay safe, and have a nice day!

Davide Barranca
Re: Stop the presses!!

Alec Dann
 

On Tue, Oct 20, 2020 at 03:01 PM, bill bane wrote:
I downloaded the extension for the panel and it seems to have worked.
Could you be a bit more specific about where you downloaded the extension?
Re: First Report on my today's Photoshop upgrade (is not good).

Alec Dann
 

To answer your first question: you can modify Creative Cloud's behavior in the Creative Cloud Preferences.  Select the Apps tab (left side) and turn off Auto-Update for Photoshop and any other apps you where you want to control when upgrades are applied.
Re: Stop the presses!!

Jim Sanderson
 

I'm glad you posted your email.  I had the same problem with the PPW panel and was able to get it up and running without as much stress as I would have had you not posted.

Jim Sanderson


-----Original Message-----
From: bill bane <bill.bane@...>
To: bill.bane@...; colortheory@groups.io
Sent: Tue, Oct 20, 2020 11:34 am
Subject: [colortheory] Stop the presses!!

Good news! I downloaded the extension for the panel and it seems to have worked.
 
Sorry for the false alarm, I should have tried this obvious step first.
 
My problem is that Adobe has done so many bad things in the past, I was/am paranoid.
 
Bill
 
 
From: bill.bane@... <bill.bane@...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 1:07 PM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: First Report on my today's Photoshop upgrade (is not good).
 
Today, on my second/spare computer, which is a new Asus Windows 10 laptop, I let Creative Cloud do its update. I was not asked!!
 
The first thing that shook me was that, after the updates were done and had no messages, as I opened Photoshop, I saw a very brief, and only passing, message that said something about not finding what it expected. Then, I got a permanent message saying the install did not find the expected hardware so it was being installed as “default hardware”, whatever that is. Perhaps it explains the next problems in part…
 
The most important failure was that when I went to Window>Extensions, the word “extensions” as is now (and in the past) shown on my main computer, is changed to “extensions (legacy)”. (Straight away, this confirms that Adobe has screwed things up.) It does list PPW tools 5, and I selected this. What opened was the plugin “screen”, but other than “PPW Tools 5” at the top, it was completely empty!!!!! The hamburger tab on the upper right only gave close options.
 
I then went to Actions, and saw all the actions I think. Since I have only very seldom used these, I may not be accurate in what follows. These are my sample results:
  1. All the hammers seem to work correctly.
  2. Color boost seems to work, also “LAB color boost”
  3. The false Cmyk seemed to complete but only one layer was set, so I think this means a not work
  4. Neither “Modern Man from Mars” or “MMM + Color boost” worked. After hitting run, I got the following messages saying the [following] commands are not currently available: duplicate, make, set, select, and delete. Perhaps there is something that can be done to make them available that I do not know about?
  5. HK has many of the same “not currently available” messages.
 
Assuming I have not done something stupid, almost all of my other “extensions” are now not even visible, so this problem is broad based, and perhaps the outcry will be sufficient for the tyrant Adobe to provide some fixing. FYI, my Extensions that are no longer there are: CPT, False Profile 2, Fixel FFT wizard 2, Lumenzia, Mask Equalizer, and Shape.
 
This leads me to ask a question and make a suggestion:
  1. Does anyone know how I/we can make sure that Adobe, for certain, will not update Photoshop?
  2. My suggestion: no matter what, Adobe has screwed up the PPW extension. Almost all of us have indicated a willingness to provide financial support for keeping the site open and Dan has agreed. My suggestion is that we all be willing to provide $$ to help insure that the extension makes it through this Adobe upgrade. I am, again, certainly willing.
 
I will hope that all of this is a false alarm and something peculiar to my setup and/or hardware configuration, but I doubt it.
 
Bill
 
 
 
From: colortheory@groups.io <colortheory@groups.io> On Behalf Of Dan Margulis via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 5:38 AM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: [colortheory] Group future
 
 
 
On Oct 16, 2020, at 11:32 AM, George Machen <gmachen@...> wrote:
 
Dan, I wonder whether the heretofore generous & benevolent Giuliana has indicated at least minimal availability after you're formally out of the picture, possibly with, e.g., occasional maintenance updates.
Stop the presses!!

bill bane
 

Good news! I downloaded the extension for the panel and it seems to have worked.

 

Sorry for the false alarm, I should have tried this obvious step first.

 

My problem is that Adobe has done so many bad things in the past, I was/am paranoid.

 

Bill

 

 

From: bill.bane@... <bill.bane@...>
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 1:07 PM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: First Report on my today's Photoshop upgrade (is not good).

 

Today, on my second/spare computer, which is a new Asus Windows 10 laptop, I let Creative Cloud do its update. I was not asked!!

 

The first thing that shook me was that, after the updates were done and had no messages, as I opened Photoshop, I saw a very brief, and only passing, message that said something about not finding what it expected. Then, I got a permanent message saying the install did not find the expected hardware so it was being installed as “default hardware”, whatever that is. Perhaps it explains the next problems in part…

 

The most important failure was that when I went to Window>Extensions, the word “extensions” as is now (and in the past) shown on my main computer, is changed to “extensions (legacy)”. (Straight away, this confirms that Adobe has screwed things up.) It does list PPW tools 5, and I selected this. What opened was the plugin “screen”, but other than “PPW Tools 5” at the top, it was completely empty!!!!! The hamburger tab on the upper right only gave close options.

 

I then went to Actions, and saw all the actions I think. Since I have only very seldom used these, I may not be accurate in what follows. These are my sample results:

  1. All the hammers seem to work correctly.
  2. Color boost seems to work, also “LAB color boost”
  3. The false Cmyk seemed to complete but only one layer was set, so I think this means a not work
  4. Neither “Modern Man from Mars” or “MMM + Color boost” worked. After hitting run, I got the following messages saying the [following] commands are not currently available: duplicate, make, set, select, and delete. Perhaps there is something that can be done to make them available that I do not know about?
  5. HK has many of the same “not currently available” messages.

 

Assuming I have not done something stupid, almost all of my other “extensions” are now not even visible, so this problem is broad based, and perhaps the outcry will be sufficient for the tyrant Adobe to provide some fixing. FYI, my Extensions that are no longer there are: CPT, False Profile 2, Fixel FFT wizard 2, Lumenzia, Mask Equalizer, and Shape.

 

This leads me to ask a question and make a suggestion:

  1. Does anyone know how I/we can make sure that Adobe, for certain, will not update Photoshop?
  2. My suggestion: no matter what, Adobe has screwed up the PPW extension. Almost all of us have indicated a willingness to provide financial support for keeping the site open and Dan has agreed. My suggestion is that we all be willing to provide $$ to help insure that the extension makes it through this Adobe upgrade. I am, again, certainly willing.

 

I will hope that all of this is a false alarm and something peculiar to my setup and/or hardware configuration, but I doubt it.

 

Bill

 

 

 

From: colortheory@groups.io <colortheory@groups.io> On Behalf Of Dan Margulis via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 5:38 AM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: [colortheory] Group future

 

 

 

On Oct 16, 2020, at 11:32 AM, George Machen <gmachen@...> wrote:

 

Dan, I wonder whether the heretofore generous & benevolent Giuliana has indicated at least minimal availability after you're formally out of the picture, possibly with, e.g., occasional maintenance updates.
First Report on my today's Photoshop upgrade (is not good).

bill bane
 

Today, on my second/spare computer, which is a new Asus Windows 10 laptop, I let Creative Cloud do its update. I was not asked!!

 

The first thing that shook me was that, after the updates were done and had no messages, as I opened Photoshop, I saw a very brief, and only passing, message that said something about not finding what it expected. Then, I got a permanent message saying the install did not find the expected hardware so it was being installed as “default hardware”, whatever that is. Perhaps it explains the next problems in part…

 

The most important failure was that when I went to Window>Extensions, the word “extensions” as is now (and in the past) shown on my main computer, is changed to “extensions (legacy)”. (Straight away, this confirms that Adobe has screwed things up.) It does list PPW tools 5, and I selected this. What opened was the plugin “screen”, but other than “PPW Tools 5” at the top, it was completely empty!!!!! The hamburger tab on the upper right only gave close options.

 

I then went to Actions, and saw all the actions I think. Since I have only very seldom used these, I may not be accurate in what follows. These are my sample results:

  1. All the hammers seem to work correctly.
  2. Color boost seems to work, also “LAB color boost”
  3. The false Cmyk seemed to complete but only one layer was set, so I think this means a not work
  4. Neither “Modern Man from Mars” or “MMM + Color boost” worked. After hitting run, I got the following messages saying the [following] commands are not currently available: duplicate, make, set, select, and delete. Perhaps there is something that can be done to make them available that I do not know about?
  5. HK has many of the same “not currently available” messages.

 

Assuming I have not done something stupid, almost all of my other “extensions” are now not even visible, so this problem is broad based, and perhaps the outcry will be sufficient for the tyrant Adobe to provide some fixing. FYI, my Extensions that are no longer there are: CPT, False Profile 2, Fixel FFT wizard 2, Lumenzia, Mask Equalizer, and Shape.

 

This leads me to ask a question and make a suggestion:

  1. Does anyone know how I/we can make sure that Adobe, for certain, will not update Photoshop?
  2. My suggestion: no matter what, Adobe has screwed up the PPW extension. Almost all of us have indicated a willingness to provide financial support for keeping the site open and Dan has agreed. My suggestion is that we all be willing to provide $$ to help insure that the extension makes it through this Adobe upgrade. I am, again, certainly willing.

 

I will hope that all of this is a false alarm and something peculiar to my setup and/or hardware configuration, but I doubt it.

 

Bill

 

 

 

From: colortheory@groups.io <colortheory@groups.io> On Behalf Of Dan Margulis via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2020 5:38 AM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: [colortheory] Group future

 

 



On Oct 16, 2020, at 11:32 AM, George Machen <gmachen@...> wrote:

 

Dan, I wonder whether the heretofore generous & benevolent Giuliana has indicated at least minimal availability after you're formally out of the picture, possibly with, e.g., occasional maintenance updates.
Re: Group future

Dan Margulis
 



On Oct 16, 2020, at 11:32 AM, George Machen <gmachen@...> wrote:

Dan, I wonder whether the heretofore generous & benevolent Giuliana has indicated at least minimal availability after you're formally out of the picture, possibly with, e.g., occasional maintenance updates.
_._,_._,_

I have since been in touch with her and she says she does plan to continue supporting the panel with me or without. A lot, I assume, depends on how difficult Adobe makes it to retain compatibility. As Davide Barranca has noted here, and I have read elsewhere, there are supposed to be some significant Photoshop announcements at Adobe MAX, which starts today. It used to be a very expensive conference, but now that it’s virtual, it’s free. Seems like it could have some interesting sessions, unfortunately I’m going to have to miss today’s due to another commitment.


Dan
Re: Ed Benguiat, 1927-2020

Dan Margulis
 



Ed was not precisely in our field, but his wide-ranging career offers lessons to retouchers, too. I had been preparing a proper obit for this group including graphics, but have discovered that igroups support for images within messages is too limited. So I will put together a PDF and link to it here.

Dan
Ed Benguiat, 1927-2020

Quality Control
 
Edited

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/business/media/ed-benguiat-dead.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20201019&instance_id=23263&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=49411706&segment_id=41462&user_id=f10096923691c687607fc26800cc9204

There is a terrific video embedded in this article.
--
Jonathan Clymer
Re: The group's future

Randy Wright
 

In my mind, Michael has touched upon one of the unique attributes of this group. It documents the evolution and progress of a very special set of expert knowledge and tools, that are important in that they address the practical problems and solutions for communicating with images. The archives are a treasure.

Randy Wright
Re: The group's future

jorgeparraphotography
 

Dan and all. Even though you claim that this is only a $220 deal, we all know the amount of endless hours of "intangible work"a group like this requires so we can never thank you enough!! I do not think anyone will feel uncomfortable with the donation procedure, well beyond that quota, as we all recognize the value this group brings to everyone.

So, as it will be very easy to bypass the $220 line, I propose that we just continue adding to the bucket, and, for example, we would be glad to help you cover some of the costs of producing the books ( I keep promoting the Chevreul/Margulis book to my photography students and peers) but also I feel that , with some brainstorming, some new forms of presentation of your educational workshops - in a (paid)  modular online format- may eventually pop out and come to life in your mind, and we would be very happy to have helped with the production costs of those, given the obvious fact that we will all benefit from that too!!

Best 

--
Jorge Parra 
www.jJorgeParraPhotography.com
Miami
Re: FW: Group future

Eric Loots
 

Same situation here: been on this list for a very long time and am willing to contribute!

Eric

Op 18 okt. 2020 om 10:21 heeft Adrian Thompson <Adrian_Thompson@...> het volgende geschreven:


I would like to add that while I am a very infrequent poster, I very much enjoy being part of this group and would be happy to contribute. Just need to try and get hold of a copy of Dan’s latest book in the UK!

Adrian

On 18 Oct 2020, at 00:20, Robert S Baldassano <robsbphotog@...> wrote:



 

 

From: Robert Baldassano <robsbchat@...>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2020 2:46 PM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: Group future

 

Dan, I am happily surprised by your decision.  While I can't support you by buying your books, as I have already done that, I will be glad to make a donation once you set it up. Your choice shows what a selfless and generous person you are, but we already knew that.

 

Robert S Baldassano
Re: FW: Group future

Adrian Thompson
 

I would like to add that while I am a very infrequent poster, I very much enjoy being part of this group and would be happy to contribute. Just need to try and get hold of a copy of Dan’s latest book in the UK!

Adrian

On 18 Oct 2020, at 00:20, Robert S Baldassano <robsbphotog@...> wrote:



 

 

From: Robert Baldassano <robsbchat@...>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2020 2:46 PM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: Group future

 

Dan, I am happily surprised by your decision.  While I can't support you by buying your books, as I have already done that, I will be glad to make a donation once you set it up. Your choice shows what a selfless and generous person you are, but we already knew that.

 

Robert S Baldassano
FW: Group future

Robert S Baldassano
 

 

 

From: Robert Baldassano <robsbchat@...>
Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2020 2:46 PM
To: colortheory@groups.io
Subject: Re: Group future

 

Dan, I am happily surprised by your decision.  While I can't support you by buying your books, as I have already done that, I will be glad to make a donation once you set it up. Your choice shows what a selfless and generous person you are, but we already knew that.

 

Robert S Baldassano
Re: The group's future

Henry Davis
 

Thank You.

Henry Davis

On Oct 17, 2020, at 8:09 AM, Dan Margulis via groups.io <dmargulis=aol.com@groups.io> wrote:
<Snip>

Since the overwhelming consensus is that it is, that settles it; I’ll get billed in a few days and will pay it.
Dan
Re: The group's future

Michael Colby
 

With all the stress in daily life with the pandemic and work I have in a sense lost my muse.  I also haven't picked up a camera in months.  Haven't post-processed an image in months and don't feel great desire to do so.  My focus on daily life and survival (after months of increased workload and stress at work my employer RIFd me and several thousand others, with barely 4 days advance notice) has sapped my energy for creative pursuit.  And now instead of time spent plowing through my copy of "on the law of simultaneous colors..." my focus is on resume updating, linked-in updating, interview preparation, networking, and job discovery and research.  That said this too will pass and i doubt my decades-long passion and interest in photography will disappear, nor will my 2 decade-long pursuit of self-education on post-processing knowledge and methods. Its basically on emotional hiatus.  

This thread does bring to the fore a concern that I've had for a long time. That is my concern for the increasing fungibility and impermanence of expert knowledge and tools.  While Adobe and its competitors keep pumping out annual new versions of their software offerings with ever-increasing promises of ease of generating "expert" results the folks like Dan, who have real expertise, credibility, and integrity and their knowledge are increasingly rare and endangered.  Nothing lasts forever, but things like tools that distill and implement the results of knowledge and methodology, like PPW, only have a life as long as they're maintained and supported by the person or persons who created them or follow-on to support them (and or enhance them over time).  My fear is that while Dan's (and other's) books and writing will persist over time, their tools that distill that knowledge so we don't have to re-invent the wheel don't have permanence. The same is true of Guy Gowan, who i also follow for his knowledge and tools, who's knowledge is only distributed through his web site (by subscription) and who's tools are not panel based but sets sophisticated photoshop actions.  Again that knowledge and maintenance/improvement of the actions that implement the results of his knowledge are only as permanent as his presence is.

Essentially the stuff that is equal parts snake oil and ever-shifting hype is the stuff that persists into the future (e.g the annual this new release is going to be everything the last buggy release wasn't in the pay us for a new release of the year club from Skylum and/or OnOne) and the knowledge, and especially methods distilled into tools, of real experts has the risk of impermanence. 

That's my 2 cents for the day. and the reason I'm happy to donate to this group and support Dan's good work by purchasing his books.  
Re: The group's future

Joshua Ziff
 

I, too, would be happy to contribute. I am an infrequent poster, but learn a lot by just following along, and I would miss the concepts I pick up along the way.

Joshua Ziff
Re: The group's future

Robert Wheeler
 

Dan,

At the start of the thread, you wrote "The world has changed, and with it the way we communicate. At the moment, we also have enough other things on our mind. I certainly have a tough time working up the enthusiasm to talk about color right now." I have some observations that may be useful for members of the group similarly affected.

Our local camera club had about a 20% reduction in membership at renewal time this August. Many members reported going months without even picking up a camera. One dropped photography entirely and took up kayaking. Seems the pandemic restrictions and contentious environment left people with something similar to depression but without all the classical symptoms. I had similar reduction  of engagement in hobbies late spring/early summer even before having activities further restricted for a couple of months after eye surgery.

Being deprived of visits with grandchildren, seeming associates die, having regular social gatherings cancelled, dealing with financial impacts, sorting through conflicting propaganda, and facing prolonged uncertainty all have unexpected impacts on emotions and outlook. This may not be easy to recognize while happening. But it can definitely get in the way of even imagining things that can still be done despite the restrictions.

In my case, learning that others had similar feelings/impacts was the moment that triggered deliberate thinking about what I could do without waiting for the world to change. For me, just making a few new images ended up being surprisingly effective for boosting energy and improving attitude. That made it easier to identify other things to safely resume -- including returning to learn more about color. As one who only joined earlier this year, I am glad to see this group continue.

Best wishes,

Robert Wheeler
Re: Group future

Dan Margulis
 



On Oct 16, 2020, at 11:32 AM, George Machen <gmachen@...> wrote:

Dan, I wonder whether the heretofore generous & benevolent Giuliana has indicated at least minimal availability after you're formally out of the picture, possibly with, e.g.,occasional maintenance updates.

We haven’t had this discussion since the pandemic began. Since that changes everything for everybody, she’d have to speak for herself.

Dan
Re: The group's future

Dan Margulis
 



On Oct 16, 2020, at 12:25 PM, Jim Stasiak <stasiakjames@...> wrote:

I would be happy to contribute to sharing the cost to stay on the current plan. Better to keep the existing structure intact than introduce more variables, imho. There is so much valuable and interconnected knowledge here that all stems from your passion, envelope-pushing and refinement since the early days. We certainly should be able to remove any cost concerns from your plate.
Thanks, Dan!

Reading between the lines of this and a couple of other posts I would like to reiterate that after retiring from management 25 years agoI have made a living in this field through my classes and sales of my books. For obvious reasons the classes are unlikely to resume. Therefore anyone interested in transferring money into my pocket are kindly directed to On the Law of Simultaneous Contrast of Colors and/or Modern Photoshop Color Workflow. They are IMHO highly informative and quite suitable for gifts. The production costs of these books, which we paid, were quite high and justifies, IMHO, a profit if sales are good.

I do not, however, wish to make money from this list. It has always been free and I have no desire to impose any kind of fee on anyone for using it. It is correct that I now have to pay $220/year to keep it open, but this is chump change. You can imagine how many hours I donated to each one of the eleven case studies we recently finished. I am happy to donate the $220 if in fact the list is still useful to its members. Since the overwhelming consensus is that it is, that settles it; I’ll get billed in a few days and will pay it.

That so many people have offered to make contributions is touching and humbling. I do think that if we said “the cost of our group is partially defrayed by voluntary contributions from its members” it would carry a lot of weight, and it might persuade some of you to help us move in new directions.

So I will try to set up the Donations function and offer some guidelines on what might be acceptable. There will be absolutely no pressure on anybody to donate. If we happen to get more than $220 I’ll be open to suggestions as to how to use it, maybe send a case of books to some educational institution.

Thanks to all for the vote to continue.

Dan
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