Salvage Extensis PhotoBars in Adobe Photoshop 6.0

What about PhotoBars for the Macintosh?

As is to be expected, if it was possible to salvage PhotoBars for use with Photoshop 6.0 on a Windows PC, can the same be done for the Macintosh computer? In short, I just don't know.

I have no experience at all with a Macintosh and know nothing about how software is installed on them. The only thing I have heard with respect to PhotoTools and PhotoBars specifically, came directly from an Extensis representative. I was told that the task for making PhotoBars compatible with Photoshop 6.0 on a Macintosh is a considerably more complex task than for a Windows PC. From this comment alone, I assume that the approach I took in solving the problem for a Windows PC will not work. Nonetheless, I provide the following as an idea for how someone knowledgeable of the Macintosh O/S and software installations might proceed to explore the possibility of salvaging PhotoBars for a Mac. If someone pursues this and learns of a solution, please let me know. I'd be happy to post any details learned, so as to share that with other Macintosh users.

NOTICE: The following is only an idea for exploring how PhotoBars functionality might be restored on a Macintosh, following an approach similar to what I applied on a Windows PC. The user accepts full responsibility for applying this procedure to their Macintosh computer and agrees that in doing so, that I will not be held liable for any problems that may occur.

BACKGROUND & CONCEPT

Prior to the Extensis PhotoTools 3.0.6 update the PhotoTools installer would fail if installed to the Photoshop 6.0 directory (PS6). Meanwhile, copying the old installation from Photoshop 5.5 (PS5.5) to the PS6 location would not provide working functionality for PhotoTools. This was due in part to the absence of the Extensis menu, which I understand is also missing even in the 3.0.6 update for the Mac. However, even though the menu was missing and was needed for accessing the Edit PhotoBars and Customize Toolbars commands, I noticed that my old toolbars did show up in Photoshop 6.0.

So, for the Windows O/S and I would expect the same is true for the Mac, the display state of the toolbars is saved when Photoshop is exited. This meant that even though I'd lost the Extensis menu, I could still provide access to the Edit PhotoBars command by putting a button for it onto one of my toolbars. The only problem would be that if I ever closed the toolbar containing the Edit command, I would have no way to reselect the toolbars for display. What this meant, was that I needed to keep that toolbar active, exit Photoshop, and then save a copy of the PhotoBars folder to a backup location. That way, if I mistakenly closed the toolbar with the Edit command on it, I could restore it to the displayed state by copying the backup files back into the Photoshop 6.0 installation.

Once I learned how to salvage my PhotoBars even prior to the 3.0.6 update, the rest of getting things to work was just a matter of time and effort in redefining the buttons, as well as creating new ones, using the Icon Button Editor tool.

PROCESS

If you are pretty savvy with the workings of the Mac, or know someone who is, here is what I'd suggest as a way to explore how to salvage the PhotoBars for a Mac. Again, I emphasize that I know nothing about the Mac O/S and I don't know what risks are involved in simply copying files from one location to another insofar as possibly corrupting other program functionality. That said:

If Photoshop 5.0/5.5 has been uninstalled, reinstall it and PhotoTools 3.0/3.03.

Create at least one toolbar that has the Edit PhotoBars button on it or open the PhotoTools toolbar. Leave one or the other displayed and exit Photoshop.
Compare the PS5.0/5.5 installation to the PS6.0 installation, looking for files that appear to be created under the PS5.0/5.5 install path for support of PhotoTools. Copy all of these into their corresponding PS6 install path locations. In a Windows system, the following files are needed:

file: PS6/EToolBox.dll

file: PS6/Plug-ins/Extensis Library.acel.8bx

file: PS6/Plug-ins/Extensis Library.dll

directory: PS6/Plugins/Extensis

file: PS6/Plugins/Extensis/PhotoBar.8bf

file: PS6/Plugins/Extensis/PhotoBars.exli.dll

file: PS6/Plugins/Extensis/PhotoEng.8bf

directory: PS6/Plugins/Extensis/Photobars and all contents

Install the PhotoTools 3.0.6 update for PS6. This will delete any old PhotoTools files and put them into a backup directory identified during the install process. Inspect the contents of the backup directory and move any directories/files identifiable as related to PhotoBars back to their original location. For any other files, move them back as well, but do not replace more current versions of the files that may have been installed by the 3.0.6 update.

Open PS6 and see if any PhotoBar toolbars show up...hopefully you'll see the ones appear that were last displayed when you exited PS5.0/5.5.

If this works, then the remaining task is to use the Edit PhotoBars and Customize Toolbars commands to edit/create/delete all desired toolbars and buttons. If all works, save a backup copy of your PhotoBars folder when you are done.

Where I once thought that the PhotoBars files might be cross-platform compatible and that perhaps my files would offer a possible starting point for Macintosh users, I doubt that is the case. After reviewing the PhotoTools help on PhotoBars, regarding how to create new menu command buttons, there appears to be quite a difference between how toolbars and buttons are created on each type of computer. So, in all likelihood the PhotoBars files are not cross-platform compatible.

Hopefully my suggestions will at least offer some sense of how to approach exploring the salvaging of PhotoBars for the Macintosh users.

Feedback From other Macintosh Users

The comments which follow are unedited feedback which I've received from other Macintosh users who have worked at trying to get PhotoBars to work for them with Photoshop 6.0. Perhaps the information I've provided above, in conjunction with this feeback, will help Mac users salvage the PhotoBars functionality.

#1

I used your suggestions as a base and did a little experimenting with positive results. I copied 2 of the files from PS 5.5 to the new PhotoTools folder in PS 6.0. Those 2 files were "PhotoBars" and "PhotoBars Categories." There was a 3rd file called PhotoBars Toolbars - that one caused PS 6 to freeze when PS 6 was opened. However, when I started PS 6 with just the 2 files mentioned above, I found Extensis in the top menu bar and was able to open the ToolBars edit widow and created a new tool bar with the options I wanted - and they worked!!!

Warning - don't place the new Extensis tool bar(s) in the PS 6 dock or anywhere next to the PS 6 toolbar - it will cause the program to freeze. If that happens, just exit the program and open it again. Once open, pull down the Extensis menu to edit the toolbar and delete it. You can then re-create it and place it where it won't interfere with the PS 6 toolbar.

There are no guarantees that other problems won't appear down the road, but this looks like a good temporary fix until Extensis does one of their own. It should also be understood that not all of the button options work. I found that file and edit menu options did not work, but that image options did.

Jim

#2

Hi,

Please post this information:

Using the procedure outlined on this site (I'm too lazy to recap the exact steps), and incorporating the button remapping procedure provided for windows users (customize : control+option+doubleclick icon as applicable), I have been able to put back WITH FULL FUNCTIONALITY the ONLY truly useful thing about Extensis Phototools: the beloved tool bar.

Now, like I had hoped when I popped Photoshop 6 out of the box, I can have the Photoshop dock at the bottom, the custom toolbar docked at the top and life is just one big productivity gain... Organized layers AND single click access to anything.

And now the disclaimer: I have not yet gone into a heavy duty production cycle with this set up as I just finished customizing my tool bar and am writing this e-mail in the first blush of enthusiasm. In other words, who knows how de-stabilizing this might be in actual use, but in the meantime, the Extensis product is back in the game.

There's just one more thing: I have not been able to figure out how to get custom icons into this thing. The old method of defining an icon doesn't find the pict resources and I never had figured out how to create new ones. If anyone knows how to do this on a Mac, please send the info this way.

Thanks a million for your invaluable help in making this a practical plug-in again.

JPG

If anyone has information to offer JPG directly, you may contact him at jpg*REMOVE@mediaone.net. I have "de-SPAMmed" his e-mail address, so be sure to remove the "*REMOVE" text accordingly. - Ambress

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