Unable to get Droplets working LR 2.1 and PS CS4

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RobB

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I decided today to try and further automate my LR and PS workflow, by setting up droplets. I wanted to create an automated export to PS CS4 to run Noiseware Pro at default settings and return the image back to LR.

I downloaded a PS action set from Imagenomic which I loaded and they work fine within CS4. I then downloaded a set of PS Droplets for Lightroom, which I installed in the C:\Users\<username>\Appdata\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Export Actions folder.

I then tried to export an image, and selected the Noiseware droplet in the "After Export". CS4 opens (if not already open), but I then get a Microsoft Windows pop up box with the message "Adobe Photoshop Droplet has stopped working".

The droplets that I installed were created in CS3 (1'.') so I deleted them and created my own new droplet from CS4, but I get exactly the same problem. I have also tried changing the compatibility of the droplet to run as administrator, I then get a different error message, which says, "Droplet couldn't communicate with Photoshop".

Have also tried creating droplets for other simple actions other than Noiseware, with the same results.

I appreciate this may be a PS issue rather than LR, but has anyone else had this problem or any ideas on what might be causing it?

Thanks

Rob
 
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Hi Rob

Ok, first thing to narrow down is whether it's a LR issue or PS issue.

First you can check whether it's a problem with the droplet, simply by dropping files directly onto the droplet. That was the original use for droplets, hence the name. If that works, then we look into why LR isn't working properly.

That said, I've seen a few issues even with Bridge CS4 not opening files into PS CS4 when PS isn't already open, so I'm guessing it's a PS issue. Reinstalling can sometimes fix that one - it's usually down to registry issues on Windows, if you fancy digging around.
 
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Hi Victoria,

This is the first time I have ever used droplets, so thanks for explaining their original use!

I have put the droplets onto the desktop and dropped some images directly onto them. PS opens up but I do then get the same error message, so as suspected the problem does seem to be on the PS side.

I can't seem to find a solution to this one having searched the internet. I have found someone who had a similar problem with CS2 which (as you suggested) may have been a registry problem when a previous version of PS had been installed on the same system. However, I did a clean install of my system a couple of weeks back due to an ATI graphics driver problem, and I only put CS4 back on.

I will try your suggestion of reinstalling CS4 tomorrow and see if that fixes it.

It's very frustrating - I often try and find new ways of working quicker and smarter, and then spend hours trying to get them to work!!

Rob
 
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RobB said:
It's very frustrating - I often try and find new ways of working quicker and smarter, and then spend hours trying to get them to work!!
Click to expand...

I know that feeling very well Rob! At least it's narrowed it down to where the problem occurs.
 
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I did an uninstall and reinstall of CS4 this morning, but the problem still persisted.

I decided to contact Adobe UK Techical Support, and thanks to a very helpful guy there, the problem has been fixed! The steps taken to resolve the problem were as follows:

1. Renaming the CS4 preferences folder to '.old' - This is located at C:\Users\<username>\Appdata\Roaming\Adobe\Photoshop CS4\Adobe Photoshop CS4 Settings. Apparently uninstalling and reinstalling PS does not affect this folder, so by renaming it, it forces PS to create a new one.

2. Turn off Vista User Account Control

3. Create a new user account (administrator level) & Restart

4. In the new user account, Open PS and create a new droplet to the desktop

5. Tested the new droplet by dropping an image onto it – It now works.

6. Logged off (specifically told not to use switch user), and logged back on with normal account.

7. Created a new droplet in PS onto the desktop – It now works when you drop an image onto it.

8. Placed the droplet into the LR export actions folder, and tested the LR export which also now works OK.

9. Turned Vista User Account Control back on, and retested OK.

According to Adobe these general steps resolve quite a number of different issues with Vista and PS. He put it down to a ‘permissions’ issue with Vista. I thought I would post the fix here in case anyone experiences similar pain with Vista and LR/PS.

So problem solved … hooray! - Now that I have it working, I really love this automation between LR and PS, and I will now be looking to create some more export actions for Sharpening and Watermarking in PS. I can see this saving me a lot of time.

For me, this is another Vista problem that is pushing me closer still towards getting a Mac! But the question to you Mac users, do you get many issues with your applications and OS X? Or do things just seem to work for you?
 
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Well done Rob! And thanks so much for posting the result - I'm sure that this will become a much viewed thread.

Macs.... well, those who are converted from Windows won't usually hear a bad word said! LOL Seriously though, Macs are still computers, and are still prone to user error, but the limited range of hardware does massively cut the number of incompatibilities which are seen with Windows machines and software, which can make a big difference.
 
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Thank you for reporting back Rob. We like having solutions ending threads. To find this one more easily in the future, I star rated this topic...

I recently converted to Mac and don't regret! As I buyed another XP licence to be run on it, I have access to both worlds and didn't loose those Windows only apps that I sometimes have to rely on. Just check first that all your existing peripherals are recognized by OS X or have drivers for it.
 
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Won't work for me

Seem to be having the same problem Rob. I set up lightroom to export pictures with an action to run to place a border on all my pictures.
I would get through about 3' out of 5' pictures then this error message would apprear. Tried your method to solve it and still get the same error message about half way through. Seems pretty strange that it will do more than half the photos then decide it can't communicate.

Very frustrating...

Toby
 
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What does the error message say Toby? And what happens if those 5' photos are at the root of the drive?
 
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The message just says "Droplet cannot communicate with photoshop"

I was just nosing around the Adobe forums and was reading about exporting with the droplet to the root drive. I tested it exporting to rather than a 4 tier folder to the root E: drive and it worked fine.
Pretty lame if you ask me. Why won't it work if it is in a heirarchy of folders?

Whatever. I guess I will just export my large projects to the root and then copy them to a new folder. Still doesn't completely trim my workflow but cuts a few steps.

Toby
 
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TobyTucker said:
...I tested it exporting to rather than a 4 tier folder to the root E: drive and it worked fine.
Pretty lame if you ask me. Why won't it work if it is in a heirarchy of folders?
Click to expand...
The reason is that there is a limit to the length of the command that Lightroom have to process. Shortening the paths to each image permits more images to fit in the command.

This is why many opt for short non descriptive folders like in:
P:/Photos/2''9/2''9-'1-27/ImagesHere
P:/Photos/2''9/2''9-'2-15/ImagesHere
P:/Photos/2''9/2''9-'4-'1/ImagesHere

Others insert a month level between year and full date...
 
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Just to complete Denis' thought, it's not a Lr problem, it's a Windows problem. There's a hard limit of 8kB on the length of that command string passing the data to the droplet, and that's what's causing the problem.
 
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