Expert: Amy - 2/15/2005

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Amy:

I am at a beginner level in Illustrator 10 on a PC with Windows 98SE.

I have downloaded a limited trial/demo of two (2) variants of an Illustrator effects "plug-in" (files named Power Punch 1, and Power Punch 2).  The installation instructions I got were as follows:

"You just need to place the files in the plug-in path of the host application, being Illustrator 10. To remove, just remove the files. c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins (and probably a sub folder of that… say Power Punch, so you can easily delete and identify the files)."


I am embarrassed to say that this isn't enough "detail" for a newbie like me to know how to install it.

QUESTIONS
1.  Could you provide more specific “step-by-step” instructions on how I can "install" these two plug-ins?

2.  Could you provide the same for completely "Removing" them so I can delete them at the end of the trail period?

Thanks,

Tom

Answer -
Hi Tom.

To install a plug in, you first unstuff it if it's in a self-extracting archive format when you download. You'll end up with some files ending in the extension aip.

Then quit Illustrator if you're running it.

Then locate this folder on your machine:
c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins
and put the new aip files in that folder.  That's it. The next time you launch Illustrator, you'll see a new submenu in the Filters menu.

To "uninstall" just delete those new aip files from the
c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins\ folder.

BUT - I downloaded what you downloaded and I cannot get any of their plug-ins to work.  I went and downloaded another demo plug-in from some random site and it works fine.  I think there may be some issues with the functionality of their demo...


Amy



Amy:

Thanks for looking into this.

Strange that a company would have a trial program that they did not do a “test check” before posting it for download.  I'll contact them to see what's up.

QUESTION:
I “think” I understood the instructions you provided to install a plug-in, but to make sure, would you review this step-by-step method to see if is the proper way to install a plug-in?

INSTALL/PLACE instructions:
1.   Start/Find/Files or Folders…
2.   Then, in the Find: All Files window, under the Name and Location tab, next to the Name: box, type       c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins       then,
3.   Leave the box next to Containing Text: (blank)
4.   In the Look In: box, select [C:]
5.   Click Find Now button
6.   Look for a Folder called Illustrator Filters
7.   Double click on the yellow Illustrator Folder icon
8.   Minimize the Illustrator Folder screen
9.   Locate the plug-in file .aip file saved from the download.
10.   Right click on the file name, then left click on Copy from the pop-up window
11.   Maximize the Illustrator Filter Window previously opened and minimized
12.   Right click anywhere within the Illustrator Filter Window and left click Paste from the drop-down Window
13.   The plug-in has now been “installed” in Illustrator and is when Illustrator is open, the plug-ins features are now accessible clicking on a dropdown list under Filter

REMOVE instructions:
1.   Follow instructions 1-7 above, then
2.   Highlight the file name of the filter you want to remove with a right click, then click delete from the drop-down menu
3.   The plug-in has now been removed

Is this correct or is there a better way to do this?


Tom


Answer
Hi Tom,

Since you are running 98 and I am not, I can't be certain of the text displayed in your search Window but this seems like one valid way to do it.

There are many ways to navigate the Windows system.  If it works for you, then it works.

Transferring files from one folder to another is all there is to "installing" plug-ins.

-Amy