Hey Fred (or anyone else) KPT Vector effects Mac question

[HSG]

Fred,
I posted before about problems with KPT. My old copy (really old copy on a floppy - tried to copy from old mac to G4) wouldn't take my serial number when I upgraded my system on my Mac. I have an opportunity to buy a new, old copy from a reseller. Version 1.5 on CD. Does anyone know if the plugins will work in Illustrator CS2 on OS 10.4? Or if I'm stuck with using classic os system with this? I want classic to go away completely if possible.

HSG

 

[Vinylman]

As far as I can determine, KPT vector effects is NO LONGER supported by Corel®. They bought KPT years ago, and no longer support it for the Mac platform. Also since Ill. 10 The plugins won't work in anything except the system 9 versions. I miss them also, so Occationally I revert to classic mode and use them.

Vinylman®

 

[Fred Weiss]

All I can tell you is that KPT Vector Effect 1.5 for Windows runs just fine with Illustrator 10 on an XP Pro workstation. I have not made the move to Adobe Creative Suite to know one way or the other and I don't use it with my Macintosh.

 

[HSG]

It would be nice if someone could figure out a way around the CS issues. I'm also very unhappy with the font problems in OSX. A lot of mine don't work now. My 2 signfonts brand fonts have been branded corrupt by the font book utility. I miss ATM. Font book is awful. I was delighted that I found the original unopened mac 1.5 version (of KPT). I miss using KPT. Not all improvements are for the best.

HSG

 

[iSign]

not that it helps you any, but for the record if anyone else tunes in here who wonders... it works on CS1 on a pc also.

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

Help fill a gap in my knowledge reservoir... WHAT IS KPT Vector Effects? Is it worthwhile to find a copy for Windoze?

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

Just drank some coffee and it hit me... MUST be Kai Power tools?

 

[iSign]

yep!

coffee is a wonderful thing!

 

[Fred Weiss]

In case anyone is wondering what's so great about this discontinued product, here is one of an infinite number of effects that can be created in seconds with Kai's Power Tools Vector Effects. The difference between doing something like this in Photoshop is that the vectors are scaleable with no loss of resolution.

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

The difference between doing something like this in Photoshop is that the vectors are scaleable with no loss of resolution.

This is pretty much the "power" available with Macromedia Fireworks. People who aren't familair with the program assume it to be "like Photoshop". In reality, it is first and foremost an incredible vector program, with the effects being live and fully editable all the time.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

It would be nice if someone could figure out a way around the CS issues. I'm also very unhappy with the font problems in OSX. A lot of mine don't work now. My 2 signfonts brand fonts have been branded corrupt by the font book utility. I miss ATM. Font book is awful. I was delighted that I found the original unopened mac 1.5 version (of KPT). I miss using KPT. Not all improvements are for the best.

HSG

HSG

Off topic from the original posting, but.. I am curious, what kind of font problems are you having? I use OSX exclusively - using 10.4.2 right now. I have not run into any problems with fonts - and I have many fonts from many foundries. Is this unique to you or is it well known and I'm in the dark about it? The last thing I need is to have my fonts be troublesome as I rely on them daily.

I use Suitcase to organize my fonts, but my favorite was always ATM Deluxe from Adobe - sad to see they haven't updated it for OSX.

 

[Bobby H]

FWIW, many of the kinds of effects featured in KPT Vector Effects (such as 3D effects, warping effects, etc.) are standard features within Illustrator CS2.

This is pretty much the "power" available with Macromedia Fireworks.

What version of Fireworks are you using? I have FWMX, and it doesn't have all the vector-based 3D extruding and beveling features (along with other effecturs) originally carried by KPT Vector Effects. It doesn't match all the features of IllustratorCS2, or even recent versions of Freehand for that matter either.

While you can do a number of vector-path oriented things within Fireworks, it doesn't have enough of the tools required to be a good replacement for a dedicated drawing program like Illustrator, Freehand or CorelDRAW.

Another major shortcoming I find with Fireworks is it does not import any embedded vector paths within Photoshop files. That includes paths in the paths palette, shape layers, clipping paths or vector masks. And that's really something of a shame. Fireworks can open Illustrator files and retain the vector paths. It would be nice if it could save Photoshop formatted files with such paths saved into Photoshop path form. That would provide a lot of CorelDRAW users who own Fireworks a method of getting their path work into a Photoshop layout. Instead, they must use Freehand or Illustrator (both can place AICB formatted paths into the clipboard, which is the only way you can get vector paths into Photoshop from another application).

 

[HSG]

Vdoc,
I recently upgraded from 9.2 to 10.4. It's just a bit different. When I tried to load certian fonts into fontbook from fontbook and they wouldn't activate. I use Berthold akzidenz alot and wasn't happy when it didn't work. It is an adobe postscript type 1 font, so it didn't make sense. When I went to the actual font to get info on it, an add to fonts dialog box showed up. I was able to add it that way, so apparently it's just one of those stumble arround in the dark until something works solutions. Tech support was no help when I called about using fontbook. That type of help costs $39 an hour. The idiot did inform me that I might have to buy all new fonts because OSX won't recognize a lot of them. Needless to say, I was in a bit of a panic over that. It seems the tech guy must have been the janitor filling in because I seem to have no trouble now. Are you using extensis suitcase? I am not quite sure if fontbook requires all fonts to be activated all the time. I haven't been able to find that little bit of info yet. Except for the font manager, I've been happy with the upgrade so far.

I bought KPT today, so I hope I can get it to work in CS2. If not, I guess I'll keep classic 9 alive. I'll post when it gets here and I get it up and running. Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe Kai's power tools are raster only?

HSG

 

[The Vector Doctor]

I only use Extensis Suitcase to activate/deactivate fonts as I need them. I was most familiar with ATM from Adobe when I was OS9, but with OSX and the demise of ATM, I switched to Suitcase - it is not perfect but for my complex font organizational needs, fontbook is not good enough.

I have the Akzidenz postscript fonts for my Mac and have not had any problems with it or with any of my other mainstream brands of fonts. The one nice thing though about OSX is that it recognizes ttf fonts from both Mac/Windows. Postscript fonts are still os dependent though. PSfonts for Mac and PSfonts for windows do not mix.

 

[iSign]

"Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe Kai's power tools are raster only?"

HSG, yep you may be wrong in the sense that the KPT name has been associated with a vector effect software also. (coincidently called KPT Vector effects.. & referred to as such in most of this thread)

but, KPT is also the name on other plug-ins... so maybe you bought one of the rastor effect ones, which are now available together in: The KPT Collection

 

[HSG]

Vdoc,
That's some nice info to know about OSX. I had no idea it would recognize ttf fonts. font agent pro was recently recommended to me as a font utility.

Doug Allen,
I bought vector effects. I had Vector effects from long ago and never really kept up on it's various upgrades. When I called Corel about buying a new version I was told it was now rastor only. I believe it was just KPT Vector Effects and then Kai's Power Tools for awhile. Is it worth it to buy for photoshop? Or is Eyecandy a better deal?

HSG

 

[Arlo Kalon 2.0]

First, in looking at my original post, what I quoted and then pointed out is that "the vectors are scaleable with no loss of resolution". It was the only comment I was referring to, because I never have used KPT in any version. Then, I compared that feature as being the core premise of Fireworks software, that all the effects remain live and editable. That was the full extent of my insight into this thread.

While you can do a number of vector-path oriented things within Fireworks, it doesn't have enough of the tools required to be a good replacement for a dedicated drawing program like Illustrator, Freehand or CorelDRAW.

Many of the features/capabilities you say are not in Fireworks are there... maybe not in the same steps/terminology you are accustomed to. This is no challenge of your software knowledge, merely a common occurence when dealing with different mfr.'s products. However great a program I personally consider Fireworks to be, I'm the first to concede that no software in itself fully functions as a comprehensive solution. Disagree or not, with the capabilities we can gain by purchasing yet another program, rarely is one product the only part of the process for me anymore.

 

[Bobby H]

Kai's Power Tools, the plug-in package for Photoshop was the first Kai's filter package (released in the early 1990s by HSC). Successive versions of Kai's Power Tools have been released since then when the Kai products changed hands from HSC to MetaTools, MetaCreations (the merger between Fractal Design) and then ultimately with Corel after MetaCreations went bust.

Kai's Vector Effects was a completely separate product from Kai's Power Tools. It was originally a Mac-only product compatible with Illustrator 5, 5.5 and 6, as well as Freehand 5 and 5.5. When the product became Windows compatible (with Corel taking over the distribution of the product) it worked with versions 8 and above of Adobe Illustrator. I'm not sure about this, but I don't think Vector Effects 1.5 will work with IllustratorCS2. There's lots of Illustrator plug ins that have to be re-compiled to be compatible with AI CS2. That includes products like CAD Tools.

--(Edit, had to add something)--

On the subject of fonts, and how some may not work with newer versions of the MacOS and WindowsXP, investing in a good font creation tool like FontLab, or FontLab's upcoming upgrade of Fontographer might help.

I've had wierd fonts not want to install within WindowsXP and it would usually be some mistake in font naming that made the font "invalid." My copy of Fontographer 4.1.5 has to run on an old WinME machine (it won't run on any XP Pro machine with more than 512MB of RAM). But it has come in handy for making previously useless fonts useful once again. I would just open the font outlines file of a Postscript font and then try to import the metrics file. Generate a new font and make sure the file naming and font styles are saved correctly.

FWIW, I've never had any problems like that with any of my Adobe fonts. I have the Akzidenz Grotesk BE family (it came with Adobe Illustrator 4). Those PS fonts work fine in XP Pro.