These Instructions are for OLDER versions of the Advanced Stacker PLUS.  See HERE for the latest.

On a Windows Machine You do this:

• Right click the ZIP file and select “Open in -> Windows Explorer”
• Select the StarCircleAcademy folder and drag it onto your Download Folder or Desktop (or any suitable directory.
• Open the StarCircleAcademy folder you just dragged out of the archive.
• Change the name of InstallSCA.RENAMETOBAT to InstallSCA.BAT
• Right Click the InstallSCA file and select “Run as Administrator”
  NOTE: If you don’t see “Run as Administrator” try renaming the file again to InstallSCA.CMD

Alternatively you could unpack the zip file using  http://www.rarlab.com or PKUnzip

If you have trouble installing using the InstallSCA, you can manually install files, too. See the next set of instructions.

Install Without Using the Installer (e.g. on a Mac)

Yes. The steps the windows installer automates are putting the SCRIPT files (*.jsx files) in the proper place(s). Unfortunately Adobe directory structure is not particularly nice for Windows users.  If you’re using CS2, CS3 or CS4, or a Mac the actions must be fixed up (steps 8 through 16 under “On a Mac” below) or they won’t point at the correct script locations. The scripts (.jsx files) are not required. If you do not install them everything will work fine except the Install Check. Stacking will not be able to keep track of the file names that are loaded but this, of course is a nice to have, not a necessity.

On Windows

In general on Windows, place the SCA_DuplicateDocFromLayerNames.jsx and SCA_RenameLayerToDocName.jsx files into:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Scripts  or
• C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC (64 Bit)\Presets\Scripts or
• C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC\Presets\Scripts

Notice that the 32 and 64 bit locations are different. I’ve only shown CS2 and CC, but CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 and CC all could be substituted above.  We recommend installing the scripts in ALL of the directories that you find that match the patterns above.  For your own sanity, you can create a subdirectory “StarCircleAcademy” under the Scripts folders and install into that.  Two more important things to remember: after installing into the Photoshop Scripts directory, you must stop and restart Photoshop. If you you do NOT install in the Photoshop/Presets/Scripts directory you must “fix up” the references (steps 8 through 16 below).

On a Mac

Here are the recommended installation steps:

1. Download the .zip file using the link provided
2. Open the zip file (usually in your Downloads directory)
3. Once opened, the Mac automatically unpacks the zip file into a StarCircleAcademy directory – usually also in your Downloads directory.
4. Drag (move) the StarCircleAcademy directory into your Applications folder using Finder.
5. Open the Photoshop version you want to install Advanced Stacker PLUS in.
6. Navigate to the Application/StarCircleAcademy directory in Finder.
7. Select each of the *.atn files and drag them into the open Photoshop version.
8. Find the StarCircleStacker Customizations in the Action Palette (Window -> Actions)
9. Find the Action “Set Layer Name to Document Name”.
10. Click the Record button on the action Palette.
11. Select File -> Scripts -> Browse then navigate to Applications/StarCircleAcademy and select “SCA_RenameLayerToDocName.jsx”. Click OK on the warning.
12. Click the “Stop” recording button.
13. Select the “other” script action (the one without a full path to the script) and click the delete icon in the action palette.
14. Select the action “Create Duplicate Using First and Last”
15. Perform the same steps 10-13 using the “SCA_DuplicateDocFromLayerNames.jsx” file at step 11.
16. We recommend that you then run the StarCircle Advanced PLUS Version 14d step “Installation Check”
17. Close Photoshop and repeat steps 5-16 for each additional version of Photoshop you wish to install the ASP in.

How to Install Advanced Stacker PLUS 14 on a Mac Computer.

Fixups

You must stop and restart Photoshop after copying the script files so that Photoshop will find them.

If you are using CS2, CS3 or CS4, you must correct the installed actions in two places. Details are described in the first video below – start watching at around 4:00, and also in steps 8-16 above and in the Mac installation video above.

 

Installation and Operation Videos

VERSION 14 installation and operation instructions, see here. For older versions, please see here.

Most Common Usage Errors

These are the most often reported problems:

1. Can’t install the ATN files.  The files come zipped in a single .zip file. You must unzip them then drag them into an open Photoshop to load them.  Don’t drag them onto an open document, however as Photoshop won’t know what to do. (See the video).
2. It tries to open some “ilovetricia” file!  tricia is Steven’s wife and if you don’t override the path (see next question), it will try to load a file you probably don’t have on your machine!  It may also mean you’ve try to run the action directly instead of from File -> Automate -> Batch.
3. It keeps warning me about “color space” or image size, or popping open the Adobe Camera Raw utility.  Be sure to check all the indicated options when executing.
   
4. It keeps asking me to confirm file saves (see Override Action “Save as” Commands setting above).
5. After using intermediates, there is only one file that has been saved! See hint for 4. There must be a “serial number” or all saved files will have the same name.
6. I get an error “The Command ‘Move’ is not currently available.” the most common cause of this is when layers are turned off or collapsed prior to running one of the stacking steps.  Do not collapse layer sets.

Known Problems

1. (LW) Stacking slows down dramatically after 5th or 6th file on Windows 8, 64 bit.
   Status: We’re stumped.  Believe it is something in the environment for that machine. Might be due to very large change history setting as we don’t see this problem on our Windows 8 machine.

Problems Under Investigation

None at present.

Resolved Issues

1. (MW/JJ) “The command MOVE is not currently available” is shown when stacking in LIGHTEN mode.
   Status: Resolved. The “Override File Open” option was not selected resulting in many tabs. In another case, the user had collapsed the layer sets.
2. (Greg) Did not have ArialNarrow font installed and the Watermark creation in version 13 – which happens by default – was creating extra layers and confusing the action. Resolved by upgrading to version 13B.
3. (JS) I go to do “lighten with intermediates.” I get the error “The object “layer “Watermark”” is not currently available.
   Status: Resolved in 13B
4. (Deb) Unable to install TEST Stacker actions on CS2
   Status: Unable to resolve
5. (Tass) When processing the intermediates it kept asking me to save the file after each one. I did have the override save command checked.
   Status: Unable to recreate.
6. (JM) Stacking fails with “‘Set’ is not currently available” when stacking TIFF files
   Status: Received TIFF files, unable to recreate problem at present.
7. (JP) Install Check fails on French version of Photoshop.
   Status: Problem has been corrected in version 14b.
8. (KD) On PS CS5 Extended: After “Do this First” the StackResults.psd contains the necessary layer groups, but no actual layers.  Not sure what causes this, but adding an extra stop in the process seemed to resolve the problem.
9. (PC) “COMMAND UNAVAILABLE” when attempting to stack in Lighten with Intermediates.
   There were two causes: 1. Stopping “Do This First” too early; and 2. A damaged copy of the Customizations action set.