Adobe Strikes Again

[Mike Farley]

After a few days I thought it would be safe to update my Creative Cloud versions of Lightroom and Photoshop. No sooner had I done so, than I saw this post from Thom Hogan. What is more, although both applications are up to date, Lightroom tells me that its version of ACR is not compatible with PS. If I opt to allow PS to process a Raw file, nothing happens. In addition to that, I have had to re-install my Nik plug-ins. To say that I am less than impressed with the way that Adobe has handled this update is something of an understatement and is yet another in the catalogue of errors which the company continues to make.

http://www.dslrbodies.com/accessories/s ... dobes.html

[Mike Farley]

Adobe has now issued an update and everything is working as it should. Looking in the "What's New" section, I could not find anything which referred to fixing what Adobe had broken in the previous release a few days earlier.

[davidc]

The need to re-install plugins isn't too surprising and the also announced it as well - it's a completely new version rather than incremental update. At the very least, when it prompted that you'd be completely removing and reinstalling during setup it may have been a tip off?

Not aware of any issues in ACR compatibility though, did you update your entire suite? I did Bridge, LR and PS and it's working fine. PEBKAC?

[Mike Farley]

The need to re-install plugins isn't too surprising and the also announced it as well - it's a completely new version rather than incremental update. At the very least, when it prompted that you'd be completely removing and reinstalling during setup it may have been a tip off?

I did not see any such warnings, but according to Thom Hogan the latest version of the Nik collection is not new, rather an update for compatibility with the latest Adobe software and some bug fixes. Most likely I installed the CC 2015 software before the Nik applications updated themselves.

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Not aware of any issues in ACR compatibility though, did you update your entire suite? I did Bridge, LR and PS and it's working fine. PEBKAC?

I did a complete install of all the available updates and the Creative Cloud Application Manager showed everything as being up to date. Any PEKBAC is at Adobe's end and Thom Hogan's post suggests that I was not alone in experiencing problems. This stuff should work without issues, but Adobe consistently manages to screw up.

[davidc]

That's strange - I didn't redownload Nik, rather just reinstalled the existing package I had once CC2015 had finished. Everything seems to be working ok consequently. I might try redownloading Nik to see if there is any impact.

[Mike Farley]

That's strange - I didn't redownload Nik, rather just reinstalled the existing package I had once CC2015 had finished.

Which is exactly what I did. What we both have is merely an installer, which downloads and applies the latest version.

And while I am kicking Adobe, I might as well mention trhat it did not transfer all my settings from LR5 into the new catalogue. I had LR5 set up so that images were copied to a separate data drive at import, but LR CC defaulted to my boot drive instead. It took me a while to notice as the catalogue controls everything and the location of image files is not immediately obvious. Adobe might have 11,000 employees, but it looks as though 10,999 of them are engaged in something other than software development, which is left to one poor overworked sod who does not have time to check everything.

[davidc]

Hmm, my installer is 430mb in size if that's the case, and it's managed to download things despite not being connected to the internet!

[Mike Farley]

Hmm, my installer is 430mb in size if that's the case, and it's managed to download things despite not being connected to the internet!

I have done some checking and the link Google sent me does indeed download software, as you correctly state. The strange thing is that after the Nik plug-ins failed to load, I tried the link and it started downloading the same version as I already had and I re-installed from that. Which begs the question why the plug-ins would not work with the updated Adobe software without the need for manual intervention? It suggests that either Adobe's interface varies with each iteration of the software rather than remaining standard or that it does not by design look for previously installed plug-ins. Neither seems to be good practice and I would prefer either an option to include existing plug-ins automatically, giving a warning if any are incompatible, or show a list so that I can choose which to carry forward.

Incidentally, I have just tried the link again and the request has been denied for exceeding the maximum number of downloads, but according to this FAQ downloading the trial version onto a machine which already has a registered copy of the software will work. However, I will still need the activated version if I am transferring my licence to another computer. I have also been trying to work out which version of the Nik software is installed, but this information does not seem to be shown anywhere. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can find this information?

https://support.google.com/nikcollectio ... ic=3001406

[davidc]

Yeah the first thing I tried was copying the folders directly over, no such luck. The reason they didn't work by default was because the install (for me at least) was in an entirely different place on my drive.
I don't so much mind the occasional hassle like this, it was more the surprise - my assumption had been that with a constant subscription model it wouldn't mean major updates like we've seen. Just iterative improvements. From a software development perspective, going for a continuous update model then doing big bang deliveries usually means they haven't ironed out all the kinks in their development process.

[Mike Farley]

I don't so much mind the occasional hassle like this, it was more the surprise - my assumption had been that with a constant subscription model it wouldn't mean major updates like we've seen. Just iterative improvements. From a software development perspective, going for a continuous update model then doing big bang deliveries usually means they haven't ironed out all the kinks in their development process.

Adobe's, shall we say relaxed attitude, falls far short of the professional IT standards to which I am accustomed. It can be frustrating, especially when I waited so long before updating to the latest versions only to discover that they still did not work properly. But this is a niggle compared to the devastating failure to apply industry standard security to customers' payment details, which came to light following the infamous hack shortly after the introduction of the subscription model. There is really no excuse for such a slapdash approach, which does not reflect well on the company.