Photokit Sharpener Installation and Activation

[ChasLaird]

For years, I have relied on PhotoKit Sharpener by Pixel Genius to sharpen my images for printing.  I currently have PhotoKit Sharpener 2.0.8 installed and running fine in Photoshop CC 2015.1.2 on a Windows 7 Computer.  I have a new Windows 10 computer with Photoshop CC 2017 and would like to deactivate PhotoKit Sharpener on my old computer (which I am about to take offline and decommission) and install it on my new Windows 10 computer.

The Pixel Genius web site doesn’t mention anything about Windows 10 or Photoshop CC 2017, so I don’t know if the most recent version of PhotoKit Sharpener will even work on this platform.  I also seem to vaguely remember something about eSellerate being involved in the activation and don’t know if this activation scheme still works or not.  I submitted some questions to the Pixel Genius Tech Support page several weeks ago, and didn’t get a response so I don’t
know if they are still in business and supporting this product.

If anyone on this forum can provide me some guidance regarding the installation and activation of this product, I would greatly appreciate it.  I think I am most concerned about the activation via eSellerate.

Chas

[JJMack]

If Photokit Sharpener has some kind of activation process I would think the best place to ask about is would be on their site.

[ChasLaird]

As I said above "I submitted some questions to the Pixel Genius Tech Support page several weeks ago, and didn’t get a response so I don’t know if they are still in business and supporting this product."

[JJMack]

[kevin stohlmeyer]

Considering Pixel Genius came out in 2011 and they have not updated their information since, there is no guarantee that it will work with newer software. Your best bet would be to reinstall CC2015 and use that version for the plugin.

[ChasLaird]

I still have Photoshop CC 2015.5 installed on my Windows 10 computer (in addition to PS CC 2017), but I still am worried about the activation after installation via eSellerate.  I was hoping that one of the users here would have gone through what I am talking about, but I guess there isn't much interest in PhotoKit Sharpener anymore.

[Per Berntsen]

The PK Sharpener installed and activated in PS CC 2017 without problems on my Windows 7 computer.

I have been using it for several years on two computers, so there should be no need to deactivate on the old computer first.

Once you're certain that it installs and works on Windows 10, you can deactivate on the old computer.

I have no idea whether it will work on Windows 10, but you'll find out when you try.

Post here if you have problems, and I'll try to get the attention of one of the people who developed the PK Sharpener.

[ChasLaird]

Re Per Berntsen - Was PK Sharpener already installed in an earlier version of Photoshop on this same computer before you installed it into Photoshop CC 2017 or was it the first installation on this computer?  If it was already installed in an earlier version of PS on this computer, I believe it already knows it's been activated and you don't have to really activate it again.  I may be wrong about this.

I thought I could have the license on two computers, but I'm actually going to decommission (recycle after removing the hard drive) the old computer and want to preserve the extra license.

[Per Berntsen · Accepted solution]

I have PK Sharpener installed on three versions of Photoshop on this computer, so yes, it was already installed on CS6 and CC 2015.

After the installation on CC 2017, I opened an image, and launched the PK Sharpener.

An activation dialog then appeared with my serial number already filled in, and I just needed to click Activate.

If this is your first install on this computer, you will probably have to enter the serial number manually.

[ChasLaird]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.  I will try to install and activate this plug-in sometime next week and report back about my results.

[kevin stohlmeyer]

Have you attempted to just try to activate on CC2017 to see if it's even an issue?

[ChasLaird]

No, I haven't tried to install and activate it on my new computer.  I've just been a little timid and was hoping someone else had tried it.  I've probably been overly cautious about installing things that might not work on my new computer.  I guess I'll just have to suck it up and try it.

[ChasLaird]

I was able to successfully install and activate PhotoKit Sharpener 2.0.8 in Photoshop CC 2017 on a Windows 10 computer.  The installation and activation occurred without any problems, and the software appears to be functioning normally.

I’m sure some of you think I was being overly cautious about this installation and especially the activation, but I think I have legitimate concerns about any software that requires an online activation in addition to entering a serial number.  If a company stops supporting a product or goes out of business, you might not be able to use the software if you ever need to reinstall and activate it on a new computer for example.  It’s not likely to occur, but what would happen to our Photoshop CC software if Adobe suddenly went out of business?

[Per Berntsen]

Thanks for reporting back, good to know that it works on Windows 10.

I have no idea what would happen if Adobe went out of business, but I wouldn't worry about it - it is, as you say, highly unlikely.

And  I have to admit that it's something I've never thought about.

As for PK Sharpener, it works with the latest version of Photoshop on the latest Windows OS, and it is still being sold, so I wouldn't worry about that either.