I decided to uninstall then reinstall Topaz Studio with the release of version 1.0.8 of the product. The following are my observations (so far) of this newest release.
Uninstall – Reinstall
While the process appeared to completely remove the older version, it appears that some elements and data remained. For example, the program remembered who I was and also remembered the list of previous images opened in a program that was (supposedly) completely removed from my system.
Post-installation and Connection to Community
It seems, to me at least, counter-intuitive that a list of my adjustments and plug-ins are not available until after I have opened an image. You apparently already know who I am and you are retaining data from previous installations (see above), so why not show which adjustments and plug-ins are available to me .
Open Recent Menu Item
Despite uninstalling the previous version and “all files”, according to the uninstaller, a list of recently opened files remains (see below). There is no method, either as a preference or sub-menu item, to remove any or all files from the recent file list. This, for me, has been an issue since public beta release of Topaz Studio.
Selecting a file from the recent list that no longer exists at a location from which it was previously opened (it was manually deleted from the HDD and the original folder location was also removed) causes Topaz Studio to fall into an infinite loop of trying to open the file that no longer exists (see below). There does not appear to be a time-out function for the process.
You are apparently allowed to try opening a second image from the recent file list, which does in fact open in Topaz Studio. However, the program exhibits reduced luminosity, and it is still stuck in trying to load an image that does not exist. Also, the program allows selection of adjustments for the loaded image but will not allow those adjustments to be made. (See below.)
This condition persists until Topaz Studio processes are terminated (program closed). However, the missing file still remains in the list of recently opened files and at the risk of redundancy, there appears to be no way to remove it from the list.
Help Menu
Selecting “Sync Adjustments” from the help menu apparently tries to synchronize adjustments despite no images being open. (See below.)
Community Menu
Again, you already know who I am, so why do I have to login to the discussion forum after selecting “Forum” from the “Community” menu?