Q1: I can't install the plugin. What should I check?
A1:

Download and run our Plugin Environment Check script (Windows .bat / macOS .command) to diagnose the issue. It checks whether your system has the required Adobe apps (2022+), Creative Cloud, CEP engine, and extensions directories. Screenshot the result and send it to us if you need help.

If all checks pass but installation still fails, your Adobe application may not include UPIA (Unified Plugin Installer Agent). This is common with unofficial or stripped Adobe installers. Reinstalling Adobe apps through the official Adobe Creative Cloud should resolve the issue.

Q2: I don't have access to international credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, etc.), Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Are there alternative payment methods available for purchasing SciSuite?
A2:

SciSuite's payment platform (Creem) accepts international credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, etc.), Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Alipay (available for one-time purchases). The checkout page automatically displays the payment methods available in your region.

WeChat Pay and UnionPay are not yet supported. If you don't have access to any of the above payment methods, please email us at [email protected]. We can process your purchase manually and issue a license key on your behalf.

Q3: What versions of Photoshop and Illustrator are supported?
A3:

SciSuite plugins require Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 or later and Adobe Illustrator CC 2022 or later. Both Windows and macOS are fully supported. On Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and later), Photoshop must be launched in Rosetta mode for CEP extensions to work; Illustrator supports CEP natively on Apple Silicon and does not need Rosetta. See the Installation Guide for details.

Q4: Photoshop is a raster editor. How can SciSuite output be "vector-based"?
A4:

Although Photoshop is primarily a raster image editor, it fully supports vector Shape Layers and Type Layers. SciSuite takes advantage of this: all annotations it generates, including scale bars, stroke borders, line markers, significance marks, tables, dimension markers, and labels, are created as Photoshop Shape Layers (vector paths with fill/stroke), not rasterized pixels. These shapes remain resolution-independent inside the PSD and stay crisp at any zoom level. When you export to PDF, the vector data is preserved; when you export to PNG or TIFF, Photoshop rasterizes them at the document's full resolution, so they are always sharp. This is the same reason fonts in Photoshop look clean at every size, because they are vector too.

Q5: How many computers can I install a single license on?
A5:

Each license is tied to a single computer. If you need to use SciSuite on more than one machine, a separate license is required for each.

That said, transferring a license to a new computer is easy. On your current machine, open the plugin's flyout menu and select Deactivate License. This frees up your license key so you can reactivate it on your new computer.

Q6: Is there a free trial?
A6:

Yes. Every plugin comes with a one-month free trial with full functionality, no credit card required. This gives you plenty of time to evaluate whether it fits your workflow before purchasing.

Q7: Is SciSuite a one-time purchase or a subscription?
A7:

SciSuite is a one-time purchase with no recurring fees. Once you buy a license, it's yours to keep.

Q8: Are updates included after purchase?
A8:

All minor version updates (bug fixes, small improvements) are free for the lifetime of your license. Major version upgrades, which introduce significant new features or architectural changes, require a separate purchase. That said, SciSuite is Bo's part-time project, so major version releases are not expected in the near future, so you can count on getting free updates for a long time.

Looking ahead, SciSuite is currently built on Adobe's CEP (Common Extensibility Platform), which is being phased out in favor of UXP (Unified Extensibility Platform). If the paid user base grows large enough to cover the development costs, and UXP matures to the point where it can support a project as complex as SciSuite, I plan to rebuild SciSuite on UXP. A UXP version would be released as a major upgrade.

Q9: When installing via Anastasiy's Extension Manager, I get "There is already an extension installed with that name. Please uninstall it first and then try again." or "No Adobe applications found for that extension. Please reinstall Adobe software and restart Anastasiy's Extension Manager." How do I fix this?
A9:

"There is already an extension installed with that name" — This means a previous version of the same plugin is already on your computer, likely installed earlier through a different ZXP installer or by manually copying files. To resolve it, remove the old copy first: open Anastasiy's Extension Manager and check whether the plugin appears in the installed list — if it does, uninstall it from there. If it does not appear, the old files were probably installed manually; navigate to your CEP extensions folder (see the paths listed in the Installation Guide, Method 2, Step 3) and delete the plugin's folder. If you cannot locate the folder, use a file search tool such as Everything to search for the plugin's folder name. After removing the old version, retry the installation.

"No Adobe applications found for that extension" — This usually means the Extension Manager cannot detect a compatible Adobe application on your system. First, make sure you have Adobe Photoshop CC 2022 (or later) or Adobe Illustrator CC 2022 (or later) installed, then restart Anastasiy's Extension Manager and try again.

If the steps above do not resolve either error, your Adobe software may have been installed in a non-standard way (e.g. not through Adobe Creative Cloud). Some third-party or unofficial Adobe installers strip out the CEP extension framework and other components that plugins depend on. In this case, we recommend downloading and installing the official version of Photoshop or Illustrator directly from Adobe Creative Cloud, and then retrying the plugin installation.

Q11: Why does Photoshop or Illustrator crash after installing a plugin?
A11:

This is usually caused by insufficient memory. CEP plugins add to the host application's memory footprint, and on machines with limited RAM the extra load can trigger a crash on startup. Try using an older version of the host application, which typically has lower memory requirements, and see if the issue goes away.

Q11: Will I lose my presets when I uninstall an old version and install a new one?
A11:

No. Presets are stored outside the plugin folder, so a normal uninstall-and-reinstall will not affect them. They will only be lost if you perform a deep system cleanup.