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Color Mechanic Troubleshooting
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General Information
How can I tell what version and serial number
I have?
When you run Color Mechanic or Color Mechanic Pro, it displays its version in the title bar
of the Color Mechanic dialog box. If
you have the standard version, it will say Color Mechanic ; if you have the
pro version it will say Color Mechanic Pro . Following this is the version number
-- the major version number followed by a period followed by the minor version
number and an optional letter indicating a maintenance release (e.g 1.1a ).
Following the version number is Eval if you have not yet entered a serial number
or your serial number (or Beta for beta releases). A serial number is a sequence
of 12 upper case letters.
How do I install an update?
To install a new version of Color Mechanic, just download the latest version
from our web and replace your current version with the new version. The new
version will continue to work with your existing serial number.
Serial number must be continually reentered. (Mac only)
The serial number is stored in a file named "ColorMechanic Prefs" in /
Users/UserName/Library/Preferences/Digital Light & Color" where
"UserName" is the user's login name. Either the file or the "Digital
Light & Color" folder could be corrupted, or locked, or have some sort
of messed up privileges. Verify
that the folder and file exist and that write access is enabled. Then
delete the file. Color Mechanic will recreate a new uncorrupted file on
the next run, after you again enter the serial number.
Usage Notes
Why can't I use Color Mechanic to change black to
another color?
Color Mechanic selects colors to change based on their hue and saturation. The
hue and saturation of black are undefined since all colors look black when you
make them dark enough. If you need to change black to some other color, try
using Photoshop's Levels command to lighten the shadows before using Color Mechanic.
I'm having problems changing very pale colors.
By default, Color Mechanic sets control points at each of the six vertices of
the color hexagon and a seventh one at its center. It uses these control points
to lock down pure primary and secondary colors and neutrals. If you want to
modify a color that is close to the default neutral control point at the center
of the color hexagon, you may find that not all the colors you want to change
are being modified since neutrals are locked down. To fix this problem you need
to delete the default control point in the center of the color hexagon. The
easiest way to do this is to right-click (PC) or option-click (Mac) on the control
point you want to delete and then select Delete Control Point from the pop-up
menu.
Mac OS/X Issues
Transferring your serial number from OS9 to OSX.
When you install the latest 1.1a release of Color Mechanic under OSX, it may
fail to recognize the serial number you entered under OS9. You can simply re-enter
the serial number if you know what it is. If you didn't record your serial number,
here is how to transfer your serial number from OS9 to OSX. In any case, it
is a good idea to record your serial number (it is displayed in the title bar
of the Color Mechanic dialog box) in case you need to re-install Color
Mechanic at a later date.
The file containing the serial number is named ColorMechanic Prefs and is always
in a folder named Digital Light & Color which is in turn within the Preferences
folder for the system. Your goal is to create the Digital Light & Color
folder in the new Preferences folder if it does not already exist and then copy
the ColorMechanic Prefs file from the Digital Light & Color folder in the
old Preferences folder to the Digital Light & Color folder in the new Preferences
folder.
In OS9, the Preferences folder is inside the system folder which is usually
named System Folder . In OSX, the Preferences folder is inside (OSXVol):Users:(user
name):Library , where (OSXVol) is the name of the volume containing your OSX
system, and (user name) is your user logon name. An easy way to find existing
serial numbers is to search the system for files named ColorMechanic Prefs .
An easy way to find all preferences folders is to search the system for folders
named Preferences.
Make sure you copy (not move) the Digital Light & Color folder from OS9
to OSX or else the OS9 version of Color Mechanic will forget its serial number.
To copy, hold down the Opt key while dragging the folder.
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