Digital Frame question

Topaz Products Product Technical Support
1

Using the Digital Frame adjustment, is it possible to have a frame without a mat or a mat without a frame? I have played around with it to the extent of crashing my computer :cry: but cannot figure out how to do this.

I would be grateful for any ideas!

Thanks,
Sheila

2

To get a mat without a frame set the Frame/Mat Ratio to 0. Unfortunately moving it the other way doesn’t quite give you a frame without a mat - unless somebody else knows differently. Though it does work with a square image.

3

At the moment the only way to achieve is to mask it out using a spot mask.

Change the Spot Mask’s roundness to 0 and it becomes a rectangle which you can use to mask out the mat and leave the frame there.

If you have managed to crash your computer using Studio raise a support request outlining the steps you took to do so.

4

Thanks Don - that does allow me to get what I want. But I still crash when making changes in the texture part for frames. The computer totally shuts down but doesn’t turn off. I have to hit the soft boot button to start up again. Mostly no error message. A couple of times I did get an error message saying the NVIDIA OpenGL driver detected a problem with the display and had to close the appication. Error code 3.

I know you can’t solve this problem but I wonder if anyone else has had this happen.

Maybe my video card is too old!

Sheila

5

Go to the Help-> Graphics Info menu and click on copy and then post the copied information here so we can check the available vRAM and driver version.

It simply may be that your drivers are out of date.

6

Here is the Graphics info:

Topaz Studio Ver: 1.12.0
Operating System: Windows 10
Graphics Hardware: Quadro FX 1800/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.0
CPU RAM (MB): 12278
VRAM [Total, Used] (MB): 768, 1024
Preview Limit (Pixels): 1424

Also, I checked with NVidia and they said I have the latest drivers. They also had me give Studio “Prefer maximum performance” in NVidea’s control panel. This has made a great difference in Studio’s speed.

Sheila

7

So is it OK at the moment, because if it isn’t you will need to raise a support request from the Need help? panel above.

8

Quadro FX1800 has 768MB of dedicated VRAM. Studio needs at least 1GB. This is the problem :slight_smile:

9

I thought “VRAM Total, Used: 768, 1024” meant that I had 1024MB available. I guess I was wrong!:confounded:

Mostly Studio works OK. Digital Frames is the first adjustment I have a problem with. Even the Texture adjustment works OK.

My computer is around 8 years old. Can a better video card be used in it? If so, can you recommend one (that’s not too expensive) but that would work well with Studio? I do not know what requirements a computer needs to have to use a better card.

Thanks,
Sheila

10

This depends on a few things:

  • Your power supply must support the card you purchase. Some cards require additional power to run, like a 6pin, 8pin, or 6pin + 8pin connection from your PSU (power supply unit) in order to work. The more expensive the card, the more likely you are to need more power to run it.
  • Your case must be large enough to fit the graphics card you choose to install. Some graphics cards are very long, and do not fit in SFF (Small Form Factor) cases like the Optiplex SFF cases. If you have a SFF case, you must get a SFF card, which is going to be pretty underpowered compared to their full-sized relatives.
  • In 99/100 cases, you cannot upgrade a laptop or A.I.O. (all in one) graphics card. Typically only desktops can be upgraded in this manner
11

Joe,

My computer’s power supply is RS-C50-EMBA-D2. I looked up what I could and found

Certifications NVIDIA SLI-ready / 80 Plus.

I don’t know if that is a graphics card or something else. The power supply is 1250W continuous.

The computer has a large Cooler Master case.

Could you please advise me on what NVidia graphics card would work with this and Studio? I am living in Central America, and would probably have to import a card from the U.S. and don’t have anyone around that I could ask for help from. Or maybe you could tell me who to ask?

Sorry that I know so little about computer hardware! (I have successfully replaced my husband’s compuuter power supply, my current graphics card, and his failed hard disk, but don’t really know much other than doing that).

Digital Frames in Studio is crashing more frequently now, and I would love to be able to use all the adjustments in Studio. I really, really love Studio and want to be able to use it! I am worried that all the crashes could damage my computer. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Sheila

12

You’re already quite advanced compared to most users :slight_smile:

That will power pretty much anything you throw at it from a GPU perspective. I see your particular model is non-modular which isn’t great, but won’t likely stop you from installing most GPUs.

Great news!

All these things above tell me you’re ready to upgrade to pretty much any GPU you’d like to use.

You should have no trouble with the NVIDIA GTX 1050, 1050 Ti, 1060, 1070, 1080, or 1080 Ti. If you wanted to go with their newer cards, you can choose (currently) from the RTX 2070, 2080, or 2080 Ti. Those newer cards might not be worth the price at this point, though.

Crashes happen specifically so that your computer is not damaged. The crash prevents worse from happening to your hardware, or is caused by your hardware. It depends on the crash. But the crash is only a symptom of a problem, rather than a catalyst to a problem.

13

Hi Joe,

Thanks very much for all the info!!!

I am interested in the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti. but from what I can tell from reading about it, it takes up 2 slots. I checked my computer, and the slot below where the current video card is, is being taken by the card for the parallel port that my ancient but very worthy workhorse HP Laserjet 1100 is using. That card is plugged into the motherboard so I can’t move it. It looks like I am not able to use the 1050 Ti? Unless there is something I can do that I don’t know about?

I am glad to hear that I the crashes probably won’t kill my computer. Thanks for telling me that!

I have figured out a workaround if there is no way to use a new GPU. My laptop has a Nvidea GeForce GTX 460M card with 1479 MB VRAM . I installed Studio on it, and it seems to have no problems with Digital Frames. All 3 of our computers are networked together, so I can send an image I have almost completed on my desktop to my laptop to use the Digital Frames adjustment. It is a bit of a pain to have to do that, but I can’t think of what else to do.

But if you can see a different solution, please let me know!

Thanks,
Sheila

14

Hi Joe,

Can I pick your brain one last time please?

I freed up another 2 slots for the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti, but how do I know I can use it there?

Is there any color coding that would tell me? The Quadro slot is blue and the slot under the parallel port slot is also blue. The others are grey. It looks like that blue slot has the same number of pins as the Quadro slot, but how can I be sure it is OK to use?

If it seems to be OK, I will buy the 1050 Ti.

Thanks,
Sheila

15

The PCIe slots do matter. When you look on the board, you should see markings that indicate which slot is which:

  • PCIe x16
  • AGP
  • PCIe x4
  • PCI
  • etc

You want to plug the NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti into the PCIe x16 slot. It tends to be the top slot on the motherboard, but that is not always the case. You need to make sure that you have enough room for the PCIe x16 slot and you should be good. As far as I know, most all of the GTX 1050 Ti versions do not require an additional power supply.

16

Thanks Joe! According to “Speccy” the 2 blue slots are x16, so I think I am OK putting in on the 3rd (&4th) slots (slots #2 and #3). I will order the GTX 1050 Ti but it won’t arrive until December. However, my laptop is working well with Digital Frames, so I can go back and forth between it and my PC until it arrives.

I very much appreciate your help!

Sheila

17

Keep in mind that using the wrong speed PCIe slot can greatly degrade the performance of your GPU! So, if things feel a bit slow, you might check that first :slight_smile:

18

Thanks Joe - I will watch what happens. I looked at the motherboard on Asus’ website and I am pretty sure both blue slots are x16. I am sincerely hoping I got this right! :slight_smile:

Sheila