If you are receiving an error message like this it can be due to the AST Service not starting up.  This service is part of our activation process.  You can start this manually.

Windows 7
This is due to the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows 7 being turned on. Please adjust the UAC settings (steps 1-5) and then open Photoshop and launch the plug-in.

1. Go to: Control Panel/ User Accounts
2. Select the user account
3. Select “Change User Account Control Settings”
4. Set the UAC notification slider to “Never Notify”
5. Please restart the computer
6. Launch the plug-in again. Once the plug-in is open, you will be able to set the UAC to your preferred setting.

Windows Vista and Windows XP
Please close Photoshop first. Go to the Start menu, select Control Panel and then launch Administrative Tools.  Once Administrative Tools is open, please launch Services.  In this window you should see AST Service and you should be able to right click on AST Service and select properties. Please set the start up type to automatic. Please also choose to start the service if it is stopped. Once you have selected these options, click apply. Now launch Photoshop and you should be able to access the plug-in.

Mac
Please close Photoshop. Go to the Mac HD\Applications\Utilities and launch the Activity Monitor.

In the upper right corner of the Activity Monitor window there is a drop down menu. From this menu, please choose All Processes.  In the list of activities, there will be a process called NalpierondVb.  Please select this and then click on the Quit button.

When the confirmation dialog comes up click on the Force Quit button. Once force quit has been selected, please restart the MAC.  This should prevent the error message from appearing.

Sometimes another process like a virus protection program can prevent the AST Service from starting for the first time.