Panel Error Codes

The panel ran with no image open in Photoshop.

Open an image, then click the panel button again.

A step failed while the layer selected in the Layers panel was hidden. Most panel buttons work with a hidden layer selected, but steps that change that layer's own pixels need its visibility to be turned on.

1. In the Layers panel, click the eye icon next to the selected layer, or select a different layer that is visible.
2. Click the panel button again.

The selected layer is locked, fully or partially. A locked layer cannot be edited.

1. In the Layers panel, click the lock icon on the selected layer to clear it.
2. Click the panel button again.

The document is in 32 Bits/Channel. Several of the adjustments and blend modes the panel builds are not available to Photoshop in 32-bit.

1. Image > Mode > 16 Bits/Channel (or 8 Bits/Channel).
2. Click the panel button again.

If you need to keep the 32-bit file, convert a duplicate and do the retouching there.

Photoshop reported that a step was not available on the current layer. This is almost always the layer type or the document's color mode: an adjustment layer, a text layer, a Smart Object, an empty layer, or a document in CMYK, Lab, Grayscale or Indexed Color where the step expects RGB.

1. Select a normal pixel layer in the Layers panel.
2. Check Image > Mode. For beauty retouching, work in RGB Color, 8 or 16 Bits/Channel.
3. Click the panel button again.

The step needs an active selection and there was none, or the selection was empty after Photoshop processed it. A selection can end up empty when it falls entirely outside the canvas, or when a previous step deselected it.

1. Make a selection with the Lasso, the Object Selection tool or Select Subject.
2. Confirm you can see the selection edge on the canvas.
3. Click the panel button again.

The selected layer is a Smart Object. Pixel-level steps, including Frequency Separation and most of the skin work, cannot run on one.

1. Right-click the layer in the Layers panel and choose Rasterize Layer. If you want to keep the Smart Object, duplicate it first and rasterize the copy.
2. Click the panel button again.

Photoshop stopped the step and returned a message the panel does not have a specific fix for. The message is shown on the panel's status screen so you can act on it or quote it to us.

1. Note the text shown after SCRIPT STOPPED.
2. Undo any partial result (Command-Z on macOS, Control-Z on Windows).
3. Try the step on a flattened duplicate of the layer.
4. If it repeats, submit a Support Ticket and quote RA-10 with that message and what you clicked.

Photoshop ran the step and refused to complete it on this layer. The usual causes are a layer whose content does not match what the step expects, a layer with no pixels in the area being worked on, or a mask where the step expects pixels.

1. Select a normal pixel layer with visible content.
2. If you were working on a layer mask, click the layer thumbnail instead of the mask thumbnail.
3. Click the panel button again.

Auto Skin Mask found no facial skin on this image, so no group was added. On Photoshop® v27.9+ it looks for faces with Select People.

1. Check that the image has a person in it at a reasonable size in the frame, in focus, and not heavily obscured.
2. Run it on the full-resolution image rather than a small crop.
3. Strongly color-graded, monochrome and heavily stylized images are the common cause for the Select People feature to get confused. If you have added color grading, turn off the visibility of your color grade layers, run Auto Skin Mask, then turn them back on.
4. If it still finds nothing, use the Object Selection tool to select the face/faces in your image.

The Select People buttons (Eyes, Lips, Teeth, Face & Upper Body, Hair) need Photoshop® v27.9+ and don’t run on earlier versions.

These features need a later Photoshop too. Each of them will still run on earlier versions, but you will have to work the old way:

1. The built-in masks in Teeth, Eyes, Skin Tone, Glow, Anti-Pink, and Hair Highlights require v27.9+. On earlier versions, these scripts will build the layers, but you will have to create their masks manually.
2. Auto Skin Mask’s facial-skin mask requires v27.9+. On earlier versions, it masks the skin tones across the whole frame - not as reliable as the script that runs it in v27.9+.
3. New Skin’s sizing of the face requires v27.9+. On earlier versions, its settings are sized for a close-up, so you get default settings rather than calculated for the image you are working on.
4. Film Grain’s Grain adjustment layer: v27.3+. On earlier versions, the grain is built as Smart Filters, not a standalone adjustment layer.

1. Update Photoshop from the Creative Cloud desktop app, then restart Photoshop.
2. Until then, finish the step by hand: paint the mask the script left, or select the part you need with the Object Selection tool.

RA Panels Compatibility

The panel added its brushes to Photoshop, but Photoshop still could not select the brush you picked. This usually happens when a dialog or an edit in progress, such as text or Free Transform, keeps Photoshop busy, or when the Lash & Brow tool presets were imported as brushes instead of loaded as tools.

1. Close any open dialog or finish the edit in progress, such as text or Free Transform, and pick the brush again.
2. If the error comes back, quit and reopen Photoshop and pick it again. For a Lash & Brow brush, choose Load as Tools when Photoshop asks.
3. If it still appears, delete the panel’s brush group in the Brushes panel and pick the brush again, so the panel loads its brushes again.
4. As a last step, reinstall the panel from Downloads in your Member Account.

Brush buttons not working on the Panel

Every activation on your license is already in use, and you can reset your activations yourself.

If the panel showed NO ACTIVE LICENSE with this code, the license server did not say why: check your subscription too (RA-21).

1. Reset your activations in your Member Account. See Reset your Panel Activations in Photoshop.
2. Restart Photoshop. If the activation box does not appear, follow Step 3: Re-trigger the Activation Prompt.

Reset Activations

Your Maintenance & Support subscription is not active. Your Software Product License is permanent and is not lost, but an active subscription is required to run the panel in Photoshop.

1. Reactivate your subscription in Member Account > My Subscriptions. See Managing Your RA Panels Subscriptions.
2. Restart Photoshop. If the activation box does not appear, follow Step 3: Re-trigger the Activation Prompt.

Member Account > Subscriptions

Your license could not be verified on this computer. This usually means the same email address is already activated on another machine, and both activations are in use.

Reset Your License Activations in your Member Account, then restart Photoshop.

Reset your Panel Activations in Photoshop

If it repeats after a reset, submit a Support Ticket and quote RA-22.

The panel could not reach the RA license server. Either you are offline, or a VPN, firewall or studio network is blocking retouchingacademylab.com. You only see this when your license has not been verified on this computer in the last 7 days; within those 7 days the panel keeps working offline.

1. Confirm you are online.
2. If you are on a studio or corporate network, check whether retouchingacademylab.com is reachable.
3. Turn off your VPN. A VPN or firewall that blocks retouchingacademylab.com causes this code even when your internet works.
4. Once you are online, restart Photoshop and enter your email address in the activation box. If the box does not appear, follow Step 3: Re-trigger the Activation Prompt.
5. If it repeats on a working connection, submit a Support Ticket and quote RA-23.

The panel has not been activated on this computer yet. Most likely, the email field was left empty or Cancel was pressed in the activation box.

Restart Photoshop and enter the email address you used to purchase the panel. If the activation box does not appear, bring it back through Creative Cloud:

1. Follow Step 3: Re-trigger the Activation Prompt.
2. Enter your email address when the activation box appears.
3. If you did enter your email and still see RA-24, submit a Support Ticket, quote RA-24 and include the exact text of the message Photoshop showed.

Cannot log in to my Member Account

Not sure which email address to use? Check your order confirmation: it was sent to the email address to enter in Photoshop.

The RA license server returned an error when the panel checked your license, and your license has not been verified on this computer in the last 7 days. Your internet connection is working; the problem is usually on our side.

1. Wait a few minutes, then restart Photoshop to try again.
2. When the activation box appears, enter your email address. If the box does not appear, follow Step 3: Re-trigger the Activation Prompt.
3. If it repeats, submit a Support Ticket and quote RA-26. We will check the license server for you.