Disclaimer

The following instructions use the MobileMe Gallery plug-in for illustration purposes, however the process is nearly identical for other plugins as well.

For the plug-in you are installing, all references to MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin and MobileMe Gallery should be treated as follows:

Plugin Name Folder Name Display Text
AdoramaPix AdoramaExport.lrdevplugin AdoramaPix
Album Epoca AlbumEpocaExport.lrplugin Album Epoca
Costso Canada CostcoCaExport.lrdevplugin Costco Photo Centre
Costco USA CostcoExport.lrdevplugin Costco Photo Center
CVS Photo Center CVSExport.lrdevplugin CVS Photo Center
Export List ExportList.lrdevplugin Export List Plug-in
Gallery3 Gallery3Export.lrdevplugin Gallery
Lightroom Voyager LrVoyager.lrdevplugin Lightroom Voyager
NextGEN Gallery NextGenGalleryExport.lrdevplugin NextGEN Gallery
Oypo OypoExport.lrdevplugin Oypo
Photobox PhotoboxExport.lrdevplugin Photobox
Piwigo PiwigoExport.lrdevplugin Piwigo
Snapfish SnapfishExport.lrdevplugin Snapfish
Walmart Canada WalmartCaExport.lrdevplugin Walmart PhotoCentre
Walmart USA WalmartExport.lrdevplugin Walmart

Upgrade

If you are upgrading the plug-in from an earlier version, you may need to take an extra step and unregister the old plug-in in Lightroom. The older installation method was to copy the folder containing plug-in related files into the special Modules directory, where Lightroom loads plug-in definitions when it starts. This older method is no longer recommended - the Installation section below explains the new approach, which is easier to implement and maintain.

If the previous version was installed into the Modules folder, follow the steps below to uninstall:

    1. Close Lightroom.
    2. Navigate to Lightroom's Modules folder:

Windows Vista or 7: C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Lightroom\Modules

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Lightroom\Modules

Mac OS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Modules (where '~' is your User directory)

  1. Delete the folder with plug-in files - in this example you should be looking for the MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin* folder. Remove the folder.

If you are having trouble locating the original location of the plug-in, the following should help:

    1. Launch Lightroom.
    2. Go to the Plug-in Manager (File | Plug-in Manager...)
    3. Select MobileMe Gallery* in the list.
    4. On the main panel of the Plug-in Manager, expand the Status section.
    5. "Path" will show the current install path. Click Show in Explorer (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac)

  1. Close Lightroom.
  2. In the Explorer/Finder window, you should be inside the MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin* folder. Simply go one level up and remove the folder.

If the previous version was installed using the new method (as per Installation Instructions below), the upgrade process is very straightforward - simply repeat the installation steps. You won't need to go though the process of adding the plug-in using the Lightroom Plug-in Manager, you also won't need to activate the plug-in again.

Also, keep in mind that all of my commercial plug-ins now support the Automatic Update feature. All you need to is is check for updates periodically. When a new version is available, the plug-in offers to download and apply the update. You must restart Lightroom when the update is finished for the changes to take effect.

Installation

IMPORTANT: Before you begin the installation be sure to have the Lightroom application closed.

The ZIP archive you have downloaded contains a single folder with a bunch of various files inside. This folder is the plug-in. In our example, the folder name is, MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin*.

You can keep the plug-in anywhere in your user folder, you will just have to tell Lightroom where it is, so it can load the script files when the application starts.

The folder you select for installing the plugin must be readable and writable by your user account. Do not place the plug-in in any system or protected folders, like "Program Files" on Windows. Otherwise the plugin will be unable to apply automatic updates.

I recommend creating a designated folder for all of your Lightroom plug-ins and keep them there. This way it's going to be easier to manage your plug-ins and install updates. Here are my suggestions:

Windows XP, Vista, 7: %APPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom\Plugins
Mac OS: ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Plugins/
The paths above are recommended, however, not mandatory. You can create a folder for Lightroom plug-ins anywhere on your hard drive, for example, D:\Lightroom Plugins. In fact, if this is the first plug-in you are installing, there would be no "Plugins" folder - simply create it.

Windows Installation

Install the plug-in by extracting the MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin* folder contained in the zipped package to %APPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom\Plugins.


After extracting the files, your installation folder should look like this:

If you are having trouble navigating to the "Plugins" folder, you can copy %APPDATA%\Adobe\Lightroom\Plugins to the clipboard, click the path bar in the Explorer window, then hit Ctrl+P to paste the path there.

Installation on Mac OS

  1. Double click the downloaded ZIP archive to "unzip" the file. A MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin* folder will appear on the desktop (or, depending on the configuration, in the Downloads list).
  2. Copy this folder to ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom/Plugins/. If this is the first plug-in you are installing, you would need to create the Plugins folder in your home directory | Library | Application Support | Adobe | Lightroom
  3. Drag or copy the entire "MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin"* folder from your desktop inside the Plugins folder.
Sometimes the ZIP may unpack the folder under a different name. For example, instead of MobuleMeExport.lrdevplugin the folder would be named "MobuleMeExport.lrdevplugin 2". Make absolutely sure the folder name does not have any "appendixes", otherwise Lightroom will be unable to recognize the plug-in and you will get errors when trying to install or enable the plug-in.

The following two screenshots illustrate how the folder contents should look like in Finder after the installation:

Intallation Path
Folder Content

Adding the plug-in to Lightroom

  1. Start Lightroom and bring up the Plug-in Manager (File | Plug-in Manager...).
  2. Click Add
  3. Navigate to and select the MobileMeExport.lrdevplugin* folder. Click OK.
  4. The plug-in will need to add a number of metadata fields to your catalog, so you will be prompted for permissions to update the catalog. Click Update.

Now the plug-in is ready for use. MobileMe Gallery* should appear in the list of installed plug-ins in the Plug-in Manager, with a green ball next to it.

If you get errors when trying to add the plug-in, then most likely the unzipped folder name has been altered - this sometimes happens under Mac OS. Make sure the name ends with .lrdevplugin and does not have a space and a number at the end, otherwise Lightroom will be unable to recognize the plug-in.

Activation

If you have purchased a commercial plug-in, you will need to activate it.

Select MobileMe Gallery* in the list of installed plug-ins on the left hand side. The Plug-in Info panel will be displayed on the right:

Click the Activate Plug-in... button, the Plug-in Activation window comes up.

Enter your first name, last name, and the serial number exactly as they appear in the registration e-mail from alloyphoto@alloyphoto.com. Then click Activate...

Once your information is validated, Lightroom will display a confirmation message:

Now you can click Done to close the Plug-in Manager. Now you are ready to export your photos.