diff --git a/floris/type_dec.py b/floris/type_dec.py
index 830f6c6ab..e2cec3ce6 100644
--- a/floris/type_dec.py
+++ b/floris/type_dec.py
@@ -85,8 +85,12 @@ def iter_validator(iter_type, item_types: Union[Any, Tuple[Any]]) -> Callable:
     return validator
 
 def convert_to_path(fn: str | Path) -> Path:
-    """Converts an input string or pathlib.Path object to a fully resolved ``pathlib.Path``
-    object.
+    """
+    Converts an input string or ``pathlib.Path`` object to a fully resolved ``pathlib.Path``
+    object. If the input is a string, it is converted to a pathlib.Path object.
+    The function then checks if the path exists as an absolute path, a relative path from
+    the script, or a relative path from the system location. If the path does not exist in
+    any of these locations, a FileExistsError is raised.
 
     Args:
         fn (str | Path): The user input file path or file name.
@@ -113,11 +117,11 @@ def convert_to_path(fn: str | Path) -> Path:
         absolute_fn = fn.resolve()
         relative_fn_script = (base_fn_script / fn).resolve()
         relative_fn_sys = (base_fn_sys / fn).resolve()
-        if absolute_fn.is_dir():
+        if absolute_fn.exists():
             return absolute_fn
-        if relative_fn_script.is_dir():
+        if relative_fn_script.exists():
             return relative_fn_script
-        if relative_fn_sys.is_dir():
+        if relative_fn_sys.exists():
             return relative_fn_sys
         raise FileExistsError(
             f"{fn} could not be found as either a\n"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 11ee8c385..a31e1e0f3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -30,19 +30,19 @@
 REQUIRED = [
     # simulation
     "attrs",
-    "pyyaml",
-    "numexpr",
-    "numpy>=1.20",
-    "scipy>=1.1",
+    "pyyaml~=6.0",
+    "numexpr~=2.0",
+    "numpy~=1.20",
+    "scipy~=1.1",
 
     # tools
-    "matplotlib>=3",
-    "pandas",
-    "shapely",
+    "matplotlib~=3.0",
+    "pandas~=2.0",
+    "shapely~=2.0",
 
     # utilities
-    "coloredlogs>=10.0",
-    "flatten_dict",
+    "coloredlogs~=10.0",
+    "flatten_dict~=0.0",
 ]
 
 # What packages are optional?