Is there a way to preserve my Adobe CS6 & 2018 apps while still upgrading my iMac?

[xmjm924x]

Hi, I know this is sort of a ridiculous question but I'm going to post it anyway. I have several thousand dollars worth of old adobe apps that I would like to preserve in case I ever decide to learn them (I bought my late-2014 iMac from a scientist who legitimately owned and used all the apps until he sold the computer to me), but I'm having a hard time letting them go.

The problem is, I'm running an old unsupported version of Mac OS X (El Capitan - 10.11.6) and once I upgrade to a newer OS, my adobe apps will no longer work (due to the new subscription model). I will lose them all. So I'm trying to see if I can migrate them over to a USB drive and preserve them somehow. Just transferring the apps themselves over to the USB will not work, right? I think I need to either clone my internal drive over to an external drive, or partition my internal drive into 2 volumes so that I can run 2 OS's...one volume running El Capitan with my Adobe apps and the second volume running an upgraded OS. The problem is, because my iMac is older (late-2014), I would need to completely erase and reformat the internal drive to a different format (from HFS+ to APFS) before I partition it and I don't really want to go through all that. Can you tell me what my options might be? BIG THANKS!

PS - If I decide to go the cloning method, my external drive needs to be at least as big as the internal drive that I'm trying to clone, right? If so, I guess I'd need a 1TB drive.

PS2 - Am I being ridiculous about trying to keep these apps? I know I'm going to get some flack for it...especially seeing as I'm not a professional and I've never actually learned or utilized any of the apps in the years that I've owned them. I just feel like there still might be a time in the near future where I decide I want to learn PS, Illustrator, or Premiere (using tutorials) and once I throw them away (by upgrading without preserving them)...they are gone forever and I'll be forced to pay the subscription fee if I ever want to learn them. If a time came when I DID ACTUALLY learn the apps, I would surely discard these old versions (CS6 & 2018) and pay the fee to use the new versions. I think I paid $600 for this machine back in 2019 (or 2020) and I felt like the inclusion of the entire adobe creative suite was a pretty big part of the incentive to buy it...although the machine was still worth it without them.

PS3 - I have an older 2009 Macbook that I'd be willing to keep and use exclusively for running my Adobe apps, but I don'y know what I need to do in order to run those apps on that machine. Can I just transfer them over somehow? Or can I transfer the apps to a USB drive to use on that machine? It's running El Cap, same as my iMac.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Keep the existing iMac "as is" as a second computer for "reach back" access to those apps.

Add new Mac whenever you like. It won't have them but it will run the new stuff. Use the latter most of the time and then the former when you need access to those apps. I have a 2012 Mac Mini still in play for rare uses when I want to reach back to using one of the purchased Adobe apps or even reach further back to use an old game that didn't make the hop to Intel-based Macs (via the original Rosetta).

If you are not actively using them, you're not being ridiculous... but hanging onto them to perhaps someday getting around to learning them won't be a huge help. Many generations have evolved since then, so you wouldn't be keeping up much with how things may work now. For example, learning to use old apps and then facing their up-to-date new versions at some employer or client might just be a pile of confusion... like learning Snow Leopard now but then having to use Sequoia. Where's Mobile Me? Where's iTunes? Where's iMovie 2006? Where's Pages '09? Etc.

The old ships have largely sailed. All aboard the new ships.

 

[picpicmac]

this is sort of a ridiculous question

Not really.

I have an old Intel iMac (2008) and El Capitan is the last version of OSX that runs on it (without OCLP.) I have software on it I bought long ago, that will not run on the last Intel Macs, to say nothing of the Apple Silicon Macs.

So I keep the old machine not that far away from me, if I ever have to fire it up again. (Which I did a few days ago when I reinstalled MacOS on the machine on which I am typing this.)

 

[montycat]

Hi, not ridiculous at all. I still have my 2007 iMac to use some old apps, mostly Apples iChat app. It hasn't been supported for years and I miss this application. I have many sentimental texts from family, friends and past relationships that will not open on new versions on macOS.

 

[wonderings]

Does not make sense to me as you said you have not even learned the apps. If you are going to start and learn then I would suggest work on and with modern software. Now I am sure you would not want to go with Adobe because the subscription model is really not made for casual users. I would highly recommend the Affinity Suite (Photo, Design and Publisher). These are a fraction of the price and less then 2 months subscription from Adobe, and you own it outright, no securing fees. Basically they are Affinities version of Adobe Photoshop. Illustrator and Indesign.

If you are planning to learn the Adobe apps, you are starting with ancient and far behind versions. Sure they work and you can do some good stuff with them still, but at the price of using older hardware and forgoing the advantages of modern hardware and the speed that comes with it.

 

[Snowlover]

I would definitely preserve the old software. I hate the subscription model , I personally still use CS6 on Mojave, and was using it on Mountain lion.
Transferring the apps will not work.

You can clone your drive to an external usb drive with Carbon Copy Cloner (free trial for 30 days, get version for El Capitan). The external only has to be as large as the space used on your internal drive. I would do this as a first step.

You do not need to erase and reformat your drive to add a second partition for a newer os. Just create the new partition formatted apfs. Both can occupy the same drive, no problem. I would make the clone first and test it before this just in case something goes awry, but should be no problem.

You should also be able to update your El Capitan all the way to Mojave, or at least High Sierra and still have the old software work. I have done that with CS6.

You can clone your imac clone onto your macbook and then use the old software on that. Don't think there is an easy way to transfer it otherwise.

I actually think it is wise to learn on what you already have, especially if you have budget constraints. No need for the latest and fastest when just starting out with something.

 

[wonderings]

I would definitely preserve the old software. I hate the subscription model , I personally still use CS6 on Mojave, and was using it on Mountain lion.
Transferring the apps will not work.

You can clone your drive to an external usb drive with Carbon Copy Cloner (free trial for 30 days, get version for El Capitan). The external only has to be as large as the space used on your internal drive. I would do this as a first step.

You do not need to erase and reformat your drive to add a second partition for a newer os. Just create the new partition formatted apfs. Both can occupy the same drive, no problem. I would make the clone first and test it before this just in case something goes awry, but should be no problem.

You should also be able to update your El Capitan all the way to Mojave, or at least High Sierra and still have the old software work. I have done that with CS6.

You can clone your imac clone onto your macbook and then use the old software on that. Don't think there is an easy way to transfer it otherwise.

I actually think it is wise to learn on what you already have, especially if you have budget constraints. No need for the latest and fastest when just starting out with something.

He is going to have trouble at some point. It is technically not legal to sell a computer with the software as he does not have the license. If he did it would be no issue and he could do a clean install of whatever OS he needed to run the old CS6 apps. You benefit so much more using the newer tech as well as getting the advantages of newer hardware and the speed that comes along with it. CS6 is not updating, it is plateaued. For a very reasonable price you can get the Affinity apps I mentioned in my post. They also have 50% off sales as well a few times a year that makes it even more affordable. I can see keeping CS6 if you are planning to just keep using the antiquated old computers, but I would not stay locked to an old computer simply for Adobe CS6.

 

[Snowlover]

You may make some good points, but OP never mentioned getting new tech, was asking about updating the os and preserving the old software.

 

[xmjm924x]

Thanks for all the responses, they have been very helpful. I received one other answer on another mac forum and I think I have pretty much decided what I'm going to do. I'm going to bed now as I am quite sick once again but I just wanted to post this real quick. I especially thank Snowlover for your advice, I am still considering what you wrote and might possibly consider going the cloning route, but will prpbably end up partitioning my drive and running 2 OS's...one with El Cap (so I can continue running my Adobe apps) and the other upgraded to Big Sur. Thank you to Wonderings as well, although like Snowlover mentioned, I'm not sure where you came up with the idea that I had any intent on selling my machine or buying any new hardware..I never mentioned any of that. I will take stock of the alternative brands of software you mentioned and keep those in mind as an alternative to the Adobe products if I decide to let go of my Adobe apps.

I'm tired and will post an update tomorrow. Thanks again.

 

[wonderings]

Thanks for all the responses, they have been very helpful. I received one other answer on another mac forum and I think I have pretty much decided what I'm going to do. I'm going to bed now as I am quite sick once again but I just wanted to post this real quick. I especially thank Snowlover for your advice, I am still considering what you wrote and might possibly consider going the cloning route, but will prpbably end up partitioning my drive and running 2 OS's...one with El Cap (so I can continue running my Adobe apps) and the other upgraded to Big Sur. Thank you to Wonderings as well, although like Snowlover mentioned, I'm not sure where you came up with the idea that I had any intent on selling my machine or buying any new hardware..I never mentioned any of that. I will take stock of the alternative brands of software you mentioned and keep those in mind as an alternative to the Adobe products if I decide to let go of my Adobe apps.

I'm tired and will post an update tomorrow. Thanks again.

It was an assumption as most people upgrade after so many years. With older Adobe products you are completely stuck without the option to ever upgrade. That is your choice, just voicing an opinion for good software that is cheap and does not keep you locked into older hardware.

With keeping an older Intel Mac you could skip partitioning and install a secondary Mac OS as a virtual machine with Parallels. This can be then be backed up with Time Machine or whatever else you use for backups and save you not having to partition your drive.

 

[Fishrrman]

Sometimes there's nothing to do, but...
... leave the old stuff behind and "move on"...

 

[penelope_bk]

Just copying your Adobe apps to a USB drive won’t work. You’d either need to clone your internal drive to an external one or set up a dual-boot system. Both options are a bit of a hassle and might need you to reformat your drive. If you go with cloning, you’ll need an external drive with at least the same size as your internal one, like a 1TB drive.

For your old MacBook, you could transfer the apps over, but make sure it’s compatible with the version of macOS and hardware you’re running. If you don’t want to lose the apps, you could just leave everything as is on your old setup or external drive—especially if you think you’ll use the software again later.

 

[Snowlover]

Both options are a bit of a hassle and might need you to reformat your drive. If you go with cloning, you’ll need an external drive with at least the same size as your internal one, like a 1TB drive.

Not really a hassle at all.
There is no need to reformat the internal drive to add a partition for second os.
The external drive for the clone only needs to be a bit larger than the amount of space used on the internal drive. ( I have for many years made os clones to save for reinstalling os versions rather have to go through internet recovery hassle.)
This is if you just want to use it as way to save everything for the future. If you actually want to boot from and use the clone for photo editing etc, you would of course want more space on the external drive.

 

[xmjm924x]

Not really a hassle at all.
There is no need to reformat the internal drive to add a partition for second os.
The external drive for the clone only needs to be a bit larger than the amount of space used on the internal drive. ( I have for many years made os clones to save for reinstalling os versions rather have to go through internet recovery hassle.)
This is if you just want to use it as way to save everything for the future. If you actually want to boot from and use the clone for photo editing etc, you would of course want more space on the external drive.

Exactly. It would make sense that if I only planned on cloning for the sake of SAVING everything, then I would only need an external disk that matches the amount of USED SPACE on the disk that I'm trying to clone. But since I'm cloning with the intention of possibly using these Adobe apps in the future, it would make sense to clone to an external that is BIGGER than the amount of used space on the source drive (assuming I didn't want to free up space for saved Photoshop & Illustrator files by deleting other files later).

I just bought a SanDisk 1TB external for $100 and I'm about to download Carbon Copy Cloner to begin the cloning process. I have a feeling I might end up running into licensing/activation issues when I go to run the programs on the cloned drive, but time will tell. If it doesn't work out, I'll probably just try to partition my drive and continue running El Capitan on one of the partitions. And if THAT doesn't work, well then screw it.

Thanks again Snowlover and the rest of you. Will update with results later...

 

[Snowlover]

I have a feeling I might end up running into licensing/activation issues when I go to run the programs on the cloned drive

I never have had a problem with that, and have cloned the clone to multiple different macs as I replaced one with another.

 

[benwiggy]

The problem is, I'm running an old unsupported version of Mac OS X (El Capitan - 10.11.6) and once I upgrade to a newer OS, my adobe apps will no longer work (due to the new subscription model).

Creative Suite won't work on Catalina or greater because they are 32-bit apps, which are no longer supported. Nothing to do with subscription. CC 2018 was already on the subscription model, so you shouldn't even be able to use that now.

I have an older 2009 Macbook that I'd be willing to keep and use exclusively for running my Adobe apps, but I don'y know what I need to do in order to run those apps on that machine. Can I just transfer them over somehow?

Do you have the Creative Suite installer disk and the licence code? If not, then ... no.

If you haven't learnt CS6 already, then there's absolutely no point hanging onto it. It's nearly "retro-computing". There's been 13 years of development and change to Adobe's apps since then, so if you do ever use the latest ones, CS6 won't be much help. It's like using ClarisWorks to learn Apple Pages.

A 2014 Mac can run Big Sur. It will be much more useful to you to update to Big Sur, and use more 'contemporary' software, whatever it is.

 

[Snowlover]

If you haven't learnt CS6 already, then there's absolutely no point hanging onto it. It's nearly "retro-computing". There's been 13 years of development and change to Adobe's apps since then, so if you do ever use the latest ones, CS6 won't be much help. It's like using ClarisWorks to learn Apple Pages.

Has photoshop really changed all that much since cs6? I mean the basic functionality/ way one navigates the program, uses layers etc? I haven't tried anything past cs6 so I don't know.

 

[wonderings]

Has photoshop really changed all that much since cs6? I mean the basic functionality/ way one navigates the program, uses layers etc? I haven't tried anything past cs6 so I don't know.

It has been a long time since I used CS6, but I think you are right, basic layout and where things are probably pretty close. What is missing is AI, this is revolutionary for Photoshop and is the biggest change and biggest improvement from any that I can remember. As a professional Adobe CC user this saves me so much time.

 

[Snowlover]

It has been a long time since I used CS6, but I think you are right, basic layout and where things are probably pretty close.

If that's the case, learning photoshop basics on cs6 for free seems like a good idea to me.

 

[ChrisA]

... partitioning my drive and running 2 OS's...one with El Cap (so I can continue running my Adobe apps) and the other upgraded to Big Sur. ...

I think you would be better off using a virtual machine. Then you can run both versions of the OS at the same time, if you have enough RAM.

But really, if you have not used the software in all this time you likey never will. And if later you develop a use for it, you would not want to be using the older versions and old and slow hardware.

 

[xmjm924x]

Just wanted to give you guys an update. I bought the SanDisk "extreme" 1TB SSD and used CCC to clone my internal drive to it. Everything worked flawlessly and the process only took 34 mins. I booted off the external and the Adobe apps worked just as they did before, no issues. I upgraded my OS to BigSur and I'm currently in the process of getting everything organized and breathing new life into this iMac. Really happy with the outcome, it couldn't have gone any better. I highly recommend both the SanDisk Extreme SSD and CCC as great hardware & software. In fact I'd say CCC is some of the best software Ive ever used and it's totally free for 30 days, kudos to the team that developed it.

I have not yet tried booting off the external after having upgraded my OS, so I'm going to try that next and see if all the Adobe apps still work.

Creative Suite won't work on Catalina or greater because they are 32-bit apps, which are no longer supported. Nothing to do with subscription. CC 2018 was already on the subscription model, so you shouldn't even be able to use that now.


Do you have the Creative Suite installer disk and the licence code? If not, then ... no.

If you haven't learnt CS6 already, then there's absolutely no point hanging onto it. It's nearly "retro-computing". There's been 13 years of development and change to Adobe's apps since then, so if you do ever use the latest ones, CS6 won't be much help. It's like using ClarisWorks to learn Apple Pages.

A 2014 Mac can run Big Sur. It will be much more useful to you to update to Big Sur, and use more 'contemporary' software, whatever it is.

Not sure why, but the 2018 versions of my apps had no issues running. I cant remember what the guy whom sold me the Mac told me but like I said, he was a rich, professional artist & scientist and I remember he told me the Adobe apps were all genuine...but I wonder why he has CS 5.5, CS6, and 2018 versions of the apps...maybe he was being deceitful (he REALLY did not seem like the type). Also, at least one of the apps said something like "tryout" when I started it up but it was fully activated, so idk. All I know is, none of the apps have ever had any issues running or telling me they are not genuine. I'll try and post a screenshot later.

Has photoshop really changed all that much since cs6? I mean the basic functionality/ way one navigates the program, uses layers etc? I haven't tried anything past cs6 so I don't know.

Exactly, I assumed the basic layout is the same over the years so I figured if I learned CS6 I would still have a basic understanding of how to use the newer versions, and thats why I wanted to keep them.

It has been a long time since I used CS6, but I think you are right, basic layout and where things are probably pretty close. What is missing is AI, this is revolutionary for Photoshop and is the biggest change and biggest improvement from any that I can remember. As a professional Adobe CC user this saves me so much time.

Interesting. I see your point.

If that's the case, learning photoshop basics on cs6 for free seems like a good idea to me.

Agreed.

I think you would be better off using a virtual machine. Then you can run both versions of the OS at the same time, if you have enough RAM.

But really, if you have not used the software in all this time you likey never will. And if later you develop a use for it, you would not want to be using the older versions and old and slow hardware.

Thanks for the VM advice but I already went the other route and luckily it worked out great.

 

[buggz]

Wonder if the some drives firmware are "married" to a particular controller chipset?

 

[Snowlover]

Just wanted to give you guys an update. I bought the SanDisk "extreme" 1TB SSD and used CCC to clone my internal drive to it. Everything worked flawlessly and the process only took 34 mins. I booted off the external and the Adobe apps worked just as they did before, no issues. I upgraded my OS to BigSur and I'm currently in the process of getting everything organized and breathing new life into this iMac. Really happy with the outcome, it couldn't have gone any better. I highly recommend both the SanDisk Extreme SSD and CCC as great hardware & software. In fact I'd say CCC is some of the best software Ive ever used and it's totally free for 30 days, kudos to the team that developed it.

I have not yet tried booting off the external after having upgraded my OS, so I'm going to try that next and see if all the Adobe apps still work.


Not sure why, but the 2018 versions of my apps had no issues running. I cant remember what the guy whom sold me the Mac told me but like I said, he was a rich, professional artist & scientist and I remember he told me the Adobe apps were all genuine...but I wonder why he has CS 5.5, CS6, and 2018 versions of the apps...maybe he was being deceitful (he REALLY did not seem like the type). Also, at least one of the apps said something like "tryout" when I started it up but it was fully activated, so idk. All I know is, none of the apps have ever had any issues running or telling me they are not genuine. I'll try and post a screenshot later.



Exactly, I assumed the basic layout is the same over the years so I figured if I learned CS6 I would still have a basic understanding of how to use the newer versions, and thats why I wanted to keep them.



Interesting. I see your point.



Agreed.



Thanks for the VM advice but I already went the other route and luckily it worked out great.

Glad it worked out well for you. 🙂

 

[xmjm924x]

And ya, so just to confirm...the apps still do work after upgrading to BigSur...all is good. And interestingly, the 2018 CC Adobe apps still work even on BigSur, and I have no idea how that is. I think this guy (the gentleman who sold me the computer) might have known some hacking skills or something and he ended up somehow bypassing the Creative Cloud activation deal...because I don't have any explanation as to how these app should still be working. All the other apps, which I originally referred to as "CS6", are actually a mix of CS4.1, CS4.5, and CS5.5 (mostly CS5.5). So I'm not sure how the dude acquired these apps in the first place but I believe he told me they were all genuine & activated sooooo, ya.

Anyway, all is good in the end.

Glad it worked out well for you. 🙂

Thank ya my friend, I generally agreed with everything you said and your advice was a big help.

 

[benwiggy]

Probably best not to publicly post that you're using cracked software.