Photoshop CS6 not running in Catalina

[hcaroselli]

I recently upgraded to Catalina. Prior to upgrading I looked at the Mac System Report to identify any 32 bit apps. I was satisfied there were no 32 bit apps causing me any concern, so I upgraded. I tried to launch CS6 and see the message that the app needs to be updated. Usually this means I need a 64 bit version of the program but when I ran the System Report before and after the upgrade CS6 shows as a 64 bit app so I don't know what this message means. Since I cannot launch the app I cannot check for updates. I went to the Adobe web site but no help there.

Anybody else having this problem? What is the solution?

Thanks.

Hector Caroselli

 

[Juicy Box]

I don't know this for sure, but I think CS6 might not work with 10.15, and I think Adobe has no plans to update it to work.

My brother asked me a few weeks ago if I wanted his Adobe CS(not sure of the version he has), because he couldn't use it on Mac OS .10.15.

I use to dabble in Photoshop years back, and he knows I tend to use older versions of Apple's OS, that is why he was offering it to me.

 

[JimmyBanks6]

CS6 does not work.

It is the reason I switched to Affinity Photo, which I got with a 50% discount.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Here's Adobe's word:

Photoshop 20.0.7 works with macOS 10.15 (Catalina) but has these known compatibility issues. You may want to remain on your current version of macOS until these issues have been resolved.

Adobe strongly recommends that customers do their own testing on a non-production partition to ensure that new operating systems work with their current hardware and drivers (printing, and so forth).


No, legacy/perpetual versions of Photoshop were not designed or tested to work on macOS 10.15 (Catalina). They are not supported in any way for use on macOS Catalina.

Adobe does not recommend that customers using old versions of Photoshop upgrade to macOS Catalina.

Incompatible versions (version 19.x and earlier) will not display in the ‘Older Versions’ list within the Creative Cloud desktop app.

Older versions use 32-bit licensing components and installers. Therefore, they cannot be installed and activated after upgrading to macOS Catalina. Upgrading to macOS Catalina with an older version already installed on your computer may allow the application to function in some capacity; however, you will not be able to reinstall or activate the application after the macOS upgrade.

Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues

Find troubleshooting steps for problems such as your Creative Cloud desktop app not showing available Photoshop updates, you cannot activate Photoshop or it is appearing in trial mode, Photoshop is not recognizing your camera's raw files, you are experiencing image rendering issues or slow...

helpx.adobe.com

Imo, anyone running Adobe apps in a business-critical production environment should fully research their upgrades and possibly hold off installing Catalina for at least another 3-6 months. In itself, in a busy studio, it doesn't bring a lot to the table versus the stability and support of Mojave or earlier Mac OSs.

 

[hcaroselli]

Thank you everyone. I will look at Affinity Photo, or Luminar 4.

 

[MacGizmo]

CS6 is a 32-bit app, therefore it won't run on Catalina - nor will any other 32-bit app. Affinity Photo is an EXCELLENT app and runs great in Catalina, and it's MUCH more powerful than Luminar.

 

[drmeatball]

Affinity ftw. 👍

 

[arn]

Fyi

Launching Photoshop CS6 on Catalina (success)

Photoshop CS6 with apparently latest updates (13.0.6) refused to launch for me - circle with a line through it icon. So I had a poke in the package contents for Photoshop CS6.app and I was able to successfully launch it from the unix file and start doing things. Not tested extensively yet, but...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Fishrrman]

OP asked:
"What is the solution?"

The "solution" is to go back to Mojave.
If running older software is important to you, you proabably should not have upgraded to Catalina...

 

[Ethosik]

CS6 is a 32-bit app, therefore it won't run on Catalina - nor will any other 32-bit app. Affinity Photo is an EXCELLENT app and runs great in Catalina, and it's MUCH more powerful than Luminar.

Could you explain this whole “no 32-bit” issue? Terraria, a game that supports even Windows XP 32-bit, can still run on Catalina. Steam games aren’t in that software report.

 

[flowrider]

I tried Affinity Photo and it did not work for me. I require the ability to be able to move things around on a page before I print. Affinity did not allow me to do that.

Lou

 

[ayasinsk]

Anybody else having this problem? What is the solution?

Thanks.

Hector Caroselli

I too have same issue, I have entire CS6 collection. I haven't updated to 10.15 because I knew 32bit apps are no longer supported. I personally still use a few 32 bit apps. 10.15 doesn't seem like it has any meaningful improvements. Tim Apple keeps pushing engineers to come up with new features every year but there is only so much people can do, so I think OS X updates have been incremental/mediocre for years. Anyways the only solution I see is to use VWware or Parallels and emulate 10.14 OS while running 10.15. Yes emulation will obviously be slower vs running natively but if you want to update to 10.15 I don't see any other way. I don't know why apple couldn't leave 32bit applications and just let them be, it's so typical of them to do this and no reason to discontinue 32bit support. It's all about making everyone upgrade and squeezing as much profit as possible.

 

[MacGizmo]

Could you explain this whole “no 32-bit” issue? Terraria, a game that supports even Windows XP 32-bit, can still run on Catalina. Steam games aren’t in that software report.

Catalina is a full 64-bit system, it doesn't run 32-bit apps. It's really that simple. Developers had 10 years to update their apps to 64-bit, so it's not really Apple's fault. Windows is the same way, only they sell a 32-bit version of their OS for people who don't like to update.

Technology moves fast.
[automerge]1572531092[/automerge]

I tried Affinity Photo and it did not work for me. I require the ability to be able to move things around on a page before I print. Affinity did not allow me to do that.

Are you sure you tried Affinity Photo? Because moving things around is quite easy in the app. Are you possibly thinking of Pixelmator?

 

[flowrider]

^^^^I don't mean moving things around in the app, I mean moving things around in the Print Dialog box before printing.

Lou

 

[ayasinsk]

Catalina is a full 64-bit system, it doesn't run 32-bit apps. It's really that simple. Developers had 10 years to update their apps to 64-bit, so it's not really Apple's fault. Windows is the same way, only they sell a 32-bit version of their OS for people who don't like to update.

Technology moves fast.
[automerge]1572531092[/automerge]


Are you sure you tried Affinity Photo? Because moving things around is quite easy in the app. Are you possibly thinking of Pixelmator?

Except windows 10 64 bit still runs 32 bit applications just fine. 32 bit simply can't utilize more than 4gb of ram. OS X 10.14 ran 32 bit just fine being a 64 bit OS, you only got annoying warning message every time. Apple clearly did this on purpose, but at the end of the day consumer is the one getting screwed over.