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A
a1retouching
Participant
April 8, 2022
Question

Adobe Support sent me here for help... [How to reinstall Photoshop CC 2018 on Mac OSX El Capitan?]

  • April 8, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 1145 views

I am VERY frustrated and am feeling VERY helpless at the moment and hope to find help here.

 

The computer I'm working on is an old MacPro with OS X El Capitan Version 10.11.6

The Photoshop version is/was CC 2018

I am not able to update the operating system because anything newer than 10.11.6 is not supported on that computer.

I am also not able to buy a new computer.

 

I had to switch to the trial version and that trial ended today.

3 days ago I purchased the Adobe Photography plan for $9.99/month hoping that when this trial runs out I will be able to activate it - but nope, that did not work.

 

Adobe support was not able to help me and highly suggested to ask this forum for help.

 

I am not playing around with Photoshop, I had a tiny small home business for photo retouching and restoration.

There is NO option for me to get a newer computer that would support a newer Mac OS that then would support a newer Photoshop version that still is supported by Adobe.

 

So, I have OS X El Capitan, Version 10.11.6 and used to be able to run Photoshop CC 2018 on it that I now can not activate.

I have an Adobe account and am paying $9.99/month for the Photography plan.

 

What can I do?

If you don't have any idea or can not help, please don't post anything that's not going to help my situation, I am frustrated and upset enough at this point, my day overall did not go too well, either.

 

Anything helpful will be greatly appreciated.

Maybe there's some sort of patch available to get this running and the 2018 Photoshop version activated?

 

Thank you very much!

Martin

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    J
    Jay307356772dqh
    Participant
    August 25, 2023

    It's crazy! I have the same situation and no help from Cc whatsoever! My Mac was running El Cap, HD crashed, re-installed a new HD, downloaded Photoshop cc 2018 and now cc is telling me I have to upgrade my Mac and they can't tell me how to get the Photoshop cc 2018 working on my older system. Nor will they sell a stand alone version. It's either upgrade my iMac or... Does anyone know where I can purchase a stand alone version of Photoshop 2018?

    Derek Cross
    Community Expert
    Derek CrossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 26, 2023

    Photoshop is available by subscription only and costs around $10 a month and includes Ligtroom and updates as they become available.

    The alternative for purchase is Photoshop Elements, a kind of Photoshop Light, which costs around $65 for a one-off payment.

    John Waller
    Community Expert
    John WallerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 8, 2022
    quote

    3 days ago I purchased the Adobe Photography plan for $9.99/month hoping that when this trial runs out I will be able to activate it - but nope, that did not work.

     

    So, to be clear, your Mac is running El Capitan and already has Photoshop CC 2018 installed?

     

    How did you try to activate it?

     

    All that is required to activate Cloud apps is to sign in (in Photoshop, click Help > Sign In) with your Adobe ID and a current Cloud plan linked to the Adobe ID you're using to sign in (which you have got).

    https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/activate-deactivate-products.html

     

    If you need to re-download Photoshop CC 2018, use this link:

    https://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cc-2018-direct-download-links.html

      A
      a1retouchingAuthor
      Participant
      April 9, 2022

      Hi, and thank you for your reply.

       

      I replied to you earlier today, wrote a lot actually, but it got removed?

       

      Anyway, here again, just a bit shorter this time:

       

      I do have CC 2018 installed, yes, on El Capitan.

       

      When Covid first started I had to start working from home (for my acutal day-time job).

      For that job I needed Photoshop so I logged on with my work account.

      Now, that we're back at the office, I disconnected and reconnected with my personal Adobe account.

      The 2018 version then was changed to a trial - and that ended.

       

      Back, when I started my small tiny home business, in '08 I believe, I purchased CS4, the entire CS4 suite, and had an Adobe account back then. If it's the same as what I'm using now I don't know for sure.

       

      Anyway, a few days ago I purchased the Photography plan for $9.99/month in hopes that this would enable me to activate CC 2018 - but that did not work.

      When I now start Photoshop I get the window "Photoshop CC 2018 Trial  -  Your trial has expierd. You can continue to use Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 by purchasing the software.  [Join Now]" and at the bottom of that window a button [License This Software].

      I clicked on [Join Now] a few days ago, logged on to my Adobe account and purchased the Photography plan for $9.99/month.

      After clicking on [License This Software] that window says "Sign In Required  -  Sign in with your Adobe ID to use this product and access your membership information.  We will sign you in as Adobe ID:"   and it shows my email address that I use for my Adobe account.

      After clicking on [Sign In] the following windows says "No Subscription Found  -  We couldn't find a Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 subscription associated with this Adobe ID. You can purchase a new subscription or if you do have a subscription and are unable to access it, please contact Customer Support."

      That's what I did but they were not able to help...

      I created and saved tons of automatic actions in 2018 that I need, they were a LOT of work for me to create and I've used them many times for my photo restoration jobs.

      Now I'm sitting here, with my DBA, can't afford a new computer and can't activate the photoshop version I'd LOVE to pay for.

       

      Any further ideas?

       

      thank you, have a good weekend!

      Martin

      Leslie Moak Murray
      Community Expert
      Leslie Moak MurrayCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 8, 2022

      See this correct answer to this question from another user - and it gives a link:

      Correct answer by John T Smith
      Adobe Community Professional ,
      Oct 07, 2017

      CS6 and earlier programs have not been tested and will not be updated for Mac El Capitan/Sierra

      -which means that you try to use CS6 and earlier at YOUR risk of having problems due to Apple updates

      -Apple did not maintain backward compatibility with old programs in El Capitan or Sierra

      --Adobe has a workaround to Apple's problem of not maintaining backward compatibility

      --READ HERE https://forums.adobe.com/thread/2301916 for an Adobe solution to installing old programs, including a link to installing the old Java runtime that is required"

       

      A
      a1retouchingAuthor
      Participant
      April 8, 2022

      Hi, that page is not available anymore, unfortunately.

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