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Known Participant
October 29, 2024
Question

Can you use Elements' Organizer along with Photoshop?

  • October 29, 2024
  • 6 replies
  • 357 views

I've been using Elements 12 along with Photoshop CS6 by selecting a photo in Elements' Organizer and then tapping the Ctrl + H keys. Using this shortcut would immediately load Photoshop and the image would appear for editing. This worked great. A year+ ago I upgraded my PS CS6 to Photoshop 2024 and the Ctrl + H shortcut stopped working. So, does anyone know if this shortcut works using a newer version of Elements? I would upgrade my Elements in a flash if I knew the shortcut had been restored. 

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6 replies

Known Participant
October 31, 2024

Thanks to all for offering suggestions. Here's what I've got so far. When I open PSE I do not have any reference to using PS under the Edit menu or under the Editor drop-down at the bottom of the Organizer screen. HOWEVER, if I now open PS, I get "Edit with PS" under the Organizer's Edit menu and it appears in the drop-down at the bottom of the Organizer screen. The next thing I'm going to try is to rename the Bridge .exe file (I don't use Bridge) and see if I can direct PSE to the PS .exe file under PSE's Edit\Preferences\Editing menu. If that doesn't work I may uninstall Bridge and try to direct PSE to look for it under the same Preferences\Editing menu. I'll update in a day or two.

Known Participant
November 5, 2024

Well, renaming the Bridge executable to Bridge.old did not work, in fact Bridge disappeared entirely. To get it back I used Windows' "Restore" function and resstored the system to the Restore point I had made prior to messing with Bridge. Next I'll try uninstalling Bridge and see what happens.

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2024

@Michael3442, I misread your post.  I thought that you were trying to use Ctrl+H to go from Photoshop Elements 2024

to Photoshop CC.  I have just tried using Ctrl+H with Elements 12 and it doesn't work unless Photoshop CC is already open (as suggested by @Jeff Arola ). 

 

FWIW, the Elements 12 Organizer doesn't have an Edit menu or Toolbar option to Edit with Photoshop:

 

Yet, when I try to add Photoshop CC as a Supplementary Editing Application in Preferences, I get a message that there is no need to do that for Photoshop.

 

I suspect these problems arose because Elements 12 was 32 bit and there is no pathway to a 64 bit program.

 

In any event, upgrading from Elements 12 to Elements 2025 will solve the problem for you and will provide you with a host of new and improved features in Elements.  (I still do 90% of my editing in Elements - with a few plug-ins).

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2024

If you have Photoshop CS6 still installed, start CS6 before doing the Ctrl+H and see if the image opens in CS6.

Greg_S.
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2024

The shortcut key (Ctrl+H) works for me in both Elements 2024 and 2025 on a Windows 11 machine.

 

The only thing I can't do is go from the Organizer to the Photoshop CC Beta version.   I have tried using that as a Supplementary Editing Application in Preferences, but I get a message that I don't need to do that for Photoshop even though I am selecting the Beta .exe file, not the Photoshop .exe file.  My workaround is to click and drag a thumbnail from the Organizer to the Photoshop Beta program.  This method will also work for editing an Organizer catalog file in the regular Photoshop CC program.   However, if you need to use this method, you have to be careful about naming the file since there is no automatic copy made like there is when using the Ctrl+H shortcut.

 

Bottom line:  Ctrl+H was not removed as a shortcut from Elements 2024.  In addition to Jeff's suggestion, you can use the Editor pop up menu that exists in the lower tool bar.

 

 

And if you want to see whether the shortcut works for you in Elements 2025, you can download a 7 day free trial

Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2024

What happens if in the Organizer you go to Edit>Edit with Photoshop?

John Waller
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 29, 2024

Out of curiosity, have you tried using Adobe Bridge with Photoshop instead of the Organizer?