Participant

Answered

CS4 with Mac High Sierra

Forum|Forum|8 years ago
September 26, 2017
13 replies
62705 views

I've been using CS4 Creative Suite for several years and with every system upgrade I worry that I won't be able to continue using it. (I don't use it regularly but I have important documents that I need to access periodically). I just updated my MacBook Pro to the latest OS, High Sierra. During the installation, I was prompted to upgrade Java to be able to use InDesign which I did and that installation was successful. Today, I tried to open an InDesign doc. In Design opened (finally) but the doc did not open (the name shows up at the top of the window, but nothing else is visible.

Performance

Correct answer Bill Silbert

You should be aware that even current software will (and in the Case of CC 2017 InDesign DOES) have potential problems running on the first version of a new OS. CS4 has not been supported for at least two versions of the Mac OS so the only probable way that you'll be able to fix this is to roll back your OS (I think Yosemite was the last version to support CS4 but I could be wrong about that).

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Well, obviously it’s Adobe’s fault. Because when Adobe announced the only bus in town was subscriptions, and the bus left, Adobe didn’t wait for their loyal customers who paid their fare for a different bus 10 years ago.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

Well at least we can be absolutely sure it won’t work in Mac OS 10.15 (next year). Apple have promised it.

BobLevine

Community Expert

And everyone will blame Adobe.

bryana63532991

Participant

The advice in this thread is misleading. I've used Photoshop CS4 in every version of OS X since I bought it. I was having problems with High Sierra, but Apple fixed the bug in the OS. It works fine for me in High Sierra 10.13.6. In previous versions of 10.13 it was working too but it crashed when trying to save a file.

BobLevine

Community Expert

And what exactly does Photoshop working have to do with InDesign working?

Two completely different applications with completely different code bases.

T

Test Screen Name

Legend

You are going to struggle once Apple remove support for 32-but apps, sometime soon.

B

black_n_white

Participant

I can't comment on the entire CS4 suite, but I was able to install Photoshop CS4 on a fresh install of MacOS 10.13.2 just now. I downloaded the MacOS installer, copied it onto an external USB drive, booted from that drive, then ran the installer. It took two tries, but that got 10.13.2 onto the MacBook Pro 17 inch, early 2011. I verified that the 250Gb internal SSD had been upgraded to the new APFS using the Disk Utility. I used a CD with the Photoshop CS4 installer copied onto it. I had to install the trial version because the installer would not accept the registration code. On first launch of Photoshop, I got a dialog telling me that I'd also need to install a legacy version of Java, and a link to it. Here's the link:

Download Java for OS X 2017-001

The download and install of the legacy Java went fine, and when I relaunched Photoshop, it behaved normally. It opened a dialog box that allowed me to enter the registration number, which was accepted. I created a new file, opened an existing gif file, resized it, blurred it, cropped, then "saved it for web" at a different resolution, and all went fine. No blank windows, no hangs, no other alterations to Photoshop or system settings.

Photoshop CS4 is the only app I don't intend to upgrade, primarily because I only use it for a few simple operations and I don't want anything to do with Adobe's new Cloud based services. There's also the cost factor.

Hope this helps somebody else out there...

batnert

Participant

I just got a brand new iMac 2017 with HighSierra pre-installed. I had a minor annoyance installing Photoshop CS4 but managed to get everything installed and running perfectly fine.

tojohnso

Participant

What version? I have 10.13.2 and get a message the license has stopped working Error 150:30. from what I read, try to reinstall. So I downloaded CS4 again. Got a message the file system in the DMG file was not compatible in this operating system.

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Notso

Participating Frequently

CS4 is almost 10 years old! Find me another piece of software still supported for that long.

You want them to support you forever at no cost? That's not shortsighted, it's good business sense.

How many of your clients get free updates for 10 years? People talk about corporate greed, but "customer" greed is a real thing, too.

I read your comments about the CS4 crowd - and disagree. A casual user, I hate adobe now. I purchased CS4 with a continuous license - it was not cheap for me. Adobe certainly caters to professionals, I get that and not small fish. Adobe sold it as if they would support it, I called and was assured by some employee salesgirl that all would be fine. Well it isn't and now I am knee deep in ID sand PS subscriptions trying to finish a book. Their prices are too high. They have lost lots of customers. You'd be surprised at how many free things companies give away and still stay in business. Perhaps it is the caustic attitude of lecturing all these folks on here that don't share your opinion that I am pushing back against. In any case, you get an A++ for defending Adobe, but I think they are the greedy and shortsighted ones.

rob day

Community Expert

To use legacy applications on recent versions of OSX you have to install the legacy version of Java. Here's the legacy download page for High Sierra:

Download Java for OS X 2017-001

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joesickspack

Inspiring

It is not necessary to install the (insecure) legacy version of Java. CS4 asks for it but, AFAIK, doesn't actually use it. You can trick CS4 into thinking it's installed by creating empty folders as per this in-depth discussion and instructions (scroll down to Workarounds section):

https://www.macstrategy.com/article.php?135

Which includes instructions for making a symbolic link to a newer version of Java if you have it installed. I haven't bothered trying this, as there doesn't seem to be any need for Java with CS4.

Here's what you should end up with (deploy.bundle is a folder. OS X just thinks it's a bundle because of the extension):

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likota39

Participating Frequently

I have an MacBook 2010, and CS4 was running on it with Snow Leopard. Then, I did a few upgrades—NOT CLEAN INSTALLS—first to Mountain Lion, than El Capitan, and finally to Sierra.

All my CS4 suite apps are working without a hitch.

In short, Sierra should be fully compatible with CS4. There is no need to go to down to Yosemite.

However, I would not upgrade to High Sierra right now, and will follow this thread to monitor when is safe to do it.

BobLevine

Community Expert

You’ve tempted fate up til this point and gotten away with it. Despite that, there is no way you can assure anyone else that it will work.

I have no dog in this fight but lurkers need to be warned. The chances of getting CS4 to work on anything beyond Yosemite get smaller and smaller with each new Apple update.

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likota39

Participating Frequently

Fair enough.

I just wanted to point out my own experience using upgrades instead of clean installs. Seems that upgrades up to Sierra are reasonable suggestion that may cause less headaches later for CS4 users.

eriknokc

Participant

CS4 is not useable in High Sierra. All you get is blank screens and you can't edit anything and/or certain menus that don't work. For those of you that use Photoshop and Illustrator, there are 2 programs called Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer that are very comparable and are available in the macOS App Store for $50 each. They also support PSD and AI file import. Both of the apps are available for Mac and Windows, and Affinity Photo is available for iPad with Pencil support. I have found them to be great replacements for Photoshop and Illustrator. I haven't found a replacement for InDesign. Thankfully, my layout needs are not very extensive, so I am using Pages until I can find something better that's not pricey.

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patrickp57108470

Participant

I have no problem with CS4 in High Sierra. The software was installed before upgrading the system. But now I'm trying to change my computer and if the DVD install works well in High Sierra, the serial number printed on my DVD box is considered as incorrect.

BobLevine

Community Expert

Nobody here can help with that. You'll need to contact Adobe directly.

Don't count on any help if you tell them it's High Sierra.

T_Garrett

Participant

My experience too, though Dreamweaver seems ok. ID files opened but nothing visible in the palettes. I've more or less gone across to Scribus for my dtp – it works surprisingly well for something that's free – and it's surprisingly quick to rebuild documents once you've got the hang of it! There's a utility called ID Util that previews ID files and allows you to copy text (£20 fee for the full thing but free trial) which might ease your pain. ID did work ok with Sierra but the CS4 programs are dropping one-by-one...

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