Could not load the brushes because the file is not compatible with this version of photoshop

[bsj94]

Hello,

I am using Photoshop CS4 Extended and I realize this is old but it is what it is, and it still works fairly well. I got a brush ABR file from a resource site off deviantart and she is using the latest Photoshop CC.

I'm a windows 10 user and I downloaded it in a chrome browser.

Any way I can convert it to work or am I just outta luck with this older version?

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

CC brushes are not backwards compatible with legacy Creative Suite.  If I were you, I would look for older brushes and stay clear of the newer ones until you get a Creative Cloud Plan.

The Photography plan is only $10/month for a 1 year subscription.  You get a lot of value.

• Photoshop CC
• Lightroom CC
• Lightroom Classic
• Bridge
• Camera Raw
• Spark
• Portfolio/Behance
• 20 GB of Cloud Storage
• + other apps and services

[bsj94]

Not surprising that's the case and thank you for letting me know.

It would be more appealing if I could cancel whenever without having to pay for the rest of the year...my friend apparently canceled in the middle of the year and had to pay out the rest of the year anyway and they didn't even give her the remainder of the month she already paid for.

[Nancy OShea]

The Photography Plan is a deeply discounted bundle which is not available on a monthly plan.  However Photoshop is.  You pay more per month and your rate is subject to increase but you can stop service whenever you wish.

Creative Cloud pricing and membership plans | Adobe Creative Cloud

[Warren35132792wa3j]

When Adobe decided they weren't making enough money from their programs on CD, they came up with an expensive subscription program, making all those of us still using older versions of the software that we bought and paid for obsolete because all the new brushes, etc. aren't backwards compatible. It's called corporate greed.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

When Adobe decided they weren't making enough money from their programs on CD, they came up with an expensive subscription program, making all those of us still using older versions of the software that we bought and paid for obsolete because all the new brushes, etc. aren't backwards compatible. 

You can keep using perpetual licenses as long as you want (and the OS and hardware you use fit that obsolete program version and you don’t try to install it anew, in which case the discontinued activation servers might be a problem). 

It is not Adobe making you »obsolete« but your own decision that causes you not to be able to use newer features, which includes improvements (or changes) to the Brush engine. 

I suspect you might be referring to Erodible and Bristle Brushes, though I can’t remember when they were introduced exactly. 

Edit: It seems those Brushes were introduced in Photoshop CS6, so about 2012. 

[Nancy OShea]

It's called corporate greed.

By @Warren35132792wa3j

===========

No, it's called progress.  Like it or not, nothing stays the same.

$10/month is not expensive.  It's less than I pay for coffee drinks.

I have a garage full of obsolete electronics, film cameras and old media that I can't use anymore. Such is life in the digital age. I'm holding on to them until the next "free green day" when I can recycle them responsibly. I can't remember the last time I installed software from a CD with an optical reader.  Those days are a distant memory for me. Everything is distributed via digital downloads now. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Well, @Warren35132792wa3j ’s complaint seems nonsensical anyway, because the »new« Brushes were apparently introduced in CS6. 

And CS6 was still offered under perpetual licensing. 

So that Photoshop CS4 cannot utilize those brushes has nothing to do with Creative Cloud licensing.