Photoshop CS3 on Mac Sierra.

[eugene_12345]

Photoshop CS3 on Mac Sierra. Licensing has stopped and cannot open. A new serial number and CS3 uninstall and re-install required. Spent many hours with customer service and at the point of re-install. When opening Photoshop CS3 setup, it doesn't open. What can I do to correct and install?

[DelphiZoa · Accepted solution]

Installing Creative Suite on Mac OS X 10.12 requires a workaround. I would recommend looking over the instructions for installing CS4 on Sierra: Installing Creative Suite on macOS 10.12 (Sierra)​. Unfortunately, there are no instructions specifically for CS3, since the software too old to have been tested on the newest operating systems.

Let us know if that helps.

[jessepietila]

I have the same situation with OS X 10.12.5 and CS3... so I am all ears how to continue...

[DelphiZoa]

Hi Jessepietila,

Have you already obtained a new serial number using the instructions here: Download Adobe Creative Suite 3 products​? If so, did you follow the instructions for the Sierra workaround posted in my previous reply? If that didn't work for you, it will help us troubleshoot if you can provide some more specifics about what, exactly is happening when you try to install via the workaround.

[abeness]

I've successfully reinstalled Photoshop CS3 Extended here on High Sierra 10.13.4 (which, BTW, I'm successfully running on an unsupported mid-2009 MacBook Pro via the excellent dosdude1 patcher). Wow, it's dated, but for basic use at home (I have CC at work) it is functional to the extent I need it. Thanks, DelphiZoa, for pointing the way to the replacement CS3 installer that allowed me to "upgrade" my ancient CD serial number to one that no longer requires activation, and for posting the Sierra workaround link. The instructions for CS 5.5, 5, and 4 worked fine for the CS3 Design Premium installer, too. You do need the legacy Java 6 SE runtime, available here: Download Java for OS X 2017-001

CS3 registration will fail, but there is a Never Register option that puts a stop to it. Then, Adobe Updater 5 starts and crashes with every Photoshop CS3 start, so I opted to delete /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Utilities/Adobe Updater5. No more annoying crashes.

Finally, legacy updates for CS3 (e.g. the Photoshop 10.0.1 update) can be had here: Update information for older versions of Adobe Photoshop . I ran the update successfully by the same method as the first installation (drill down to the executable in Package Contents for the AdobePatcher app; run it by Control-click, then Open, then Open again when you get the Unidentified Developer prompt). High Sierra may occasionally bug me about how Photoshop CS3 is "not optimized for my Mac", which it does for all 32-bit software, but I can certainly live with that.

[Filling Up The Hump]

I went into the system prefrences clicked on Security & Privacy  and blocked The Adobe CS3 Suite from having any connections in the Firewall Options after install. It now thinks there is no internet connection and cannot update. It now runs perfectly.