How to use a legitimate Adobe CS6 serial number on an old iMac with High Sierra?

DesineGuy wrote:

I have a legitimate Adobe CS6 Design and Web for my new old 2015 iMac OS High Sierra as the original owner serial number that worked in the past. When tying to install I get the message that the serial number doesn’t work and to contact Adobe. I contacted Adobe but because the software is so old, I couldn’t get any satisfactory answers even as a registered owner.

If Adobe will not help you activate your purchased software, you may be up the creek without a paddle. This is one of the drawbacks of DRM (Digital Restrictions Management).

I know that in the past, Adobe permanently shut down the DRM activation servers for an earlier version (CS2? CS3?) with the result that legitimate owners found themselves unable to successfully do clean reinstalls. Adobe then put up a version that would activate on the basis of a license key (only), without contacting the (still-dead) central DRM servers. Some people started spreading the word that Adobe had made the software free for everyone (which I do not think is what happened), and after a while, I believe Adobe removed the downloads that had been the lifeline for legitimate owners.

I found a thread that suggests that Adobe shut down the CS6 activation servers no later than early 2022. See: How to activate Adobe photoshop CS6 on hi… - Apple Community. So you're going to have to keep escalating this with Adobe Support until you get a satisfactory answer, or until you conclude that it is no use; that they have abandoned you as far as being able to reactivate that product.

I tried offline to generate a request code and even that didn’t work. Then in my readings I read about an updated open source amtlib.framework to replace the original. Does anyone know how I can get this or is there another way that I haven’t thought of making my legitimate software to work.

If there are hacks or cracks to get around the DRM, we cannot discuss those here.

DesineGuy wrote:

I have a legitimate Adobe CS6 Design and Web for my new old 2015 iMac OS High Sierra as the original owner serial number that worked in the past. When tying to install I get the message that the serial number doesn’t work and to contact Adobe. I contacted Adobe but because the software is so old, I couldn’t get any satisfactory answers even as a registered owner. I tried offline to generate a request code and even that didn’t work. Then in my readings I read about an updated open source amtlib.framework to replace the original. Does anyone know how I can get this or is there another way that I haven’t thought of making my legitimate software to work.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: CS6 will not work

If you own a legitimate CS6 license, I’d avoid replacing or using modified activation files, since that can create licensing and security problems. On High Sierra, I’d first make sure you’re using the correct original CS6 installer for your edition, try Adobe’s legacy activation/support options, and check whether the serial is still registered to your Adobe account. If Adobe no longer supports activation, an older compatible macOS install or a supported Adobe alternative may be the safest route rather than modifying the software.

[Edited by Moderator]

The CS6 activation servers have been shut down for quite a while now. After that, you could use self-help web page to do a manual activation, or call Adobe for assistance.

But about a year ago, Adobe officially killed all CS6 and earlier support. They will no longer help anyone activate this software, no matter how legitimate a person's license is.

They only way to continue using CS6 is to already have a working install on an older computer.

I had been using Photoshop CS6 with an older system but didn't want to get a new license for the latest Potoshop. Therefore I got Adobe Photoshop Elements which is a one time purchase. It did everything I needed from Photoshop CS6 except for CMYK formatted images.

You might try the free Affinity Image editor which is part of a package of apps.

Just some food for thought.

I have old Adobe Photoshop CS6 13.0.0 and Lightroom 6.14 installs on Mojave. Knowing that I no longer can install them from scratch even with my Serial Numbers I have a small Mojave volume having also old 32-bit apps like QuickTime Player 7 Pro, MPEG Streamclip etc so I can dual-boot from Sequoia to Mojave in my old Mac mini 2018 to occasionally run those old apps.

With Carbon Copy Cloner 5.1.28 I have also made bootable clone of that Mojave volume to an external disk as well as archived a "bootable" .dmg clone which CCC can clone to a real bootable volume.

Further updates (Adobe Bridge CS6, Adobe Extension Manager CS6, Photoshop Camera Raw 7) now fail so some .raw images might need to be converted to .dng.

That said, my son currently shares his Photoshop and Lightroom licenses with me so nowadays I use them as long as he pays for them.

OldToad wrote:

I had been using Photoshop CS6 with an older system but didn't want to get a new license for the latest Potoshop. Therefore I got Adobe Photoshop Elements which is a one time purchase. It did everything I needed from Photoshop CS6 except for CMYK formatted images.

These days, Photoshop Elements comes with what Adobe calls a "3-year term license". Key parts of it drop dead three years after you redeem it – even if it is still compatible with the version of macOS that you are running at the time.

"The license is non-renewing — it expires 3 years after redemption. When your 3-year term license expires, Photoshop Elements will no longer be accessible. However, you’ll still be able to access your media catalog in the Elements Organizer indefinitely."