Installing Photoshop CC Linux and Illustrator CC Linux in Zorin OS

Apparently GitHub has Linux installers for Adobe Photoshop 2019
and Adobe Illustrator 2017, which work in a Wine environment.

URL links >

https://github.com/Gictorbit/photoshopCClinux

https://github.com/Gictorbit/illustratorCClinux

I'm unable to find any installation procedure for either Terminal, or App Centre, so I'm hoping the experts here can demystify the process.

I also wonder if these versions of Photoshop and Illustrator have been massively altered to evade Adobe's retribution (?)

I tried yester-evening to create Bottle installations of Photoshop 2020
and Illustrator 2020; But in both attempts I got only 'damaged installer' errors. Although both installers work perfectly in Windows.

I found that Bottles is not happy with any Windows software installer.
So obviously Bottles is not my salvation.

I can't speak for these two specifically, but I use Windows installers with Bottles all the time. My recommendation is to install the VC++ Redist dependencies before running the installer. Installers SHOULD be dependency free (it's their job to put the dependencies in place after all), but I recently couldn't use the Mihoyo installer after they updated it, and deleting the bottle and starting over with the Visual C++ redistributables in place FIRST solved the problem.

You can manually install dependencies in a bottle by opening it, clicking Dependencies in its main window, and selecting the ones you want. The fastest way to find the VC++ dependencies is with the search button in the top right, then type "vc".

So I should download Visual C++ from the Microsoft website? Or is there a Linux version?

As I said above, there's a menu for installing it in Bottles. It'll download it for you, you just need to click the download icon in the dependencies menu.

Aha, I missed that bit. I will get to it and see if it will install.

Thanks!

Good luck. VC++ dependencies come in quite a few varieties. I'd try the newest first (they're named by the years they encompass) and go from there, but honestly, if the newest doesn't work, I don't expect others are likely to.

All dependencies loaded.. but the installation aborted with another "disabled installer" error. I could try with Terminal, but I don't know the code.

If it's still reporting "disabled installer," its unlikely WINE can do the job right now, terminal or not.

You might also ask on the WineHQ forums. They may be more experienced and knowledgeable about Wine specific functions and troubleshooting.

That sounds a good idea.

I would very much like to free myself from Windows -- Permanently,
which means installing the essential Windows programmes I use for work.

If someone here can kindly post the Terminal code for installing PhotoshopCCLinux and IllustratorCCLinux (linked above) that could be one solution.

The only Adobe Photoshop I own, are both from year 2000, and year 2008. When I tried to install them in Wine, (at the beginning of my Linux adventure) I wasn't able to launch them, even if I included the C++ redistributables.

I ended up concluding, that because the software was super locked down proprietary under a paywall, something about the coding of the software, just prevented it from launching on Linux, even in a Wine compatibility layer.

I later discovered that Linux had good Linux substitutes available. Software like Gimp, (photo editor) and Kdenlive. (video editor) And yes, you can get the official Blender for Linux too, for your 3D modeling.

Once you warm up to Linux, learn all the free apps that are available, you will slowly migrate your expectations. And in doing so, you will learn much more about how Linux works.

One of the greatest revolutions I figured out in the beginning is, unlike Microsoft who charges money for every piece of software, trying to nickle and dime everything out of you, most software for Linux is free!

And for the record, Linux was first to have an OS wide software store. I speak from experience on that one, cause prior to Windows 10, Windows never had a software store. So you had to manually hunt for software all over the web, and like I said, most of it cost money.

It will take awhile to get used to Linux, but you will learn to love it, but most of all, appreciate it. And lastly, you never forget your first, Linux is amazing!


I started using Photoshop in the 90s. Quite primitive and clumsy at first,
(like all software of the time) - then PS evolved into a proper image editor in the noughties; Yet even Photoshop CS (2003) is stoneage stuff compared to Photoshop 2025 - with it's AI capabilities. I use PS 2020, which is orders of magnitude more advanced than GIMP (with no update since 2018).
Sorry to say.. GIMP is not even in the same league.

Another roadblock for many PS users is the name 'GIMP'
which sounds more like a description of a one-legged hunchback with mobility issues. In industrial terms.. a trade name is Everything!
GIMP has a hilarious cartoon mascot (I'm guessing this is meant to represent a Gnu ?). It looks rediculous and unprofessional as a desktop icon, and as a tool meant for professional use. The Gnu mindset overall seems to be based in cartoonland.

The tools are not in the same layout, and do not work in the same way as in Photoshop. The text tool cannot even select text. This is useless to masters of Photoshop. GNU bears full responsibility of getting it right, if they want to lure Photoshop users to their platform.

As I mentioned earlier.. professional persons have no spare time to learn Estonian or Urdu -- they simply need to 'get on with it'.

GIMP is adequate for casual users who want to correct brightness and contrast in their holiday snaps, and selfies.

Professional graphic designers and especially Industrial designers (myself inluded) could never substitute Photoshop with GIMP. The same goes for Illustrator -- even though Inkscape is capable of opening and saving .AI vector files, it lacks the high-end capabilities of Illustrator 2020. I use AI files for CNC laser etching, and CAD based CNC milling data.

I tried GIMP for the first time after installing Zorin, and found it clumsy - even for simple edits.

For the general public.. It's great that it's free and opensource.
Corporate monoliths like Adobe and Microsoft are not interested in Free opensource principles -- they operate on the GTFM principle
(Get The F###ing Money).

Mind you - today, any kid with a laptop can download Photoshop and Illustrator for free off Piratebay. It doesn't hurt Adobe or Microsoft, since those who download torrents typically would never have paid actual money for their software anyway.. it's far too dear (for those in the US: Dear = Expensive).

Linux IS amazing. I am already well on the way to feeling at home in Zorin.

Back to the Topic >

With Photoshop CC Linux and Illustrator CC Linux..
I just need the Terminal code for installing these programmes.

in the worst case -- I will need to keep Windows 10 on another laptop just for this purpose, and give up any thoughts of fully ditching Windows.

The forums stance on Piracy is that it is no different from theft.

Advocating the use of piracy is not accepted, here.

We do not condone Microsoft committing theft of data, either. We cannot allow one, while condemning the other. Fairness means that we stand for what is The Right Thing To do, not personal wants and gains. Indeed, the latter is what creates the justification for greed.

And to this point, Piracy does hurt the one stolen from.
Perhaps some commit piracy to obtain a product that they would never have bought. But many commit the act merely to not spend their money.
Torrent downloaders opportunistically jump at the chance to steal something rather than pay for it.

Lastly, there is a functional Free Open Source alternative to Photoshop in GIMP. GIMP is powerful, versatile and has many additional Plug Ins.
It is far more useful than you claim, and not for the casual user for adjusting contrast as you say.
And I have used both extensively and with complexity.
Granted, Photoshop is more UI user friendly, you can pay for that if you do not want to face the learning curve of GIMP. And if you do not want to pay for it, you can grab yourself by the bootstraps, open up some books and learn GIMP.

Professionals at Pixar Studios used GIMP and Blender extensively to create the amazing visuals seen in a large number of high-end animated movies.

Inkscape is similarly powerful. I have never used Illustrator, but i have used Inkscape quite a lot and @Storm has used it to greater effect than I have.
I cannot fairly compare Illustrator to Inkscape. But given how you described GIMP, I have a myriad of reservations.

And before anyone goes to the trouble of suggesting it; No, I do not work for GIMP. Quite the contrary, the GIMP devs and I are quite a bit peeved with each other and annoyed with each other currently.

To advocate Piracy based on such inaccurate description flies in the face of the free open forum we strive to maintain here.

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No one here is advocating Piracy.
Pointing out an obvious reality is not the same as advocacy.
People everywhere download torrents everyday, for whatever reason.
Including (as you pointed out) persons who want everything for free.

I have invested untold 1000s of Euro on software for my work,
countless Windows installation CDs (all grossly overpriced) from Win 98 onwards.
While I can afford these sort of investments for my company,
many working people can barely support themselves, so I can understand
why these same persons would snap-up an opportunity to get something
on the cheap (or free of cost). I don't blame the downloaders, real blame actually rests on the uploaders -- these are the actual digital pirates.

Literary Authors who publish e-books often fall victim to this sort of upload piracy. Recording Artists find their full discographies uploaded as torrents
for anyone to download without compensation.

Virtual instruments are also up for grabs as torrents.

This is yet another reason I am against digital media, and digital technology as a whole. Nothing is sacred in a digital realm.

As for GIMP, I have tried to use the software, but the tools are unusable from a Photoshop user perspective. I have used Photoshop for 30 years, so it's like an extension of my hand. GIMP does not respond to the same keystrokes, or tool technique, so it's utterly useless to me. As I said previously -- it is not in the same league as Photoshop 2020, and very far from 2025.

To my knowledge -- I have not made any statement in this forum which is 'untrue'. Although I may have used wording which could be misinterpreted.

Ethical considerations often rely upon a foundation of simple principles.

By always adhering to principles and never making excuses to deviate from them, we can generate the best outcome at the cost of the least harm.

There are many things a person may take from you. Material things. Digital things. But there is one thing that a person can have, that no one can ever take from them. But they can choose... to give it up.

Honor.

Sadly, we live in a world in which many people are more than happy to trade their honor away in exchange for something that they can exploit. This will cover a broad variety of topics, MS, FB, AI, Google... the vast majority of the the topics we lament - all come down to this.

We can observe and we can take note of these patterns that repeat under different names, different labels, different platforms - all the same thing.

It is present in Gnu as much as it is in Microsoft.

To this end, those of us that make the choice to retain that which can not ever be taken by another choose to stand Resolute.

I do not doubt this. But a statement can be inaccurate, even when said with the best of intentions.
Let's examine:

I cannot see applying this comment to software that can fully manipulate raster images, trace fractals, stereoscopy and transforms. GIMP is fully versatile with transparencies and layering, including introducing gradients, light filtering and sources.
To say that such is "adequate for casual users who want to correct brightness and contrast in their holiday snaps, and selfies" clearly is a misleading description - even if it seems true to you, perhaps by not having tapped into its potential.

I can certainly see how having used Photoshop for a long period of time, GIMP would take a learning curve.
This is equally true of a Microsoft Windows User encountering the learning curve of GnuLinux, and then complaining about the Cartoony Mascot Penguin, saying that GnuLinux is fine for the casual user that just wants to browse the web and check emails.

When you justify its use and excuse the deviation from our principles, this is to advocate its use. Certainly, torrent downloads are not due only to those who would never have bought a product anyway.

I do not justify downloading torrents.
Torrent sites exist, whether they are unprincipled or not.
People will download torrents whether anyone approves of it or not.
It has nothing to do with me or my opinions.

GIMP may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it does not work like Photoshop, and that is GIMPs undoing.

I dislike mascots of any kind.. especially the penguin : )

I have encountered a spectrum of double standards in the Linux community.
Linux reflects Linus Torvalds' belief in Free OpenSource Software and Operating Systems. Where Free = Unrestricted Alteration, and not Free as in Free Beer. Whilst many Linux users are more interested in Free Beer.

I think that this is a very fair point. It is worthy of examination, too.

Hi Zygoth,

I have found myself in much the same predicament, having been a Photoshop user since V2 on the Mac and V5 on PC. I stayed at the last CD-based version as it was good enough for my needs. I used it mainly for photography and some publishing work, but its not the main part of my work.

I moved to Affinity Photo a couple of years ago. Many pros have switched to it from Photoshop. But, no linux version. Some people have managed to get it working under WINE, but it seems very tricky and bug-prone to do.

I too had tried GIMP a few times (on PC) over the years and found it very hard to get on with. It also lacks what is now considered basic functionality eg adjustment layers, selection tools, CMYK...

I haven't yet tried the new V3.

Have you tried photopea? (Online, runs in the browser, but nothing it uploaded, it works on your local files). It is free with ads, or a monthly sub. I have only played with it a few times, but shortcuts are all the same, and its built to be a complete Photoshop clone. I don't know how they are getting away with it. You can run it as a web-app.

I have moved as much as I can to Zorin on my new PC, but for now I have decided to keep my current desktop PC on Win10 for as long as I can. This is for both professional audio (with a lot invested over the years) and graphics.

I have found Krita to have mush better functionality than GIMP. It has adjustment layers, CMYK, much that GIMP doesm't, and better selection tools. Not a Phootoshop replacement, but pretty capable.

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Krita does seem to me to be more user friendly and a little bit less buggy, to me, than GIMP. It also has a bit of a learning curve and being the nitpick that I am, I also needed to adjust it to use the GTK system theme so it did not launch in glaring solar brightness emitting novas from my screen in a Bright Plasma Breeze theme.