Installing Adobe Photoshop on Linux

Linux has grown tremendously in popularity over the years as an alternative to Windows and macOS for desktop operating systems. With its open-source nature, customizability, security, and stability, Linux appeals to a wide range of users from casual homeowners to developers and IT professionals. However, one downside of Linux has been its limited software compatibility, especially with popular creative suites like Adobe Photoshop.

The good news is that with Wine and virtualization software like PlayOnLinux, you can get Photoshop running on Linux-based systems fairly smoothly. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you through the entire process step-by-step.

Why Use Photoshop on Linux?

Before jumping into the installation, you may be wondering why you‘d want to use Photoshop on Linux instead of one of the open-source alternatives like GIMP or Krita. Here are some of the key advantages:

• Industry-standard software: Photoshop is the de facto standard for image editing and graphic design. Using the same software makes workflow and asset sharing easier.

• More features and polish: Open source projects have come a long way, but Photoshop still outpaces them regarding advanced features, rendering engines, typography tools, etc.

• Compatibility: Photoshop PSD files, plugins, and presets work flawlessly within the Adobe ecosystem. Third-party compatibility can be hit-or-miss.

Of course, the open-source options are great in their own right and work for most hobbyists. But for professionals, enthusiast creators, and those already familiar with Photoshop, running it natively makes Linux a much more viable "daily driver" OS.

Now let‘s look at how we can make that happen.

Installing Requirements and Dependencies

Photoshop requires some additional software and libraries to run properly on Linux. We‘ll need:

• Wine – Software compatibility layer that handles running Windows executables
• PlayOnLinux – Frontend that simplifies Wine installation and configuration
• Microsoft fonts – Required fonts that don‘t come pre-installed

To install these dependencies, first open the terminal emulator on your Linux distribution.

Enabling 32-bit Architecture (if on 64-bit OS)

Modern Linux distributions only enable 64-bit libraries by default. But since Photoshop still uses some 32-bit components, we need to explicitly enable multi-architecture support.

Run this command to add 32-bit architecture:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 

You‘ll need to enter your user password after the sudo command to gain admin privileges.

Installing Wine

Next, we‘ll install the latest version of Wine directly from the project repository:

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key
sudo apt-key add winehq.key

This imports the GPG key to verify the Wine packages.

We‘ll also need to add the repository for our specific Ubuntu version:

Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic:

sudo add-apt-repository ‘deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ bionic main‘

Ubuntu 20.04 Focal:

sudo add-apt-repository ‘deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main‘ 

Finally, install winehq-stable or winehq-devel depending on whether you want the latest stable or development release:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable

The full installation should now complete successfully.

Installing PlayOnLinux

Much like we did for Wine, let‘s import the repo GPG key and add PlayOnLinux repo for Ubuntu versions.

Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic:

wget -q "https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Philibert_B/xUbuntu_18.04/Release.key" -O- | sudo apt-key add - 
echo ‘deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/xUbuntu_18.04/ /‘ | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list

Ubuntu 20.04 Focal:

wget -q "https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Philibert_B/xUbuntu_20.04/Release.key" -O- | sudo apt-key add -
echo ‘deb https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/Horst3180/xUbuntu_20.04/ /‘ | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list

Then update package listings and install PlayOnLinux:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install playonlinux

Select yes when prompted during the install process.

Installing Microsoft Core Fonts (optional)

Some Windows applications like Photoshop expect specific Microsoft fonts like Arial to be installed for the text and design elements to render properly.

We can install these optional dependencies with:

sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

During the guided process enable all fonts for installation.

And that covers all prerequisite software needed before installing Photoshop itself!

Installing Adobe Photoshop via PlayOnLinux

With the dependencies in place, we can finally install Photoshop using PlayOnLinux — a graphical frontend for easily managing Wine prefixes and builds.

Here are the steps:

1. Launch PlayOnLinux from your desktop start menu.

2. Click the "Install" icon on the top toolbar.

3. Search for "Adobe Photoshop" and select the latest version from dropdown.

4. Select 64-bit or 32-bit Windows installation depending on which assets you have. 64-bit requires a more recent Wine build.

5. Click Next on the welcome prompt window.

6. When prompted select your Photoshop installer executable file on the filesystem.

7. Accept the Microsoft EULA when prompted.

8. Enter your Adobe ID and sign in on next screen to activate app.

9. Click next allowing the Wine dependencies for Photoshop to complete building. This can take several minutes.

10. Finally click next on installer window allowing Photoshop to complete setup on the simulated Windows drive under PlayOnLinux.

After 10-15 minutes your Photoshop installation under PlayOnLinux should be complete!

Running Photoshop

To start using Photoshop simply open PlayOnLinux and select the "Adobe Photoshop 2023" entry (or your installed version) under the Applications tab. Then click "Run" and Photoshop will start up!

You can pin it to your system tray or desktop launcher as well for easy startup in the future. And your PSDs, presets, and brushes will persist between runs.

That‘s all there is to setting up real Adobe Photoshop on a Linux desktop! The performance is surprisingly good for most editing, design and photography tasks since the underlying Wine translation layers have gotten very streamlined.

Do keep in mind that very intensive 3D and rendering workflows may run slower than native Windows – so adjust expectations accordingly. But for most users it offers a no-compromise Photoshop experience fully tailored for your Linux desktop.

Troubleshooting Help

Despite best efforts sometimes issues can crop up either during install or while running Photoshop through Wine and PlayOnLinux.

Here are some common problems and their solutions:

Installation fails or crashes midway:

This is often fixed by simply restarting the process either from desktop shortcut or PlayOnLinux‘s GUI. The Wine translation layers tend to be sensitive to runtime issues. Allow Photoshop‘s installer to fully complete even if it takes 2-3 installation attempts on resets.

Interface text rendering incorrectly:

If interface text in Photoshop shows as gibberish check that Microsoft core fonts are enabled under Wine configuration for that virtual drive prefix. Running winetricks and re-selecting the font pack often resolves text issues.

Toolbars and panels hidden/missing:

This tends to happen on first runs. Saving a default PSD and resetting Photoshop layout under Edit menu usually resolves overlay issues under Wine translations.

Frequent crashes/instability:

Try upgrading to latest Wine development release under PlayOnLinux which can add stability fixes. If crashes persist, toggle Graphics API or Windows version in Wine settings to find most compatible runtime for your Linux GPU drivers.

Wrapping Up

I hope this guide covered the full A-Z workflow for installing real Adobe Photoshop CC on Ubuntu or your favorite Linux distro. While not as seamless as Windows or Mac, the latest Wine and virtualization tools have bridged the gap incredibly well in recent years.

Creators can now leverage their Linux machine‘s security and customization benefits without losing access to the most powerful and industry-standard creative apps. And the steady improvements in these compatibility layers will only keep enhancing this crossover experience.

Let me know if you have any other topics you‘d like to see covered regarding the creative pro workflow under Linux desktop environments!