Adobe Photoshop CS3 Mac OSX serial key or number

[Update June 2, 2007: If you’re here because you’re trying to rip me off by somehow stealing Photoshop (via serial number, keygen, crack, etc.), you’re a thieving putz, and you’ll get no satisfaction here. May someone steal your hard work as you try to steal ours. Adios. –J.]

We continue to receive inquiries about Photoshop CS3 beta serial numbers.  There are a number of issues here:

1. On Friday we discovered that a small percentage of the more than 3,000 product combinations that include Photoshop weren’t in the authentication list.  Unfortunately this bit quite a few people trying to obtain CS3 serials. We fixed that issue on Friday afternoon.
2. Licensing customers have been in bit of a bind: even though they’re authorized to use a CS2 serial on multiple machines, the beta site is configured to issue serials that can be activated on only two machines.  If you’re a licensing customer, please send mail to photoshopcs3beta@adobe.com so that we can follow up with you (see details below).
3. Some people are typing in the 20-digit serial number that’s visible in the CS2 About box. That makes total sense, except that the serial number is actually 24 digits long!  That is, you need to get your serial number from your product materials (tips here). Again, we’re working to make this clear on the serial number acquisition page.
4. A lot of people aren’t reading the instructions on the Labs site.  Many are typing their CS2 numbers into CS3, then complaining that it doesn’t work.  We’re working to make the instructions harder to miss.

If you’re still having problems with serial numbers and CS3, please send mail to photoshopcs3beta@adobe.com.Important: in order to handle the process efficiently, your email needs to contain the following info (I suggest copy/paste):

• Email address in the subject line (a weird eRoom quirk, but without it we can’t reach you)
• First and last name:
• Issue statement:
• CS2 serial number (24-digits long):
• CS3 serial number (if applicable):
• Are you a CS2 single or volume license customer? (Y or N):
• If volume license, approximately how many CS2 licenses do you own?:
• Daytime phone number with area code:
• Daytime e-mail address:

Customer service says they’ll turn things around in 48-72 hours.  (There’s no need to call them, as phone support is not available for the beta.)

I know that it’s frustrating to hit any delays, and we greatly appreciate your patience.  We’re just four days into a huge, never-been-done-here effort, but we’re making good progress.

Thanks,
J.

Topics covered in this article include:

• Serial number rejection issues should be resolved
• Problems installing: fix
• Documents opening in Photoshop CS3 instead of CS2
• Lightroom/CS2/CS3 interaction
• Bridge file opening problems -- files open only in CS3, not CS2
• "Program Error" messages
• PowerPC plug-ins will not work on Intel-based Macs unless launched in Rosetta
• Brush size indicator not displayed when running in Intel-native mode -- fix
• No more individual image auto-correction
• Cropping tool/rotation bug

To see all topics on one page, click here.

Serial number rejection issues should be resolved According to a blog post on John Nack's (Senior Product Manager for Photoshop), the serial number rejection issues we covered last Friday -- where users were having valid Photoshop CS2 serial numbers (especially for academic licenses) rejected by the CS3 beta serial number generator.

Nack says "We believe we've addressed the issue," and clarifies that academic licenses for Photoshop CS2 do qualify users for removal of the 2-day trial period.

It should also be noted that serial numbers are platform-specific. A Photoshop CS2 for Windows license will not generate a valid Photoshop CS3 beta for Mac OS X key, for instance.

Some users are still having problems, however. If your CS2 serial number has been rejected by the generator, please let us know.

Problems installing: fix Several users have reported difficulty installing the Photoshop CS3 beta, receiving an error message indicating that "TWAINbridge" must be removed before installation can take place.

This problem can generally be resolved by launching Activity Monitor (located in Applications/Utilities), finding and selecting the "TWAINbridge" process, then quitting it using the red "Quit Process" button. After quitting this process, re-attempt Photoshop CS3 beta installation.

Documents opening in Photoshop CS3 instead of CS2 Several readers are reporting an issue where after installing the Photoshop CS3 beta, all Photoshop documents (regardless of which version created them) open, by default, in Photoshop CS3. Some users have reported that even after switching the "Open With" option for specific files (accessible by selecting a document(s) in the Finder and pressing Command-I or selecting "Get Info" from the file menu then using the "Open With" drop-down menu) back to Photoshop CS2, the documents still open in CS3.

One potential solution to this problem (albeit inconvenient) may be to remove Photoshop CS3 completely then reset Mac OS X's Launch Services.

There are a number of ways to reset the Launch Services database.

The easiest is to use a utility like LSRefresh. Several general-purpose Mac OS X maintenance utilities, including AppleJack, can perform this function as well.

You can also manually delete the Mac OS X Launch Services caches from the directory: . Delete any files that are named as such:

• com.apple.LaunchServices-[...].csstore
• e.g.: com.apple.LaunchServices-015501.csstore

then restart.

Alternatively, you can use this AppleScript, provided by a member of the MacFixIt forums.

Lightroom/CS2/CS3 interaction In a related issue, note that after you install Photoshop CS3, it will be selected as default for the "Edit in Photoshop" command in Lightroom. This can cause problems for users who are only using CS3 as a trial and intend to revert back to CS2.

In order to make Photoshop CS2 accessible from Lightroom again, go to Lightroom's preferences (under the "Lightroom" menu) and select the "External Editors" pane. Use the selection tool to locate and designate Photoshop CS2 as an additional editor.

Still, Photoshop CS3 will remain the default editor as long as it is present on the appropriate startup volume.

Bridge file opening problems -- files open only in CS3, not CS2 In yet another issue related to CS2/CS3 interaction, it appears that the ability to open some files in Photoshop CS2 directly from the Bridge or Adobe Camera RAW is broken. In other words, the link between the CS2 bridge and Photoshop CS2 is severed by installation of Photoshop CS3.

When users attempt to click the "Open" button in the Bridge, the file(s) is automatically opened in Photoshop CS3. You can change the associations back to Photoshop CS2 (go to Bridge's preferences, and select "File Type Associations from the left-hand pane), but the file(s) will still fail to properly open in CS2.

Until we find a better workaround for this issue, your best bet is to select the desired individual file in Bridge while holding the control key (or right-clicking) to bring up a contextual menu that will allow you to select Photoshop CS2 for opening.

If you are experiencing similar issues, please let us know.

"Program Error" messages Though it's not to be unexpected from a beta status product, a number of users are reporting repeated error messages that state "Could not complete your request because of a program error." In many cases, several of these errors are displayed in succession, forcing the user to close each error dialog box before resuming work. The error messages don't appear to adversely affect functionality, nor do they cause application crashes.

If you are experiencing a similar issue and/or have found a workaround, please let us know.

PowerPC plug-ins will not work on Intel-based Macs unless launched in Rosetta

Thanks for the reply. The part of this that seems to be overlooked is that any version of PS3 (and potentially some versions of CS4, DO NOT WORK and are not possible to work on my computers. After CS4 the requiremenst are for Intel based computers. Mine are G5 Powermac's. The archtecture doesn't allow for versiosn beyond CS 3/4. I can't choose to upgrade to newer versions or subscriptions.

I own the machines and I own the boxed versions of PS.  They run beautifully together and are runing wonderfully now. The issue is that the 30 day trial clock is running and everytime I start up PS3 the clock is down another day. WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE CLOCK hits 0 days ? All I want to do is use software I've paid for. I don't need or expect any support or anything from Adobe.

Wouldn't it be more 'NORMAL' (and fair) to relinquish the need for customers, with software Adobe doesn't want to encourage, to register serial number for rather than lock them out of their software? I'd say this is really Anti Consumer behaviour and something a government watchdog should be serioulsy looking into.

For example: if the Ford motor company didn't want to support an old model of vehicle they surely wouldn't lock the owners out of those particular older cars ?  This Simply just Stinks of Adobe to do this.

All I want is the trial clock to be removed or disconnetced or script changed (or somethng) to allow owners of old software, like myself, to USE what they've parted good cash for. Too much to expect ?? I think not.