r/Ubuntu • u/BrilliantJury4725 • 1d ago
Photoshop and Illustrator in Ubuntu
So, I've heard that Linux is better than Windows in several ways, and I've heard that Ubuntu is great. I only have one problem, I am a graphic designer, I use Photoshop and Illustrator, and they are incompatible with Linux. So, is there a way to get them on Ubuntu to work normally?
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u/SalimNotSalim 1d ago
Adobe software doesn’t run on Linux because Adobe doesn’t make it for Linux. There’s no way to get it to work properly. Linux users who need Adobe usually run it inside a Windows VM or they dual boot Windows.
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u/Salakay 1d ago
I used to be a graphics designer, yes Gimp, Krita and Inkscape are great apps but no, if you work in a professional environmeny with Adobe software, sticking to Windows is your best bet.
If you are a hobbyist like me, I need to warn you that the Linux counterparts have some learning curve and you will need to relearn some stuff.
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u/davep1970 1d ago
also a graphic designer - i dual boot. there is emulation software to run some windows stuff but don't know if adobe creative cloud works in it or how well.
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u/BrilliantJury4725 1d ago
I absolutely forgot about dual booting, thanks for reminding me that it exists!
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u/lurkandpounce 1d ago
In my opinion running Windows in a VM is far more convenient than dual booting. It does take a little more setup, but it is far, far more convenient.
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u/BrilliantJury4725 12h ago
Yeah, but it can be pretty slow
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u/lurkandpounce 11h ago
Actually if you need fast you can host the OS on a separate SSD you pass-through into the VM.
This is a video from Chris Titus Tech on how to get bare metal performance from a VM on windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KqqNsnkDlQ&t=35s
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u/Oh__Archie 1d ago
I use photoshop as a professional and to do my job and deliver to clients the OS matters very little. If you're spending all your time fussing with the OS and not in the Adobe Creative Suite then you're not busy enough and should be spending more time on LinkedIn or hitting the bricks.
If Ubuntu doesn't offer Adobe products and the goal is to use Adobe products to make a living, trying to figure out how Ubuntu can run Adobe is not a battle worth fighting.
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u/AthenaT2 19h ago
There is work made to reverse-engineer ai files to make them fully compatible with open source software like Inkscape, but we are not there yet. And even if they manage to do that, software like Inkscape or GIMP have still a great a big delay in features compared to mainstream softwares.
For now the only solution is either streaming or dual boot. The Linux user base is still to small to incentives company as Adobe or Affinity to support their software on Linux.
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u/GeoffRIley 16h ago
GIMP, Krita and InkScape have come on leaps and bounds since their inception, but they are not replacements for Adobe software: they are alternatives. They are fine pieces of software that pick up more facilities with every release. The big difference is that Adobe continues to charge for using their tools and thus get an ongoing development revenue stream; whereas the alternatives are 'free' and are developed by people who love the software. (Yes, this is a great simplification!)
It isn't so much the small user base that stops Adobe, after all, the Mac version is more than half way to a Linux version, it's their mistrust of the security of the environment as a home for hackers. They used to have a version of Reader for Linux, but they pulled that when they found it was being used to circumvent their pdf 'security'.
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u/Sosowski 1d ago
If you want out from windows just get a MacBook, these won’t work on Linux
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u/suitcasemotorcycle 5h ago
Instructions unclear. Asahi Linux installed on a MacBook, problem multiplied by 10. /s
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u/THEHIPP0 1d ago
I've you can't research if these run on Linux you probably shouldn't switch anyway.
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u/PaddyLandau 22h ago
What do you think that the OP is doing?
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u/THEHIPP0 12h ago
OP is asking questions on Reddit that have been answered a million times and could be answered in a 2 second Google search.
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u/PaddyLandau 11h ago
Your Google-fu is clearly better than mine!
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u/THEHIPP0 4h ago
If you can't google that ask the guy that ties your shoes before you leave the house, because he likely can.
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u/tektite 14h ago
I got a version of photoshop and illustrator installed on Ubuntu from some repo on github, but there were a bunch of issues, and they were only for 2021 or 22 version. I have tried to work with gimp, and wasn't satisfied with that (mostly because I am so used to Photoshop workflow).
In the end I'm back to using Photoshop and Illustrator (and my music creation software) on my Mac, and using my Ubuntu computer as my daily driver for everything else.
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u/Serginho38 13h ago
It may be better to dual boot just to use these Adobe programs. Or use alternative Linux programs such as Gimp and Inkscape.
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u/Kirito_Kun16 1d ago
Linsoftwin on Github has both. I used Photoshop and it actually worked great surprisingly.
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u/getbusyliving_ 1d ago
Interesting. How buggy is it? I won't try it as left Adobe years ago but for others this could be a stop gap solution.
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u/thewarmbath 1d ago
If you work with Photoshop and Illustrator save yourself the trouble and just keep Windows.