Adobe Creative Software in Linux

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
1

Hey,

Google isn’t helping me very much. It’s mostly pointing me to old threads (some from like 10 years ago), so I’m not sure if any of the info in them is even useful.

I’m considering switching to Linux, but one of the things I need to have a solution for before I can do that is access to Adobe’s software suite. Right now, I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere for school and having access to them at home is a huge convenience.

What are Linux’s current solutions for running those programs?
Can they run natively?
Do they work fine in a Windows VM?

Thanks. I’m not sure which distro I’ll end up using, but it will probably be Ubuntu-based.

2

Adobe CS2 is the most Wine compatible: https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=8646

The rest is fiddly if not outright broken. If you must have Adobe, you will only run it properly through a VM.

Otherwise it may be time to get a Mac for Adobe OR learn the Linux alternatives: GIMP, Krita, etc…

Adobe once promised Linux compatibility. They never delivered. I’m inclined to believe that Adobe dislikes Linux and is outright hostile towards it.

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3

The reason all those forum posts are 10 years old is thats the last time anyone really cared.

We have so many tools that are arguably better for the platform that I’m not sure anyone cares that much anymore about adobe on linux.

However if you really needed it for school, have two machines. Or do VFIO, but thats a bit over your head if you’re just starting.

4

Not asking this in a confrontational manner, but do you have particular suggestions for tools that are arguably better and work ‘natively’ in Linux?

FWIW, it’s what I’m supposed to use in a lot of my classes and it is some sort of a standard.

I have set up gaming VMs in Linux before, is setting up a VM that can run Adobe software that much more complex? I don’t recall exactly what VFIO is by name, I just followed a tutorial to get the VM made.

5

Its not so much a standard as its just what schools use because adobe and money.

In linux we have photo tools like Darkroom, Raw Therapee, etc. We have davinci resolve, kdenlive, and… shit what was… lightworks, all for video editing. Etc.

No it’ll be the same deal.

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6

Are you getting paid for this work?

If so: Stick to Windows or MacOS.

If you’re looking to experiment:

Dark Table is pretty good, from what I’ve heard.

KDenLive is going to get recommended, but it is not very good. It will crash a lot and is unusable for me. I’ve heard good things about Davinci Resolve but, again, so unstable it won’t even start for me.

Inkscape is something else you should check out.

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Lies. People expec it to be production software but its not. Its really really good for not 4k footage.

8

Lol dude are you being serious right now? You can’t say I’m lying and then go into justifying/defending why it’s not production quality software.

My anecdotes aside, the Jupiter Broadcasting crew has expressed frustration with how unstable it is. The Destination Linux crew always makes excuses for how poorly it performs (“yeah but it’s not Windows!!11!!!”), and Jason Evangelho, the biggest Linux/OpenSource/YouMustUseLinux fister in the world right now just did a bit on Twitter on how he understands why so many people are still on Mac and Windows, because KDenLive’s bugs and performance is unacceptable.

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Windows VM is the best way to go imo. That way you can try both side by side on the same machine.

I imagine if you are going to be drawing it may experience some input lag if not done correctly though.

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Is this for education that you need and will be for your future? If it is, honestly, I wouldn’t bother with the hassle. Just use Windows/Max/iPad that’s actually supported. You can focus more on your work and less on supporting the software so you can try getting work done.

11

It’s not critically important like that. Having access to it at home is a convenience, I can normally finish my work in class or use computer labs on campus if I need to. It’s possible I would want to do something freelance or for a personal project, but in those situations I think I would have enough motivation to learn other tools, provided they are competent.

I’m pretty confident the VM thing would work out well enough for me. I’m not even too worried about input latency considering I’ve done gaming in VMs before. I just wasn’t sure if there were some weird “you can’t do that” software protections or odd performance issues.

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12

To kill the quarrell now, I listed production software as well.

13

I mean there might be, but I don’t think so. For games, yes, VM’s, how would production houses get things done then?

I think the VM route is the better route tbh so you have access to what you already know. Theres competent linux tools, but you have to be prepared to learn everything.