“PowerPC applications no longer supported” when running Photoshop CS4 or CS3 on Lion

Problem

When you open Photoshop CS4 or CS3 after upgrading to Mac OS X Lion you get the following error:
“You can’t open the application Adobe Photoshop [CS4 / CS3] because PowerPC applications are no longer supported.”

Cause

Before upgrading, Photoshop was set to run in Rosetta mode which has been deprecated in Mac OS X Lion.

Solution

  1. Click the Finder icon on the dock (smiley face icon).
  2. On the top menu click Go -> Go to Folder…
  3. Type in ~/Library/Preferences and press Enter.
  4. Find the file com.apple.LaunchServices.plist
  5. Move the file to the Trash.

7 comments

  1. Thanks so much! I used this to fix the emulator problem! i did this after upgrading to lion and it works!! Cheers

  2. hi buddy i m facing same prob i tried ur method but i could’t work ..actually i m using Lion…and trying to install Adobe Premium (Arabic Version) but when i click on Dmg file the setup window appear but setup file is like (X crossed ) when i double click its say same powerPC installer error….plz help or give me anyother link to download the Arabic version of Adobe….Thanks in advance…

    plz send me link for the Adobe with serial (Arabic Version)..

  3. I am trying to install Creative suite2 and it comes up Power PC applications no longer supported- what do I do?

    1. As stated above, if you are trying to install CS2 on Lion, there is no way to make it work I’m afraid.

  4. Photoshop Elements 2.0 downloading onto iMac OS X 10.9.5 get the “PowerPC applications no longer supported” message.
    What to do please ??

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