Annoying PS CS6 activity in Mac OS X 10.11.x

[Garnick]

Hello all,

I'm not at all certain that this belongs here, but I'll take a chance on it regardless.  Here's a quote from Mark Segal in another thread concerning the High Sierra Upgrade - "Waiting for the dust to settle goes without saying".  That statement definitely applies to my hesitation to take the leap with any OS upgrade.  I have just upgraded to Mac OS X 10.11(El Capitan) from 10.9.5(Mavericks).  I've been using PS CS6 with several OS X versions, but I cannot seem to find an answer to this issue in El Capitan.  In each OS version I have had to resize and position the "Open" dialog screen, but usually don't have a problem with that.  However, in OS X 10.11 I haven't yet been able to make the adjustments to that dialog stick.  The default "Open" dialog size and position is useless for my work, and of course it can be resized and positioned to suit, but it will not maintain those settings.  I realize this is probably a rather trivial issue, but not so for my workflow.  I imagine it's something simple that I have overlooked, but I've tried everything I can think of and no success thus far. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Gary

[Mark D Segal]

Gary, I upgraded from Mavericks to El Capitan some time back and have not noticed this problem with Photoshop. It seems to open pretty much the same way every time.

[rdonson]

Gary, are you running the latest version of CS6?

[Garnick]

Gary, I upgraded from Mavericks to El Capitan some time back and have not noticed this problem with Photoshop. It seems to open pretty much the same way every time.

Hi again Mark,

Are you working in CS6 or CC?  I was under the impression that you were in CC, but could very well be mistaken of course.

Ron -- I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe this is the latest version of PS CS6-(13.0.6x64), which is the version I have installed, and have never seen this sort of behavior until El Capitan.

Gary

[Mark D Segal]

CC

[Garnick]

CC

Since I've had no experience with PS CC I assume this is strictly a CS6 issue in El Capitan.  Also, do to the fact that I skipped Yosemite I do not know if it was an issue in that OS.  It is definitely most annoying, having to resize the "Open" dialog every time I need to load a new image, which is usually very often.  I hope someone might have an answer.  I had posted on the Apple and Adobe forums as well, but with no satisfaction.  I suppose CS6 is completely out of fashion now, but so far I have managed quite well with it and intend to do so until I really need a feature that convinces me to jump to the cloud.

Gary   

[E.J. Peiker]

Have you tried deleting the preferences file - whenever PS starts doing weird things, this is generally the first thing to try and often resolves any issues.  Just make sure you save your workspace first so that you don't need to set-it all up again.  You just have to recall it after you launch PS the first time after killing the prefs file.

[Garnick]

Have you tried deleting the preferences file - whenever PS starts doing weird things, this is generally the first thing to try and often resolves any issues.  Just make sure you save your workspace first so that you don't need to set-it all up again.  You just have to recall it after you launch PS the first time after killing the prefs file.

Thanks for the suggestion, but that was my first approach, with no success.  I'll keep trying, and hope someone has the answer.

[jwlimages]

Hello Garnick,

Sorry, but I have bad news. In my experience, the miniscule-size window that pops up in response to the "Open File" command is a "feature"/bug of the OS, introduced in El Cap, and unrelated to Photoshop. I wonder if it's related to Apple's rush to make everything resemble iOS, even the desktop (do I really want Siri in my desktop machine?!).

My Yosemite MacBook Pro still has customizable "Open" window dialogs, that stick just the way they always did. But I have not found any way to get this behavior on my El Cap machine. It is an annoyance to be sure, but I don't think you can do anything about it...

John

[Mark D Segal]

If this were an El Capitan bug it should be happening to me too but it isn't. Are you fully up to date on the latest updates for El Capitan?

[Garnick]

If this were an El Capitan bug it should be happening to me too but it isn't. Are you fully up to date on the latest updates for El Capitan?

That's a good point mark, but at last check El Capitan is indeed up to date.  That's something I have taken into consideration since I upgraded, and of course Apple keeps me informed of any new updates, security and otherwise.  I'll check again tomorrow morning, since El Cap is on my back up Mac Pro.  My next question was going to be related to the fact that you are using PS CC and I am using PS CS6, and would that not make a difference? However, if what John mentioned about this behavior being an Apple bug is indeed that case, it wouldn't make any difference what version of PS one is using, the "bug" would still have the same effect, would it not?  I still have PS CS5.1 on my back up Mac Pro as well, on the El Cap drive, so I'll check that in the morning also.  If the same behavior is evident in CS5 under El Cap that would indicate that it is an Apple issue, correct?  I just opened PS CS5 on this Mac Pro(Mavericks) and the "Open File" dialog is as expected, as I set it up originally.  And of course PS CS6 is fine on this Mac Pro(Mavericks).

Gary     

[Mark D Segal]

Gary, your OS is up-to-date within that version but your Photoshop is not. I don't know the sequencing or details of what could have changed when between these versions of OS vs Photoshop, but it is always up to the application developer to remain current with the operating system, not vice-versa. That may be the source of your problem, but I would have no way of knowing; however, I kind of think if you were to update Photoshop the problem would go away.

[Garnick]

Gary, your OS is up-to-date within that version but your Photoshop is not. I don't know the sequencing or details of what could have changed when between these versions of OS vs Photoshop, but it is always up to the application developer to remain current with the operating system, not vice-versa. That may be the source of your problem, but I would have no way of knowing; however, I kind of think if you were to update Photoshop the problem would go away.

"but it is always up to the application developer to remain current with the operating system, not vice-versa"  That was my thought as well, but the point that John made sort of seemed feasible on some level.  However, it would seem that nothing I can do will fix this issue.  According to the Adobe Application Manager, PS CS6 on El Capitan is up to date-(13.0.6 x64).  I just checked to see if the Adobe App Manager itself is up to date, but the only way I can access that information is to go to the cloud.  The circle is getting smaller and tighter.  At this point I'm not prepared to make that move, so I'll have to put up with the annoying behavior of PS CS6 on El Capitan.  If you have any further suggestions Mark, please send them along. 

Thanks again,

Gary

[Mark D Segal]

My only further suggestion Gary is to buy the photography package in the CC subscription plan. There is only so long you can fight it and you may be reaching that point. There are new features and capabilities being packed into these programs all the time, some of which are actually pretty good, and you have the assurance of always being as up-to-date as Adobe makes possible this way. When the Application Manager indicates your version is up-to-date, what that means is that no further updates are available FOR THAT VERSION, even if the last one happened a year ago. It doesn't necessarily mean you've achieved the best consistency available between the OS and the application.

[kers]

Or make a dedicated CS6 machine with 10.9 Mavericks- not connected to the internet.

As i see it Apple is now making a big move with 10.13 - 10.14. A new file system- only 64 bit programs...
so you will have to go to CC or stay in the old fashion mode.
10.9 is for me the last old system; after that there is the start of changing basic things like HFS+ to Core storage etc...
10.14 will be the new Apple system fully loaded.

[rdonson]

Gary, you could consider upgrading the OS to Sierra (10.12.5).  I'm not sure there are any bugs that would impede your PS 6.

High Sierra is not something you'll likely want to be the first to adopt.  However, after 2-3 updates it's likely to be quite stable.  It comes out towards the end of the year.

Apple is most likely to phase out 32 bit apps over a 2 year period after the release of High Sierra.  At least that's what they've said.  That should give reputable developers sufficient time to update their apps to 64 bit.

[Garnick]

My only further suggestion Gary is to buy the photography package in the CC subscription plan. There is only so long you can fight it and you may be reaching that point. There are new features and capabilities being packed into these programs all the time, some of which are actually pretty good, and you have the assurance of always being as up-to-date as Adobe makes possible this way. When the Application Manager indicates your version is up-to-date, what that means is that no further updates are available FOR THAT VERSION, even if the last one happened a year ago. It doesn't necessarily mean you've achieved the best consistency available between the OS and the application.

Hi Mark
You do make a good case for the Cloud, but I think I'll probably just stay with what's working for the time being.  Everything works as expected in Mavericks, and since I have multiple clones of my OS & Apps volume, I have no problem with back ups etc.  As a matter of fact I installed El Cap on one of my Mavericks clones and then a clone of that volume as a back up.  That's a procedure I've followed for many years when upgrading the OS, and it has served me well.  I do have two Mac Pros(2010-2012) and the El Cap drive is installed on the secondary machine, mostly for exploration.  It is rather unlikely I will install El Cap on the "Work" Mac Pro, for obvious reasons.

Ron - I have also thought of installing Sierra on one of my Mavericks clones to test that OS and the apps I use every day.  Unfortunately I'll have to download Sierra again, since I foolishly trashed the installer a few weeks ago, once I had El Cap installed.  At that point I had not come across the glitch with the "Open File" dialog in PS CS6 - El Cap.  However, downloading Sierra is just a time thing, so no problem.  That way I can at least give it a try.

jwlimages-John That's interesting that PS CS6 seems to be working with no issues in Yosemite, so as I might install it on one of my clones and see how it behaves.  Of course another possible issue I always have to be aware of is how each OS version will handle the Printer Drivers I use, mostly the large format ones for my work.  That has not been an issue at all in El Capitan.

Thank you all for the input.  As always, LuLa rocks!  I'll keep watch  ; ~)

Gary           

[jwlimages]

That's interesting that PS CS6 seems to be working with no issues in Yosemite

...

Sorry Gary, I should have clarified: I was referring to the current Photoshop CC2017.x, which I am running on a MacPro (El Cap) and a Macbook Pro (Yosemite). On the MBPro, just as on the desktop when it ran Yosemite, the Open dialog behaves as expected - I had it resized quite large to show a variety of HDs & a number of levels of folder hierarchy, and the size "stuck" from session to session. Now with El Cap, no matter how I try to resize it, next time the dialog opens it's back to a mini-sized window with only a couple columns & maybe half-dozen rows. Same thing every time, even in the same work session.

I don't use PS CS6 anymore, but have the CS6 Suite as a backup, and do use InDesign CS6. It is starting to show problems in how menus are displayed under the El Cap machine as well, so I wonder how many more OS updates CS6 apps can survive...

John

[Garnick]

...

Sorry Gary, I should have clarified: I was referring to the current Photoshop CC2017.x, which I am running on a MacPro (El Cap) and a Macbook Pro (Yosemite). On the MBPro, just as on the desktop when it ran Yosemite, the Open dialog behaves as expected - I had it resized quite large to show a variety of HDs & a number of levels of folder hierarchy, and the size "stuck" from session to session. Now with El Cap, no matter how I try to resize it, next time the dialog opens it's back to a mini-sized window with only a couple columns & maybe half-dozen rows. Same thing every time, even in the same work session.

I don't use PS CS6 anymore, but have the CS6 Suite as a backup, and do use InDesign CS6. It is starting to show problems in how menus are displayed under the El Cap machine as well, so I wonder how many more OS updates CS6 apps can survive...

John

Thanks for the clarification John.  However, it is interesting that Mark Segal has mentioned that he is on El Cap and PS CC, but has no such issue with PS and the "Open" dialog.  Therefore, from what you have written it would seem that in some instances the issue I referred to is not necessarily confined to PS CS6 in El Cap.  It is certainly very frustrating, and I think I will install Sierra on one of my Mavericks clones and see what happens with that OS and PS CS6.  Also, I did skip Yosemite and upgraded from Mavericks to El Cap, so perhaps I should try Yosemite.  That would at least get me one step up as far as the OS is concerned, and if PS CS6 works well in Yosemite I'll stay with it for a while.  The fact that the "Open" dialog in PS CS6 on El Cap is the only issue I have encountered is also rather annoying, but I cannot work with that annoyance.  If nothing else works I suppose I'll be jumping to the cloud.

Gary