The lack of Adobe creative software on Linux is an oft-mentioned drawback by those who would use Linux full-time, but can’t wean themselves off a software that forms part of their professional or creative workflow.
You can already run Photoshop on Linux through Wine if you are willing to faff about.
Old versions like Photoshop CS6 work well on Linux, while newer Creative Cloud versions can be made to work – with a catch: you install Photoshop on Windows (e.g., a virtual machine) and then copy the files to your Linux Wine prefix.
Being able to run the official installer to install Adobe Creative Cloud directly on Linux would be less hassle.
But the installer has not worked since Adobe made changes in 2018, adding code that relies on an embedded Internet Explorer (IE) that Wine doesn’t support.
Until now.
Photoshop CC Wine Patches
A set of patches have been submitted to Wine that enable the Adobe Creative Cloud installer to run on Linux and complete an installation of Photoshop 2021 and 2025. It’s a change that may unlock more choices for creative types considering Linux.
The “fixes” from a developer called PhialsBasement got a little over my head, but per a Reddit thread (via Neowin) it seems some JavaScript and XML tweaks were needed to get Adobe’s looser and IE-friendly XML data to work with stricter Linux XML parsers like libxml2.
By way of some creative thinking, a bit of trial and error and a pinch of vibe-coding (it is 2026, after all) the result are patches that makes one of the biggest ‘requests’ from Linux users (Photoshop) a smaller obstacle to overcome.
Installing is only the start…
Being able to successfully install the latest Photoshop on Linux and having it perform well in demanding day-to-day creative workflows are two different tasks. Some versions of Photoshop have long been able to run on Linux, but not perform well.
Anecdotally, those who’ve have tested this patch report mixed results.
Adobe Photoshop 2021 is described as working ‘buttery smooth’ by the developer of the patch, but others’ success with Adobe Photoshop 2025 is less pain-free.
Either way, that they can be installed directly, without requiring access to a Windows machine, is a commendable feat.
Can I try this?
As exciting as this news is, keep in mind that these patches have one recently been submitted upstream. They are not yet included in Wine. If you want to test them out you will need to compile Wine from source with the patches applied.
You can download source code with the ‘extra spice’ from a GitHub repo setup by the patch author.
Who needs Adobe anyway? Some do
The idea of buying a Creative Cloud subscription to use Photoshop on Linux will not appeal to all but the most committed creative. For the rest, a flurry of fuss-free FOSS alternatives to Photoshop exist, including the likes of GIMP, Krita and Pinta.
Plus, plenty of other free (as in beer) options like the web-based Photoshop clone Photopea and the latest Canva Affinity suite, which works on Linux under WINE.
Arguably, the list of reasons you can’t switch to Linux grows ever shorter, and with reams of capable hardware out there cast adrift by Microsoft ending support for Windows 10, efforts such as this help keep PCs, users and any paid-for subscriptions going a while longer.