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---
title: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Portable
date: 2026-10-22 22:06
updated: 2026-10-23 19:22
status: published
type: post
tags: [Graphics and Pictures]
image: /~daemondevin/portableapps/uploads/2026/10/photoshop-d93089.png
---

Adobe Photoshop CS3 Portable

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A portable launcher for Adobe Photoshop CS3, built with the [PortableApps Compiler][PACMAN] (PAC-MAN). Every change it makes to Windows is recorded first and undone when Photoshop closes, or on the next launch if something went wrong.

The package doesn't include or handle Photoshop's licensing: use it with a copy of Photoshop CS3 you're licensed to run.

 [PACMAN]: https://github.com/daemondevin/pac-man

## System Requirements

* Windows, 32-bit or 64-bit. Photoshop CS3 is a 32-bit application.
* Administrator rights for the launcher. Photoshop itself runs with your normal rights (see [Drag and drop](#drag-and-drop)).
* `Data` on a local drive (a USB drive is fine; a network share isn't). See [Data](#data).
* [PortableApps.com Platform](https://portableapps.com/download) (optional).

## Download

[Direct Link](https://github.com/daemondevin/PortableApps/releases/download/1.0/PhotoshopPortable_CS3_English.paf.exe)

## Drag and drop

Windows doesn't let Explorer, or any other program running with normal rights, drag files into a program that runs as administrator. So a launcher that runs Photoshop elevated also breaks drag and drop.

The launcher still needs administrator rights, for the shared files in Common Files and the language setting in the machine-wide registry. But once it has set those up, it starts Photoshop the way Explorer would: with the rights of the signed-in user, using Explorer's own credentials. Drag and drop from Explorer, the desktop and other programs then works as it does with an installed Photoshop.

* A second launch while Photoshop runs (opening a file from the PortableApps.com Platform, for example) isn't elevated at all, so there's no UAC prompt. It hands its files to the running Photoshop.
* If the launcher was elevated with a different account's password (a standard user typing an administrator's password), Photoshop has to run as that administrator, and drag and drop from your own Explorer can't work. Signing in with an account that is an administrator avoids that.

## Configuration

`PhotoshopPortable.ini`, next to the launcher, holds the user settings. If it gets damaged, or you want to go back to the defaults, copy `Other\Source\PhotoshopPortable.ini` over it.

```INI
[PhotoshopPortable]
AdditionalParameters=
DisableSplashScreen=false
RunLocally=false
ProductLanguage=en_us
```

| Key | Default | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `ProductLanguage` | `en_us` | The language Adobe's shared code is told Photoshop runs in, written the way Adobe writes it (`en_us`, `de_de`, `fr_fr` and so on). It has to be a language the Photoshop in the package has. |
| `AdditionalParameters` | empty | Extra command line switches passed to Photoshop. |
| `DisableSplashScreen` | `false` | Don't show the launcher's splash screen. |
| `RunLocally` | `false` | Copy Photoshop to the `TEMP` folder and run it from there, for read-only media. Changes made in that session aren't saved back. |

## Data

While Photoshop runs, these are linked into `Data` with NTFS junctions, so nothing is copied back and forth:

| Photoshop uses | Kept in |
| --- | --- |
| `%APPDATA%\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3` (settings, presets, actions) | `Data\AppData\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3` |
| `%APPDATA%\Adobe\Color` | `Data\AppData\Adobe\Color` |
| `%APPDATA%\Adobe\Save For Web` | `Data\AppData\Adobe\Save For Web` |
| `%APPDATA%\Adobe\Adobe PDF` | `Data\AppData\Adobe\Adobe PDF` |
| `%APPDATA%\Adobe\Workflow` | `Data\AppData\Adobe\Workflow` |
| `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Adobe\Color` | `Data\LocalAppData\Adobe\Color` |
| `Common Files\Adobe\Adobe PCD`, `caps` and `backup` | `Data\CommonFiles\Adobe\...` |

`Common Files` is the 32-bit one (`Program Files (x86)\Common Files` on 64-bit Windows), which is where Photoshop CS3 looks. A folder that `Data` doesn't have yet is filled from `App\DefaultData` first.

Photoshop's registry settings (`HKCU\Software\Adobe\Photoshop` and `HKCU\Software\Adobe\IAC`) are kept in `Data\settings\HKCU.reg` and `IAC.reg`. They're loaded when Photoshop starts and saved when it closes.

If an installed Adobe application already has any of these, it's moved aside for the session and put back when Photoshop Portable closes. Close installed Adobe applications before starting Photoshop Portable, so they don't run without their files in the meantime.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Junctions can only point to a local drive. Running from a network share isn't supported.

## Registry

Photoshop CS3's machine-wide keys (its file types, scripting classes, interfaces and type libraries, and `HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Photoshop`) are recorded before Photoshop starts. A key that didn't exist is deleted when Photoshop closes; one that did (from an installed Photoshop) is put back exactly as it was. The list is `[PhotoshopRegistry]` in `App\AppInfo\Launcher\PhotoshopPortable.ini`.

The product language (`HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\DefaultLanguage`) is set the same way, for the session only.

## If something goes wrong

If Photoshop Portable didn't close properly (a crash, a power cut, a USB drive pulled out), the next launch tells you and undoes everything the last session changed before it starts again. Registry settings changed in the session that crashed aren't saved.

When reporting a problem, please include an export of the `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\pac-man\Journal` registry key and the contents of `%LOCALAPPDATA%\pac-man\Journal`.

## Building from source

The launcher is built with the [PortableApps Compiler][PACMAN]. Its configuration lives in `App\AppInfo`:

| File | Contents |
| --- | --- |
| `App\AppInfo\appinfo.ini` | Package details, version and file types |
| `App\AppInfo\Launcher\PhotoshopPortable.ini` | The launcher configuration: the data links and the registry keys to journal |
| `App\AppInfo\Launcher\custom.nsh` | Starting Photoshop without elevation, the portable registry settings and the product language |

## Credits

* Adobe Photoshop is developed by Adobe Systems, Inc.
* [PortableApps.com Platform](https://portableapps.com/download) by [PortableApps.com](https://portableapps.com/).
* [PortableApps Compiler][PACMAN] developed by daemon.devin.