Can I install my Adobe inDesign CS5 on the new iMac

Ian,

The Affinity v2 applications are currently $69.99 each for macOS. No subscription, and can import/export Photoshop and Illustrator file formats. Don't let the price deceive you about the extensive features of these applications.

Each of the three applications has a free full-feature trial. They are also available in the Mac App Store for automatic updates.

Ian Butterfield wrote:

Allergic? Offensive thank you. Being a 1 parent Daddy and the huge hike in bills, I simply can't afford to pay for Adobe.

The intent was not to cause offense.

When Adobe switched from a one-time purchase model to a subscription model, I saw post after post after post, on another forum oriented towards photography, by photographers who were extremely upset over the change, and often swore that they would not pay the subscription fee.

These were people who might have paid $600 for a one-time-purchase version of Photoshop or $150 for a one-time-purchase version of Lightroom, complaining about Photography Plans that, at that time, started at $10 per month for access to Photoshop + Lightroom Classic. (Adobe has since gotten rid of the $10/month plan that included Photoshop access.)

It seems to me that in many cases, their objections were based on more than "I don't have the money."

Cs5 and cs6 use 32-bit code in their installers - they won’t complete on 64bit only OS hardware

thats probably the hardest brick wall you are hitting trying to install cs6 on any macOS over Mojave 10.14x

but perpetual license photoshop cs6 does indeed install, update correctly and run well on Mojave in a professional environment, huge layered documents, RAW DNG CMYK 16bit…every tool I’ve tried through 2019 hardware

one point, I recall, you would had to have downloaded the installers and updaters before adobe deleted them from their public servers years ago

not sure about cs5

ok I see you were talking about installing INDESIGN CS5 on a new Mac (2020-2025) -- i don't see how that would be possible either as KiltedTim pointed out

InDesign CS6 installs and updates on Mojave 10.14 -- but is not reliable for me on 2017-2019 hardware -- I am able to use it for some simple stuff

Ian Butterfield wrote:

Also, can my very trusty old Mac Pro connect to the new iMac to 'use' the monitor part?

Target Display Mode went away when the first 27" 5K Retina iMac came out in Late 2014 – and never came back. You cannot use a 24" M4 iMac as a hardware monitor for any other device, including a Mac Pro.

See the bad news here: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

A 24" M4 iMac would be able to act as an AirPlay Receiver for AirPlay to Mac. However, even if your old Mac Pro could use a 24" M4 iMac as an AirPlay display, I doubt if you would find the results satisfactory. The connection would probably be limited to 1920x1080 resolution, with the possibility of lags and artifacts being thrown in. So spending money on a 24" M4 iMac just to use it as an AirPlay display, while leaving the computer part "unused", would likely leave you very, very unhappy. If your goal was to keep using the old Mac Pro, but with an upgraded monitor, you would be much better off purchasing a standalone monitor that was compatible with the Mac Pro.

Reference: Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices - Apple Support

You can get all of the Affinity app as free demos for 7 days at this link: Affinity Free Trial | 7-Days, No ObligationAffinityhttps://affinity.serif.com › en-us › trial

I've been using Photoshop/Photoshop Elements for over 25 years. so I know the layout very well. GIMP can do about all of what Photoshop can but its GUI is different and will take some time learning the curve.

It's the same with MS Office apps. There are expensive and they try to get you into their subscription service. I went with the open source, free LibreOffice. It can open edit and save MS Office documents in MS Office formats or its own format. And the price is right.

No. You're going to have to subscribe or find an alternative. CS5 is like 15 years old now.

gimp that was linked too is a free program

if you don't wish to rent software from adobe then you can try and begin to learn to use that instead

No. Sorry. That won't work on an Apple silicone base Mac.

Affinity is the answer.

If you are allergic to Adobe's subscription (rental) model, you might want to see if the Affinity applications (Photo, Designer, Publisher) would work for you. An Affinity V2 Universal License that gives you access to all three of the applications, on all three platforms (macOS, Windows, iPad), is $165 – sometimes less, when they have sales.

Affinity

For photo editing, there is also the free GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP).

GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

Ian Butterfield wrote:

Also, can my very trusty old Mac Pro connect to the new iMac to 'use' the monitor part?

No.

Target Display mode was deprecated long ago. There is no video input port on a new Mac.

Ian Butterfield wrote:

After a little research, some chap has come up with this:-

https://ansonliu.com/2021/10/keep-using-adobe-cs-on-a-newer-mac/

Would that suffice?

That won't work.

All of the versions of macOS from Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) through macOS 10.15 (Catalina) are Intel-only. Apple Silicon Macs use a different type of machine code, based on the ARM instruction set. Thus you can't run any of those old versions of macOS in virtual machines on Apple Silicon Macs.

I don't know if anyone has found a way to run those old versions of macOS in emulation – but I'm pretty sure that there are currently no emulators that work well enough to be anywhere close to suitable for real work.