How To Use Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, etc for FREE on MAC

By Suraj Chaudhary

If you are a creator, want to be a creator, or are simply interested in learning things and creating things. You may be into photography, filmmaking, design, etc.

While you are any of those and have a mac, Adobe apps like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe XD, and several others are a must. But truth be told, Adobe apps are EXPENSIVE!

I too am a broke high school student who wants to create and build stuff but lives in a country where making international payments is not really viable or possible. I had the same problem; I do want to support the developers but even if I could, I wouldn’t be able to, for I can’t pay for Adobe Apps.

So after some research, I found a way around it. I found a way to use apps like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, etc absolutely for free on mac.

So can you use Adobe apps for free on mac? Yes, you can use Adobe apps for free on mac. You can do so by using patcher apps like Adobe Zii.

In the rest of this article, I’ll share with you exactly how you can use Adobe apps like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, etc absolutely for free on mac in detail. I’ll share every single step with you so that you can do it easily.

You may ask “Is Lightroom free on mac?” While it is not free by default, there are ways to use Lightroom for mac for free.

This is the easiest method to get apps such as Photoshop and Lightroom for Mac for free.

NOTE: You need to install Adobe Creative Cloud and X-Code prior to installing these apps.

Installing the Adobe Zii Patcher

The first step of using Adobe apps for free is to get the Adobe Zii Patcher.

Step 1: Go to this link to download Adobe Zii 6.1.7. We are using the 2021 version because it works with most Adobe Apps.

Did you know you could Windows 11 for FREE on a mac?

Canva Pro for FREE too!!

Also the Microsoft Office apps for FREE!🤯

Step 2: Enter the captcha to be able to download the file.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 6.41.26 AM

Step 3: Click on the file to download it.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 6.43.24 AM

Step 4: Open the file you downloaded. Use tntzii.com as the password to unzip the file.

Step 5: Open the unzipped folder and run the .dmg installer.

Step 5: Double click on the Adobe Zii 2021 6.1.7 icon on the left.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.21.57 AM

Step 6: If you get the below-shown error, only then follow steps 7, and 8.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.24.03 AM

Step 7: Open System Preferences and click on Security & Privacy.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.25.51 AM

Step 8: Click on Open Anyway.

Step 9: Click on Open again.

Step 10: Now you should see this on your screen.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.29.46 AM

Getting the Adobe App Installer (Previous issue solved)

NOTE: If you don’t already have X-Code and Creative Cloud installed, install them.

Step 1: Open your terminal and paste this code.

git clone https://github.com/Drovosek01/adobe-packager

Step 2: Close your terminal.

Installing The Adobe Apps You Need

Step 1: Open Finder and go to documents.

Step 2: Press Option()+Command()+P to show the path bar.

Step 3: Click on your user name on the path bar.

step3gettingccdl

Step 4: Open the adobe-packager folder.

step4openadobepackager

Step 5: You will see a file named ccdl.command. Open it.

Screen Shot 2022 06 23 at 7.35.50 AM

Step 6: When asked “Do you want to make M1 native packages (Y/n): “, enter n and press enter.

Step 7: Wait until you have the below-given list on your terminal.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.10.00 AM

Step 8: Enter the code of the app you want to install. For example PHSP for Photoshop, LTRM for Lightroom Classic, PPRO for Premiere Pro, and so on. Press enter.

Step 9: Make sure you check which apps this patcher can patch. Here’s a list of all the apps AdobeZii 6.1.7 can patch:

NOTE: Make sure to do these two things before installing the apps:
1. Log in to Creative Cloud
2. Open X Code and install the packages it asks to install.

  • Acrobat DC v20.012.20048 – 21.005.20058
  • After Effects 2021 v18.0 – 18.4.1
  • Animate 2021 v21.0.0 – 21.0.8
  • Audition 2021 v14.0 – 14.4
  • Bridge 2021 v11.0.0 – 11.1.1
  • Character Animator 2021 v4.0 – 4.4
  • Dimension v3.4.0 – 3.4.3
  • Dreamweaver 2021 v21.0.0 – 21.1
  • Illustrator 2021 v25.0.0 – 25.2.3 (25.2.3 will work the best)
  • InCopy 2021 v16.0.0 – 16.4
  • InDesign 2021 v16.0.0 – 16.4
  • InDesign Server 2021 v16.2.1
  • Lightroom Classic v10.0 – 10.2 (If the newer versions don’t work, try 9.4)
  • Media Encoder 2021 v15.0 – 15.4.1
  • Photoshop 2021 v22.0.0 – 22.5
  • Prelude 2021 v10.0 – 10.1
  • Premiere Pro 2021 v15.0 – 15.4.1
  • Premiere Rush v1.5.34 – 1.5.62
  • Substance 3D Designer v11.2 – 11.2.1
  • Substance 3D Painter v7.2 – 7.2.2
  • Substance 3D Sampler v3.0 – 3.0.1
  • Substance 3D Stager v1.0 – 1.0.1
  • XD v34.0.12 – 42.1.22
  • Photoshop Elements 2021 – 2021.2
  • Premiere Elements 2021 – 2021.1

Step 10: Enter the version of the app you want from the given list. For example, if you wanted to install Lightroom Classic, enter 10.1 to install Lightroom Classic version 10.1.

Step 11: Wait for the installation to be complete.

Patching the Installed Apps

Step 1: Go to Applications.

Step 2: Double click on the Adobe app that you installed and want to patch.

Step 3: Open the app you installed and start the trial and close it again.

Step 4: Drag and drop the file on the PATCH OR DRAG box of Adobe Zii Patcher.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.37.17 AM

Step 5: Click on OK and enter your password to give root permission that it needs to patch the app.

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.36.11 AM

Step 6: Wait till you see ‘COMPLETED.’

Screen Shot 2022 04 30 at 7.36.32 AM

Step 7: That’s it! No more steps. You have your preferred Adobe app installed and that too entirely for free. Enjoy!!


If you have any confusion, feel free to drop a comment down below. In the meantime, you can read these articles.

Also Read

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  5. How To Use Microsoft Office Apps For FREE (even offline)
  6. How To Read Wall Street Journal, NY Times, etc For FREE
  7. Best Websites To Watch Movies Online For FREE
  8. How to use Spotify for FREE

Suraj Chaudhary is a writer, developer, founder, and a constant learner. He shares lessons and resources for living a fuller life every week. On this blog, he shares helpful guides and helpful articles that help his 70,000+ monthly readers find answers, solve problems, and meet their curious needs.

176 thoughts on “How To Use Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, etc for FREE on MAC”

  1. Hi, can you help me, please?
    I accidentally exit from the ccdl.command after i inserted the abbreviations for the apps and now, everytime i came back, after i type “n” it says process completed and it doesnt show again all the apps and versions i have to write

    Reply
  2. Hi Suraj,
    I’m having problems right at the beginning with the password. It’s not recognizing adobezii.com as the right password for expanding the downloaded zip. Using Archive utility.

    Reply
  3. Hello Suraj,

    Did you change the password of the zip file ? adobezii.com is not working for me it keeps asking me the password 🙁

    Reply
  4. Hi Suraj,
    The link to download Adobe Zii Patcher is not working.
    Please help, I want to download After Effects.
    I am waiting for your response.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  5. I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?

    Reply

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