A Noob Friendly Guide for installing Photoshop 2021 on BazziteOS using Lutris

submitted by cm0002 to linux 10 points | 2 comments

OC write up by @dannymon@lemmy.dbzer0.com

To be completely frank, i created this guide for myself using an LLM, by using this guide that i found on reddit as a starting point. It was completely indecipherable to a new bazziteOS user like myself, but the guide worked! I am posting it here hoping it will be just as helpful for someone else :D

1. Install the basic tools

You need three main things: Lutris, ProtonUp-Qt, and some Proton-GE builds.

1.1 Enable Flatpak (usually already enabled on Bazzite)

Open a terminal and run:

flatpak remotes

If you see flathub in the list, you’re good. If not:

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

1.2 Install Lutris and ProtonUp-Qt

flatpak install flathub net.lutris.Lutris
flatpak install flathub net.davidotek.pupgui2

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2. Install GE-Proton and a vanilla Wine via ProtonUp-Qt

1. Open ProtonUp-Qt (look for “ProtonUp-Qt” in your app menu).
2. At the top, there’s a “Target” selector:
   • Set it to “Lutris”.
3. Click “Add version” :
   • For GE-Proton:
     • Type: GE-Proton
     • Pick a recent version (e.g. GE-Proton9-XX or similar).
   • For Wine (vanilla):
     • Type: Wine-GE or Lutris-Wine or similar “vanilla-ish” Wine build. (You just need a normal 64‑bit Wine version, not Proton, to create the prefix.)

When done, ProtonUp-Qt will have installed:

• One vanilla Wine build for prefix creation.
• One GE-Proton build for running Photoshop.

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3. Get the patched Wine from the guide (OP’s tar.gz)

From the guide you quoted, there’s a patched Wine tar.gz file. Do this:

1. Download that wine-…tar.gz file into your Downloads folder.
2. Right-click → Extract Here (or use your file manager’s extract option).
3. You should end up with a folder that contains something like bin/wine inside. Note the full path to that folder (for example: /home/yourname/Downloads/wine-op-patched/).

We’ll point Lutris to that later.

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4. Prepare a folder for the Photoshop prefix

This is where your “fake Windows C: drive” will live.

1. Create a folder, for example:

mkdir -p ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix

Remember this path: ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix.

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5. Create a new Lutris entry for Photoshop

1. Open Lutris.
2. Click the “+” button → “Add locally installed game”.
3. In the Game info tab:
   • Name: Adobe Photoshop 2021
   • Runner: choose Wine.
4. Click Save once to create it, then right-click the new entry → Configure.

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6. Step 1 in the guide: create a 64‑bit prefix with vanilla Wine

In the Configure window for Photoshop:

6.1 Runner options

Go to the “Runner options” tab:

• Wine version: Choose the vanilla Wine you installed via ProtonUp-Qt (it will appear in the list, often with a name like wine-ge-… or lutris-fshack-…—pick the one that is not GE-Proton if you installed both).
• Enable DXVK/VKD3D/etc: leave defaults for now.

6.2 Game options

Go to the “Game options” tab:

• Executable: Point this to your Photoshop 2021 installer (e.g. /home/yourname/Downloads/Photoshop2021/setup.exe).
• Wine prefix: Set this to the folder you created: ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix

6.3 Make sure the prefix is 64‑bit

Lutris usually creates 64‑bit prefixes by default, but to be explicit:

1. Go to the “System options” tab.
2. In Environment variables , add:
   • Key: WINEARCH
   • Value: win64

Click Save.

6.4 Initialize the prefix

Now, with vanilla Wine selected:

1. In Lutris, right-click Adobe Photoshop 2021 → Wine console (or Run EXE inside wine prefix if available).
2. If there’s an option like “Run EXE inside wine prefix” , choose something harmless (or just run the game once). The goal: let Wine create the prefix at ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix.

If it asks to install Mono or Gecko , accept.

Once that’s done, the 64‑bit prefix is initialized.

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7. Step 2: switch to OP’s patched Wine for the actual install

Now we follow the “Wine for creating prefix → patched Wine for install” part.

1. Right-click Adobe Photoshop 2021 in Lutris → Configure.

2. Go to “Runner options”.

3. For Wine version , choose “Custom” (or similar wording).

4. There should be a field like “Custom Wine executable” or “Use system/custom Wine” :

   • Point it to the wine binary inside the patched tar.gz folder, e.g.:

/home/yourname/Downloads/wine-op-patched/bin/wine 5. Make sure Wine prefix in Game options is still: ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix.

1. Make sure Executable is still your Photoshop installer.

Click Save.

Now run the game entry in Lutris (double-click it). This should launch the Photoshop 2021 installer using the patched Wine.

• Go through the installer like on Windows.
• Install into the default path (usually C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2021).

When the installer finishes, close it.

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8. Step 3: switch to GE-Proton to run Photoshop

Now we follow the last part: “GE-Proton for running the app”.

1. Right-click Adobe Photoshop 2021 → Configure.

2. Game options :

   • Change Executable from the installer to the actual Photoshop EXE inside the prefix, something like:

     /home/yourname/Games/photoshop2021-prefix/drive_c/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 2021/Photoshop.exe
     

3. Runner options :

   • Wine version: choose the GE-Proton build you installed via ProtonUp-Qt (e.g. GE-Proton9-XX).

4. Keep Wine prefix as ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix.

Click Save.

Now double-click Adobe Photoshop 2021 in Lutris. If everything went right, Photoshop should start.

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9. Quality-of-life tweaks (optional but helpful)

• Fonts & UI issues: If text looks weird, you can install corefonts and other components via Winetricks (Lutris → right-click game → Winetricks).
• Performance: In Runner options , you can enable DXVK , Esync , Fsync if they aren’t already.

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10. If something breaks

Because you’re new to Linux, a few tips if it doesn’t work:

• If the prefix gets messed up, you can:
  • Close Lutris.
  • Delete ~/Games/photoshop2021-prefix.
  • Recreate it and repeat from Step 6.
• When asking for help online, mention:
  • Distro: BazziteOS (Fedora-based)
  • Runner: Lutris
  • Wine version: which vanilla Wine, which patched Wine, which GE-Proton version
  • Any error messages from Lutris logs.