CS3/CS5 File Associations OS X

Hi all,
I have had to install InDesign CS5 on 4 of our Macs here for iPad development, but these 4 Macs will still be using CS3 for normal everyday magazine publishing. We can't upgrade the rest of the team to CS5 until next year so they have to continue to use CS3 until then.
The problem is after installing CS5 you cannot change the file association for .indd files back to CS3, when you try it just reverts back to CS5 instantly. Is there a way around this, as by force of habit the users with CS5 are going to double click on files and have it open in CS5 and before they realise have modified or saved the file in a format that isn't backwards compatible.
Is there a way around this problem? I have set the file associations back to CS3 within Bridge but that will only work for files being opened within Bridge itself.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Chris

Our Soxy works around this issue too. When I am in the process of testing scripts, I often have CS3, CS4 and CS5 running concurrently - and thanks to Soxy, double-clicked files .indd still always open in the correct app, unlike the Mac standard behaviour to try and open the .indd file in whatever InDesign version you happen to have running.
Cheers,
Kris

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Bridge CS5 file associations not correct...

When I try to open an office 2007 document, the default application is set to Thunderbird and when I try to edit it in the Edit>Preverences>File Type Associations, it isn't listed at all. My OS default applicaions for Office 2007 files are all correct, it's just Bridge that I have the problem. Any ideas?

The file properties are correctn and the files open in the oppropriate program when opened via double clicking in Explorer, it's only in Bridge that I have the problem. If I right click the file in Bridge, I have the choice of the correct application and then underneath, Thunderbird (default). So the option is there, it just won't let me make it the default. As seen below...

How to restore file associations in Bridge CS5?

Hi
Some time ago I somehow lost file associations in Adobe Bridge CS5. Now when I doubleclick a RAW file (Canon .CR2 file) I get Firefox, when I doubleclick a JPG I get FastStone and when I doubleclick a PSD file nothing happens at all. Also Photoshop is not in the options I get by right-clicking photos and choosing "Open with...".
I have tried [ Edit -> Preferences... -> File Type Associations -> Reset to Default Associations ] , but that didn't help.
Also when I look in the File Type Association dialog, my file types are set to "Explorer Settings", and Photoshop is not among the other options. I don't know how this uses to be (if associations are defined in Bridge or it uses Explorer/Windows settings?), but how do I easily recreate original setup from when I installed Photoshop?
Regards
Stig Nygaard
http://www.rockland.dk/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stignygaard/

Hi Neil
Thanks for the answer. I'm aware I can manually setup associations one-by-one for all file types I need, but just hoped there was some easier way. I mean there's a lot of file types associated in either windows/explorer or directly in Bridge. Some that I might not know I need tomorrow. Two things I have found out since I asked the question:
1) The problem is probably caused by uninstalling my old CS4 after I had installed CS5. It looks like somebody experienced a similar problem by uninstalling CS3 after the installation of CS4: http://forums.adobe.com/message/1899159#1899159. So apparently a bug Adobe hasn't fixed even though it was in previous version too!? :-( I think it is only natural to keep your old version installed for some time when installing an upgrade. Just to make sure the new version works well before you uninstall the previous (And I have previous had the problem that a new version of Photoshop had a habit of freezing on my PC - or some other error I don't remember - until Adobe released an update. So there's a reason for my behavior).
2) I have installed a second copy of CS5 now on my secondary portable PC, and are using this to make a similar setup regarding file associations in windows/explorer and Bridge. All associations for Photoshop was lost on my primary PC, and God... there's a lot of file associations to setup again... May I recommend Adobe (if reading this) to fix this bug and/or make a script to automatically recover all associations in case of loss!
/Stig

3gpp file association in Bridge CS5 Production Premium

Hello,
To make the issue really simple, I have a video camera on my phone that outputs video to a .3gpp file extension.
I am trying to associate Quicktime to open it as the default for Bridge.
The .3gpp or .3gp file extension is not listed in the file type association under preferences in Bridge.
Anyone know how I can set this up?
I do have the files associated with Quicktime outside of the Bridge interface, but whenever i double click the file in Bridge, it plays it in Windows Media Player. Windows media player will play the video portion, but does not play the sound, also i cannot preview the video in Bridge.
I am using windows 7 pro 64 bit.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi Neil
Thanks for the answer. I'm aware I can manually setup associations one-by-one for all file types I need, but just hoped there was some easier way. I mean there's a lot of file types associated in either windows/explorer or directly in Bridge. Some that I might not know I need tomorrow. Two things I have found out since I asked the question:
1) The problem is probably caused by uninstalling my old CS4 after I had installed CS5. It looks like somebody experienced a similar problem by uninstalling CS3 after the installation of CS4: http://forums.adobe.com/message/1899159#1899159. So apparently a bug Adobe hasn't fixed even though it was in previous version too!? :-( I think it is only natural to keep your old version installed for some time when installing an upgrade. Just to make sure the new version works well before you uninstall the previous (And I have previous had the problem that a new version of Photoshop had a habit of freezing on my PC - or some other error I don't remember - until Adobe released an update. So there's a reason for my behavior).
2) I have installed a second copy of CS5 now on my secondary portable PC, and are using this to make a similar setup regarding file associations in windows/explorer and Bridge. All associations for Photoshop was lost on my primary PC, and God... there's a lot of file associations to setup again... May I recommend Adobe (if reading this) to fix this bug and/or make a script to automatically recover all associations in case of loss!
/Stig

CS6 Beta Modifies CS4 & CS5 Bridge File Associations (W7 Pro 64Bit SP1)

Symptoms:
After installing CS6 including bridge CS6 onto a W7 pro 64Bit Machine with SP1.
The File associations in the existing copies of CS4 and CS5 bridge are updated to make the CS6 Beta the default programme for opening the majority of file types from either CS4 or CS5 bridge.
When right clicking ona file from CS4/5 bridge only the option of opening in CS6 is presented
Expected Bahaviour:
I expected that CS6 would be the default programme launched from CS6 bridge but that CS4/CS5 would remain the default programmes launched from their own versions of bridge.
Setting CS6 as the default file association in previous versions of bridge makes no sense at the Beta stage, as it interupts a clean migration back to existing workflow.
I would also question the value in not preserving the existing file associations in prior versions of bridge in the final CS6 release, as there are cases when it might be desirable to go back to a previous version of CS, in which case opening that version of bridge and launching directly into the prior versions of CS is very desirable.
Is there anyway to quickly restore the previous associations in CS4/CS5 bridge and be sure that they are exactly the same as prior to the CS6 beta install ?

Sorry for the noise. I misunderstood your depth of knowlege and what you had tried. I also committed the sin of not testing the procedure all the way through because I did not want to change the association on my computer. I get the same behavior.
Guess for .jpg
Registry shows for .jpg:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.jpg\UserCho ice Progid = Applications\Photoshop.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Applications\Photoshop.exe\shell\open\command (Default) = "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit)\Photoshop.exe" "%1"
UserChoice seems to be added when I made the association choice. Note that it points into Applications with a non-version specific Photoshop.exe. Within HKLM\....\Applications there is only one Photoshop.exe -- no version -- and that entry points to CS6.
I believe that explains why the browsed to association is CS6. It does not explain why it would be set up that way. Probably has something to do with Windows special handling of certain file extensions. Beyond my depth and tells me I am not going to find a solution.

CS5 & CS6 (Photoshop and Bridge) file association fix ?

My Win7 SP1 system is now runnging smoothly with Bridge CS5 properly invoking Photoshop PS5 and Bridge CS6 invoking Photoshop PS6. Simply changing the File type associations in Bridge CS5 did not seem to work. This was "solved" at 3AM last night while sipping a glass of Scotch - therefore it would be interesting if others would confirm my sleepy discovery:
1. CS6 assigns all standard graphics files to be associated with CS6 and thus causes Bridge CS5 to invoke Photoshop PS6. The objective is to have Bridge CS5 invoke PS5 at least for chosen file types. Ensure neither CS5 nor CS6 is invoked.
2. In the Win7 Start Menu search box, type "file association".
3. Select the "Change the file type associated with a file extension". This starts a window titled "Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program".
4. All of the graphic files are assocated with CS6. For those files you want to associate with Photoshop PS 5, click on the choses file extension (e.g. .cr2, .nef, .psd, etc) and click on the "Change Program" to associate the extension to Adobe Photoshop CS5. (note. this step seems to be a necessary operation since, when I simply modified the Bridge 5 file type associations, Bridge 5 did not honour the change).
5. Start Bridge CS5. Choose "Edit -> Preferences -> File Type Associations".
6. For each file type you wish opened in CS5, change the association from CS6: choose the "Browse" option and locate the CS5 version of Photoshop.exe". This is probably in Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64 Bit)/Photoshop.exe. I happen to choose .cr2, nef, and .psd. Click on OK to complete the association.
At this point, you can invoke Bridge 5 and it will properly invoke PS 5. If you invoke Bridge 6, it will invoke PS6. If you use file manager to invoke one of your selected file extension types, it will start Bridge PS 5. Other graphic files will start PS 6.
If you wish, you can go back and reassociate the chosen types to CS 6 - but your Bridge 5 will still invoke PS5 for your chosen extensions since the Bridge-assigned file associations takes priority over the windows default programme.

Great summary! I will amend the association FAQ

Photoshop CS5 has lost file associations

I recently installed both Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS5, deleting the CS4 versions after installation. I have lost file associations for all Photoshop-related files: eg jpg, tiff, gif and so forth, and the psd extension as vanished altogether. (That means that if you click on a .jpg file, it opens in a free MS utility like Paintshop rather than where you want it to go: in this instance, to Photoshop.)
I have taken the following measures, none of which have worked:
Manually altered the associations in Folder Options. I can browse to photoshop.exe, but nothing happens when I select it.
I have gone into the registry and deleted all associations under the relevant file types, eg .jpg etc. Restarting folder options replaces them exactly as they were, and I still cannot associate anything with Photoshop.
I have run Photoshop from the command prompt with the tag /regserver which ought to re-register it. Nothing happens. (If you want to try this, open the Start > Run box, browse to the .exe file and append (separated by a space) /regserver
I have changed and saved all file associations in the Bridge Options section. They are still there after I restart Bridge, but it has no effect on the overall file associations.
So that leaves me stuck. Both CS5 programs are registered in the program list, and both appear in the Start menu list of programs. Neither appear in the Folder Options list. I am running on XP Pro with today's (16 Sept 2010) MS updates. Can anyone help with this?

Solution
I have found how to fix this, for me at least and on an XP machine. Some users may find the procedure a bit unnerving. You should anyway back up your registry before making these changes.
Start > Run > regedit
Go to:
HKCurrentUser\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts
That will give you a long list of file extensions: ex .jpg, .png
Scroll down to and select the relevant ones, one by one. This is moderately laborious, but what follows is repeated exactly. (I found the .tiff extension was slightly different and left it alone. I never use tiffs so I don't know if it works unchanged.)
When you click on the + box for e.g. .jpg, two 'folders' open. These are
OpenWithList
This sets the list of potential programs to use for this extension, lettered a,b,c etc.The last entry in the 'folder' is MRUList which sets the priority order for these programs, eg if it has 'bcade' then program 'b' is first, 'c' is second etc. You can edit this order by clicking on it.)
OpenWithProgIds
This stores what kind of image this is. Under .jpg I found that I had 'jpefile' and something like Photoshop.9 (I don't recall exactly.) This refers to a very old version of Photoshop, certainly not the last one on this machine. All the other relevant image files had much the same terms associated with them. Some had four or five older Photoshop references: you can delete these entirely by right clicking on them. You then right click on the remaining Photoshop reference and alter it to read Photoshop.Image.12 Do not change the identity entry, e.g. the term 'jpefile', as mentioned above.
It is also worth navigating back up to
HKCurrentUser\Software\Adobe\Photoshop
I found that I had reference to five separate versions of Photoshop. You can delete all but (numerically below) the 12.0 folder.
Close regedit and reboot. You will find that Folder associations now recognise Photoshop as a valid program and assign it to the files that you have changed. I have not tried adding to the list in Explorer > Folder associations.
This is pretty shameful, frankly. Adobe's installation program should clean out all preceding registry entries when it de-installs a version. It should most certainly write Photoshop12 refereces when installing. This must be a pretty geenral problem.

Lost file associations (Not the old version issue) Win 7 & CS5

Something corrupted my installation of CS5 a month or so ago after it had been working correctly and I lost all the image file associations. Photoshop worked fine but only if I directly opened files from within. Also all the other image packages were missing from the file association list in the Windows 7 file associations tool, not just Photoshop. Using the Windows tool to find the programmes dot exe file and create an association also locked up at the select the right package phase.
I have fixed this now and my reason for posting is that several previously suggested fixes in both the MS Windows fora and elsewhere on these Adobe forums were either very complicated requiring direct registry editing or didn't work. It has taken me a while to find a work-around that worked, hence this post.
1) Firstly - as is stated elesewhere the obvious answer of simply reinstalling Photoshop over the existing copy doesn't work! Unfortunately it was a while before I found this out, with several time wasting retries of this as a fix attempt.
2) Not saying this is guaranteed to work in every case but I ran a 3rd party free Registry Cleaner tool, this appears to have fixed the bug in the registry allowing the Windows 7 File Associations tool to work properly again. Once that was fixed linking up each graphic type was simple.
Reason for posting is I wasted lots of time thinking the issue must have been a legacy from my earlier instal of a trial version of Master Suite or the older Photoshop 7 being replaced even though my CS5 edition had been working Ok for some time. because this is what is given as the usual cause. However I think in my case it was after loading and then deleting other graphics software, possibly Real Player, which had grabbed the associations and corruped registry settings somehow at uninstall. It appears registry cleaner restored the corruption and allowed the standard Win 7 tool to work again.
Hope this can help someone else.

First, let me say thanks to John for posting his experience here. I think that Adobe does a poor job of managing file associations, given that we do hear of a lot of folks who see them get fouled up due to doing normal things like uninstalling earlier versions.
I'd like to ask, though: Did you try using the Preferences - File Type Associations dialog in Bridge?
Curt Y wrote:
Not being a computer "geek" myself I personally can not say it is a bad thing to try
A comment on "registry cleaners" in general:
I am a career computer "geek", and yes, Curt's right: Registry cleaners in general are a terrible idea. There are a few that encompass some valuable functionality such as deletion of old files from TEMP folders, but that's something one can do on one's own as well.
It's simply impossible for the programmer of a piece of software to know what information can be safely deleted from YOUR file system or YOUR Windows registry, which is a database.
Nor is it necessary to "clean" a registry regularly, as some say, to keep a system working well. That's hype, propagated by the registry cleaner makers. I use a system every day that's on the same installation of Windows 7 that first went in at the end of 2009. It's stable and fast as ever. I've even done several hardware upgrades and restored the same OS setup using system image backups just to keep the same fully configured, perfectly working system.
Ever hear people claim they have to reinstall Windows every so often? One of the reasons could well be that they've used a registry cleaner.
-Noel

No file association for ID CS3

I have a fairly new Windows XP box and have configured my Adobe the same way as on my last computer: Full CS3 Design Premium installation, plus ID CS2 (for compatibility reasons). All of my .indd files are associated with ID CS2. Okay, I guess it must be because I installed CS2 2nd.
No problem. I just went into Windows Explorer to change the file association to ID CS3. But ID CS3 is not listed in the program list. So I browsed to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CS3\InDesign.exe and clicked okay. But the association does not change. The icon and program association remain ID CS2. One last tidbit: In Windows Explorer, if I right-click an .indd file to "open with", the only program available is ID CS2.
All the above applies to Bridge as well as Windows Explorer.
I have to open my .indd files by starting ID CS3 and opening from w/in the program or by dragging a file to the open program window. If I'm in Bridge and I forget and double-click on a file, it loads ID CS2 and then tells me I can't open the file.
I assume something happened in the Registry that shouldn't have (or didn't happen that should have), but I don't understand why Windows won't let me manually associate the file type.
Any ideas on how to help Windows find ID CS3 without reinstalling the program?
Thanks,
-David

>It worked for me but the solution was not an intuitive one. Seems like Adobe should work out this kink for future customers.
The fact that you had a problem suggests that it's your system, not Adobe that is the root cause. A successful and undamaged installation WILL create the proper file associations, and will even use the correct version icon for older files (in Windows, though, only one version of the application -- the last one installed -- will be associated with the open command from Explorer or Bridge).
Peter

How do I stop Illustrator CS3 from continually stealing file associations?

Since moving from CS2 to CS3 I've been plagued with a file association problem. Every time I run Illustrator CS3, it steals the file association for .FLT files (this didn't happen in CS2). .FLT files don't appear in the Bridge so I can't do anything about it there. Problem is that .FLT files have been around since 1990 and are used by a 3D modelling package. Now Illustrator keeps trampling the file association and I can't figure out how to stop it. The .FLT files I've used for the past two decades are NOT Illustrator filters.
Anyone got any bright ideas? At the moment I have a registry hack sitting on my desktop that I have to run each time I close Illustrator.
C.

Ok here's the solution to this.
It turns out that Illustrator deletes and resets the .flt file extension key and the Adobe.Illustrator.Filter key every time it is run. Removing registry permissions for system didn't work, neither did removing them for owner/creator.
It seems that the change happens as "me" - the person logged on. As I'm an administrator anyway, I was able to remove all rights for every user (including me) except administrators, and then change the administrator rights to allow everything except set and delete.
So the .flt file extension key is essentially locked down completely now, and the problem is solved. However as the owner of the key I can still get in and change the set/delete flags if I ever need to change it again.
Thanks to Harron for giving me the hint on the right way to pursue this.

SaveEPSOptions CS3/CS4/CS5 file size

I have a script which saves multiple files as EPS format, and everything works well under CS3 and CS5, but when run in CS4, the file size is about 3X the size of the other versions. (1.3M in CS4; 300-400k in CS3/CS5). Is this a known issue in CS4, or is there some way I can work around this (other than checking the application version and disallowing saving in CS4)? Below are the saveEPSOptions I am using:
var saveEPSOptions = new EPSSaveOptions
saveEPSOptions.cmykPostScript = true
saveEPSOptions.compatibility = Compatibility.ILLUSTRATOR12
saveEPSOptions.embedAllFonts = true
saveEPSOptions.includeDocumentThumbnails = true
saveEPSOptions.preview = EPSPreview.TRANSPARENTCOLORTIFF
saveEPSOptions.saveMultipleArtboards = false // Added for CS4/CS5

Mac running OSX
Background image "placed" into new document
Brush created with an image file of a sequin to make texture layers in order to create a beading pattern.
Don't know how to answer your last comment, only in terms of what I want it to do, which is to create an editable file that the layers can be changed, textures altered or added to the basic image background.
Shane Davis
[email protected]

TXT File Association is remove when Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 is remove.

For some reason when Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 is remove, .txt
file association is also remove; new text file is missing. Fix for
TXT File Association is available at Windows XP File Association
Fixes:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

For some reason when Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 is remove, .txt
file association is also remove; new text file is missing. Fix for
TXT File Association is available at Windows XP File Association
Fixes:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm

Can you convert a CS5 file to a CS3 file?

I cannot find the option to convert a CS5 file down to a CS3; do I need to keep a copy of CS3?

You need to do it in steps.
In CS5 you export to IDML. Then open in CS4. Then export to an interchange format file. Then open in CS3 and save.
So yes you need all three versions to get to a CS3 version document - and there you will have lost what is not supported in the 2 versions older application. Not a recommended workflow.

CS3 prproj files in CS5 ?

While extensively searching I see contrary information which puzzles me and makes me doubt if I could buy CS5.
1.
Could CS3 .prproj files ( ex XP 32 bit ) be opened in CS5, on a 64 bit i7 950 machine, without problems after having installed a new fresh CS5 ( no upgrade from CS3 to CS5 ) ?
Do I loose CS5 features while processing CS3 files in CS5 ?
And, most important, are the CS3 files ( opened in CS5 ) also prone to the Mercury video card acceleration while rendering into mpeg2 ( no avchd ) and playback those mpeg2 files =
Sorry if these are too basic questions, but I need help anyway which I was unable to trace anywhere else.
Thanks for any help.

Could CS3 .prproj files ( ex XP 32 bit ) be opened in CS5, on a 64 bit i7 950 machine
Yes.
without problems
Probably. Always backup your original project before proceeding.
after having installed a new fresh CS5 ( no upgrade from CS3 to CS5 ) ?
There is no such things as an "upgrade," per se. Each version is a standalone installation.
Do I loose CS5 features while processing CS3 files in CS5 ?
No. A CS3 project becomes a CS5 project on import/opening. You may lose some CS3 effects, but nothing in CS5 is unavailable.
And, most important, are the CS3 files ( opened in CS5 ) also prone to the Mercury video card acceleration while rendering into mpeg2 ( no avchd ) and playback those mpeg2 files =
Yes. Sort of. I think so. Mercury Playback Engine does not accelerate rendering, but instead accelerates certain effects. But I think the answer to your question (or the gist of it, anyway) is still "yes."

How to remove automatic file associations in Dreamweaver CS5?

When installing Dreamweaver, I chose to associate a broad array of file extensions with the program. I would like selectively remove some of these automatic file associations (e.g. .php). I have found this question posted several times, but never answered. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, John. The link you provided would help to change the automatic file association in Windows 7. I should have been more specific that my ultimate goal was to have .php files not automatically associated with any program (so that I could modify the file extensions of some .php files). I don't believe this could be achieved by changing the automatic association via the operating system (because you must select another program to automatically associate with a given file type). However, my particular problem is resolved because I discovered that I could just deselect "hide extensions for known file types" in the "view" tab of "folder and search options". This way I could change the .php extensions even though they were still automatically associated with dreamweaver. Although this may be an obvious solution to many, I thought I would share it here in case anyone else finds themself stuck in the same way.

CS3/CS5 File Associations OS X

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