TechNote

Photoshop CS3 or Photoshop Elements 6 crashes when you open more than one image (Windows)

Issue

When you open more than one image in Adobe Photoshop CS3 or Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 on Windows, the program closes unexpectedly. There may be no error message, or you may see one of these errors or a similar error:

"Adobe Photoshop has encountered an error and needs to close."
"Adobe Photoshop Elements has stopped working."
"Could not complete your request because of a program error."
"An unhandled win32 exception occurred in Photoshop.exe."

Reason

This issue occurs when Photoshop or Photoshop Elements is unable to communicate with the printer that is set as the Windows default printer.

You may encounter this issue if the default printer is not available or if its drivers are damaged, out-of-date, or incompatible with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

If you use a network printer, conflicting permissions or other issues with your network connection may also cause this issue.

Solution

Do one or more of the following solutions:

Solution 1: Verify that the default printer is available.

To identify the default printer:

Choose Start > Control Panel > Printers And Faxes (Windows XP) or Start > Control Panel > Printers (Windows Vista).
If you see a printer icon with a green check mark, then that printer is the default printer. If there is no default printer, go to Solution 3.

Verify that the default printer is turned on and correctly connected to your computer or your network.

If you are using a network printer, then also verify that you are connected to your network and, if necessary, logged into the printer or your network printer management software.

For assistance with these tasks, see the printer's documentation or contact its manufacturer, or contact your system administrator.

Solution 2: Update the printer drivers.

To obtain the most recent version of the drivers for your printer, contact the printer manufacturer or go to the manufacturer's support web site.

Installing updated printer drivers is especially important on Windows Vista systems.

Solution 3: Change the default printer.

Choose Start > Control Panel > Printers and Faxes (Windows XP) or Start > Control Panel > Printers (Windows Vista).
Right-click on the icon for a printer that is connected to your computer locally (not via a network), or right-click on the icon for a document printer, such as Adobe PDF or the Microsoft XPS Document Writer. If no local printer or document printer is available, see the note below.
In the contextual menu, select Set As Default Printer.

View an Adobe Captivate demo of this procedure.

Once you have changed the default printer, open Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and open multiple images. If the crash does not recur, then update the drivers for the printer that was previously set as the default (see Solution 2), or troubleshoot your network connection if your previous default printer was a network printer.

If no new drivers are available for your previous default printer, or if updating its drivers does not resolve the issue, then leave the Windows default printer set to a different printer (a local or document printer). Then, when you wish to print to the other printer from Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, select that printer in the Print dialog box.

Note: If no local printer or document printer is available in the Control Panel, then you can install a dummy local printer. Windows allows you to install a printer that isn't a physical piece of hardware.

To install a dummy printer in Windows XP:

Choose Start > Control Panel > Printers And Faxes.
Click Next in the Add Printer Wizard, and select Local Printer Attached To This Computer. Deselect Automatically Detect And Install My Plug And Play Printer. Click Next.
Select Use The Following Port, and choose any of the LPT ports in the pop-up menu. Click Next.
Choose an HP LaserJet PS printer from the list, such as the HP LaserJet 8150 Series PS printer. Click Next.
When you confirm the printer, make sure Yes is selected for Do You Want To Use This Printer As The Default Printer?. Click Next.
Select Do Not Share This Printer. Click Next.
Click No when asked Do You Want To Print A Test Page?. Click Next.
Click Finish. Close the Control Panel.

View an Adobe Captivate demo of this procedure.

To install a dummy printer in Windows Vista:

Choose Start > Control Panel > Printers.
Choose Add a Printer > Add a Local Printer.
Select Use An Existing Port, and choose any of the LPT ports in the pop-up menu.
Choose an HP LaserJet PS printer from the list, such as the HP LaserJet 4050 Series PS printer.
When you confirm the printer, make sure Set As The Default Printer is checked.
Click Finish. Close the Control Panel.

View an Adobe Captivate demo of this procedure.

Adobe Captivate demos of selected procedures

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below illustrates how to change the default printer. For more information about viewing this demo, see "Viewing Adobe Captivate Demos in Knowledgebase Documents" (TechNote kb403894).

Return to Solution 3

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below illustrates how to install a dummy printer. For more information about viewing this demo, see "Viewing Adobe Captivate Demos in Knowledgebase Documents" (TechNote kb403894).

Return to Solution 3