When you encounter a “Could Not Complete Your Request Because of a Program Error” error message in Adobe Photoshop, it’s usually caused by one or more corrupted Photoshop preference files or incompatible system hardware.
To fix the error, you need to delete the preference files and then relaunch Photoshop.
Here’s how to do it:
Step #1: Quit Photoshop and download updates for the latest bug fixes.
Before anything else, make sure that your graphics processor and system meet the requirements to use Adobe PS.
When Photoshop’s high requirements are placed on a computer that can’t handle them, unexpected problems can occur. If your computer doesn’t have a powerful graphics card, Photoshop will run slowly, crash, or show an error. The same thing can occur if the other conditions are not satisfied.
Step #2: Go to the Adobe Photoshop CC folder in your Documents folder. For example: Mac HD/Users/[user]/Documents/Adobe Photoshop CC
Step #3: Rename the Adobe Photoshop CC Settings file to OldAdobe Photoshop CC Settings. For example: Mac HD/Users/[user]/Documents/Adobe Photoshop CC/Old Adobe Photoshop CC Settings
Step #4: Rename the Adobe Sharpen Settings, if present, to OldAdobe Sharpen Settings. For example: Mac HD/Users/[user]/Documents/Adobe Photoshop CC/Old_Adobe Sharpen Settings
Step #5: Rename the [color profile], if present, to [color profile]old. For example: [color profile]_old.icm] or [color profile].prf. (Note: If you don’t see a color profile file, skip this step.)
Step #6: Start Photoshop.
Alternative Ways of Fixing
Disabling the Generator
Turning off the generator plugin in the preferences window is another way of fixing the problem. A few users have reported that this has resolved the problem for them. Here’s a step by step instructions on how to do it:
1. Find the ‘Edit’ option and choose ‘Preferences’.
2. Go to ‘Plug-ins’ and uncheck the ‘Enable Generator’ box found at the top.
3. Click the ‘OK’ button at the top right and see if it does resolve the issue. Keep in mind that all these changes will reflect when you restart your Adobe Photoshop.
Thus, to ensure that it will be applied, quit the program first and open it again before checking for fixes.
Resetting the Photoshop Preferences
For Mac
1. Go to ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CSx Settings/ directory.
2. Drag CS6 Prefs.psp file to Desktop and relaunch Adobe PS.
For Windows
1. Open the ‘Run’ dialogue box by pressing Windows Key + R.
2. Type %AppData% ‘and press Enter to gain access to the AppData directory.
3. Once you’re in, go to the Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CSx/Adobe Photoshop Settings/ directory.
4. Lastly, move both Adobe Photoshop CS6 Prefs.psp and Adobe Photoshop CS6 X64 Prefs.psp by dragging both files to the Desktop window.
Disabling Graphics Processor
Although disabling Hardware acceleration for Photoshop may cause Photoshop to run and render images more slowly, it has been reported by the vast majority of users to resolve this issue.
1. On the same ‘Preferences’ window, look for the ‘Performance’.
2. In the Graphics Processor Settings, uncheck ‘Use graphic processor’.
3. Similar to the last step above, since changes would not be applied without exiting the program first, you need to restart Adobe PS to know if it fixes the error.
Note: If you still see the “Could Not Complete Your Request Because of a Program Error” error message, try resetting your preferences. If that doesn’t work, try uninstalling and then reinstalling Photoshop.
Attention: Those still using Photoshop versions from the early 2000s
You probably won’t find much support for Photoshop versions CS6 and earlier. Adobe discontinued support for Photoshop CS6 in 2016. Since Photoshop CS6 is only 32 bits in size, it is incompatible with the 64-bit architecture of later versions of macOS (beginning with Catalina).
However, some macOS Mojave users have been successful in installing and maintaining Photoshop CS6 on their machines, so it is possible.
Conclusion
“Photoshop could not complete your request because of a program error” is a puzzling error, but the solutions provided in the post will help you fix it. If this mistake bothers you, select a solution from the options provided. However, you should rule out the obvious causes before moving on. If the problem persists, the best thing to do is to contact customer support and ask for help.
