Running Photoshop CS5 in 64-bit mode is a great way to get maximum performance. However, you may not have realized it’s likely the culprit for why some of your favorite plug-ins or filters no longer work.

The good news is there’s an easy fix: run Photoshop CS5 in 32-bit mode like you always have.

How? That’s easy as well.

If you’re on a Mac:

1. Select the Adobe Photoshop CS5 application file, installed by default in the Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS5 folder.
2. Choose File > Get Info, and select Open in 32 Bit Mode.
3. Simply deselect this option to run Photoshop CS5 in 64-bit mode again.

If you’re in Windows:

1. Close Photoshop CS5.
2. Navigate to the Program Files (x86) > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop CS5 folder.
3. Double-click the Adobe Photoshop CS5.exe file.

Personal observation – I don’t see a huge increase in speed or performance in 64-bit mode on my Mac. I only have CS3 on my XP machine so I can’t comment on 64-bit on that platform. However, the big, obvious benefit in running in 64 is for very large files. I’ve found that even with PSD’s with layers numbering in the 100+ (which isn’t even that large for some of the work I do) I don’t see much of an improvement. Adjusting Photoshop’s disk usage yields more benefit to me than 64-bit. Plus, having all plug-ins and filters work is a nice plus, too.