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Participant
Aug 22, 2022 11:07 PM UTC
Answered

Getting this message: this document does not appear to be a valid psd file fresco

Hi, I'm using Fresco on iPad, all of a sudden I can't do anything on it. I decide to restart iPad. Then I can't open my file (in which I have spent all day working on it!) It tells me:

 

"this document does not appear to be a valid psd file fresco" I was in Fresco though. I wasn't trying to open it in Photoshop. 

 

Help? Thanks

 

 

 

demiladeo63374475Correct answer
Participant
Dec 1, 2023 5:54 PM UTC

I almost cried when that happened to me but I made a duplicate and was able to open it. Phew! Try that.

19 replies

Participating Frequently
Oct 24, 2026 5:13 AM UTC

bro this just happened to me im trying everything and it still wont work. If anyone has a solution pls lmk.

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Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
Oct 26, 2026 5:16 PM UTC

Hello ​@motivated_Moonlight6993 

 

I’m sorry to hear you’re having similar trouble with your files in Fresco. Would you mind trying to duplicate the file from the Adobe Files portal (https://www.adobe.com/files) and then opening it in Fresco to see if it helps?

Alternatively, try downloading the file from the portal above and then importing it in Fresco and share your observations.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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Participant
Sep 25, 2026 8:10 PM UTC

The same thing is happening to me, except for some reason the duplicate file thing is unavailable, so I can’t even use that to continue to work 🫠

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Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
Sep 30, 2026 2:51 PM UTC

Hello ​@chelsea_0512 

 

I’m sorry to hear you’re having similar trouble with your files. Would you mind trying to duplicate the file from the Adobe Files portal (https://www.adobe.com/files) and then opening it in Fresco to see if it helps?

Alternatively, try downloading the file from the portal above and then importing it in Fresco and share your observations.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Anubhav

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Participant
Aug 20, 2026 2:23 PM UTC

This duplicate file isn’t working either and is having the same problem 

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Participant
Oct 27, 2025 8:51 PM UTC

I've had this same issue three times now. I would do the duplicate file and deal with whatever was left from the last auto save.  I have lost so much time spent and work to this problem. For the last week I have been working on a certain project for my niece. I had already had to duplicate and repeat parts of the drawing twice already. I started hitting save after every little section.


UNTIL...While working on a larger area, I hadn't hit save yet. This is where I put a lot of my trust into auto save. As I'm finishing up last little details and shading for this larger landscape area, I get the freeze of doom. I closed and reopened fresco only to once again get the "The document does not appear to be a valid PSD file" warning. As I'm about to hit duplicate, I notice the drawing is missing not only the large area I had just spent a good amount of time on but also a few smaller parts from before. 

Hoping it was just a glitch, I checked version history again. ALMOST AND HOUR AND A HALF of work was gone. I was so upset, discouraged, angry, and unmotivated after that. Today I decided to move on to another drawing I wanted to do. This time my anxiety of losing my work was so high that I was almost hitting save after every single stroke. Of course it happened again although I was fortunate enough today that I had only lost a little bit of work.

 

I have used Adobe Fresco for years but I have had it up to here 🙋🏽‍♂ with this issue. It needs addressed immediately.

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Participant
Dec 1, 2024 2:01 PM UTC

I made a duplicate of the file and was able to access it again, but the huge problem is that lots of progress is gone. Having auto save is nice and all, but it isn't so reliable. Sorry to be so upset about it, but my wrist hurts from drawing so much and losing half of my progress. 😞

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Participating Frequently
Sep 23, 2024 12:10 PM UTC

I've had the same problem several times and Adobe did come to my rescue, sort of. They haven't solved the issue but I did learn what to do when it happens. If you click on the three little beside the file you can no longer open, a menu comes up. The last item on the menu is View Version History. If you click on it it takes you to a list of the last saved versions. If you click on an earlier one, you may have lost some of your work, but not much. This seems to work. But keep in mind that Fresco only stores the older versions for a period of time. So you have to open and save the older version sooner than later.

So it's not a fix, but a work around. Nicola

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Participant
Nov 7, 2023 4:42 AM UTC

Hi, I am facing the same issue. What can be done? 

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demiladeo63374475Correct answer
Participant
Dec 1, 2023 5:54 PM UTC

I almost cried when that happened to me but I made a duplicate and was able to open it. Phew! Try that.

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Participant
Mar 8, 2024 8:08 PM UTC

This works! 

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Participant
Aug 22, 2022 11:16 PM UTC

Nevermind, for some reason it started working again

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Anubhav M
Community Manager
Community Manager
Aug 23, 2022 1:46 PM UTC

Hello jenniferr93014318,

 

Glad to hear that the problem was solved. Feel free to reach out if you need further assistance in the future. We'd be happy to help.

 

Thanks,

Anubhav

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Participating Frequently
Jul 13, 2023 3:57 PM UTC

I'm having exactly the same problem on my ipad but it is not working. I can open the file in photoshop, but not fresco. I've opened this file dozens of times in the past. It is not new. Help

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