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K
KLMyers
Known Participant
October 15, 2018
Answered

How do I stop my Photoshop files from opening as thumbnails? Can't edit normal files.

  • October 15, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 3599 views

See pics.

I was editing a cover template and must have pushed (keyboard shortcut) one of the hundreds of dreaded buried Photoshop settings. Can't figure out what I did, or how to recover, and my online searches have been fruitless.

All PSD files,when opened, now present a thumbnail of the target file (1st picture) which cannot be edited. If I use my mouse to drag on the associated background tab, the whole image appears while I drag it (2nd picture) but as soon as I release the mouse, it vanishes.

What should happen, of course, is that the full file appears for edit (2nd image), not the thumbnail that's embedded in it.

Alas, the term "thumbnail" in Photoshop online help searches refers to the image of a file in the layer panel, not this situation. Even getting the right "term" to describe the problem correctly would help.

I've tried resetting all defaults & parameters, but it hasn't helped. (Startup with <ctr><shift><alt>).

I'm in version CS5, but I doubt that matters.

Thanks for any suggestions! It's gotta be something trivial, but I can't find it.

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer c.pfaffenbichler

1) How do I post screenshots directly?

3) How do I disable the tabbed view and/or the Application Frame? (I only use a small percentage of the Photoshop functionality).

Not sure if it was the same in CS5 but try turning off

Photoshop > Preferences > Appearance > Open Documents as Tabs

Photoshop > Preferences > Appearance > Enable Floating Document Window Docking

and restarting Photoshop.

Please also try turning off

Photoshop > Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor

and restarting Photoshop.

4) Yes, I did try the startup with <ctrl><alt><shift>. No difference. It did display the dialog about preferences reset.

What is your OS?

You may have upgraded beyond Photoshop CS5’s capabilities …

Older versions of Photoshop system requirements

1 reply

c.pfaffenbichler
Community Expert
c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 15, 2018

Could you please post screenshots on this Forum directly in the future?

How exactly do you open the images?

Have you tried disabling the tabbed view and the Application Frame yet?

(Startup with <ctr><shift><alt>)

Did you get the dialog to confirm the preferences-reset?

K
KLMyersAuthor
Known Participant
October 15, 2018

1) How do I post screenshots directly?

2) I either open the image by starting with the PSD file and using Open With Photoshop (Windows), or by opening Photoshop and doing an Open File on the PSD file. Same issue, and it is the same for all my PSD files (it's environmental, not file-specific).

3) How do I disable the tabbed view and/or the Application Frame? (I only use a small percentage of the Photoshop functionality).

4) Yes, I did try the startup with <ctrl><alt><shift>. No difference. It did display the dialog about preferences reset.

Thanks....

K
KLMyersAuthor
Known Participant
October 15, 2018

I am also getting UI funkiness...

A) The dropdown for "Screen mode" or "window float, etc." on the top menu show overlays, as if two instances were projecting (one for each version of the file?)

B) If I drag the left toolbar to the right experimentally, I can then see BOTH versions (duplication). Using menu Windows/Tools only turns off the new duplicate, not the original.

I did reboot the system altogether -- makes no difference.

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