P: Save As PNG format deletes all metadata

[David Badke]

Photoshop 2020 (21.0.1) I posted this problem on the Adobe Support Community forum on Nov 8, with no resolution (original post). I also emailed Adobe Care but after one irrelevant response they are ignoring me. So I am trying the same post here.

Original post:

My Photoshop workflow is: Add metadata as a sidecar file to the NEF raw file (using ACDSee); open NEF file in Photoshop camera raw; do some edits; open image; save as PSD; do whatever to the image in Photoshop; Save As .png format for Web use. In Photoshop 2019 this retained all metadata and saved it in the .png file. In Photoshop 2020 this deletes all metadata - EXIF, IPTC, GPS data, camera data, everything except the Photoshop-specific tags. Doing the same but saving as JPEG retains all of the the metadata.

When I installed the 2020 update I retained the Photoshop preferences, but removed the 2019 version.

In Photoshop 2020 all of the metadata is visible in File -> File Info, and is saved in the .psd files (i.e. visible to external programs like ACDSee). I can also export the XMP file from File Info and all the data is there. It's just saving as .png that loses the metadata. Export (both Quick Export and Export As) as .png also loses the data.

This makes Photoshop 2020 useless for me, since I don't want to save as JPEG. I have re-installed Photoshop 2019, and it works as it should.

What is going on here??? Is there some setting I need to change in Photoshop 2020 to get it to save metadata in .png files? Or is this another bug?

Note: Windows 10 (latest), Photoshop 21.0.1 update.

David

[J453]

Are you saving the PNG by selecting File > Export > Save for Web? File > Export > Export As...? or File > Save As > PNG?

[David Badke]

I am using File > Save As > PNG, though Export As and Quick Export do the same thing (as noted above). I never use Save for Web, and don't want to. Save as PNG kept the metadata in Photoshop 2019, so something is broken in 2020 (release 21.0.1, anyway).

[J453]

I haven't been able to reproduce this. I don't have ACDSee but opening a file with metadata, File > Save As... PNG retains the metadata. Can you send me a file with metadata from ACDSee?

[J453]

Nevermind. I think I have enough to go on.

[David Badke]

Just in case, here are four files:

http://badke.ca/temp/DBadke-PNG-Problem.zip

• DBadke-PSD-2019.psd - Saved in PS 2019 as PSD, EXIF OK
• DBadke-PNG-2019.png - Saved in PS 2019 as PNG, EXIF OK
• DBadke-PSD-2020.psd - Saved in PS 2020 as PSD, EXIF OK
• DBadke-PNG-2020.png - Saved in PS 2020 as PNG, EXIF is mostly gone

I notice in the DBadke-PNG-2020.png file, the EXIF software tag says "Adobe Photoshop CC 2019 (Windows)", even though the PSD it came from (DBadke-PSD-2020.psd) says "Adobe Photoshop 21.0 (Windows)".

[David Badke]

Latest Photoshop update (21.0.2) still has the problem.

[David Badke]

Can I get a progress report on this, please? Is it being worked on? Any estimate on when it will be fixed?

[David Badke]

I see Adobe Customer "Care" is still ignoring me... And I still can't use Photoshop 2020, for which I am paying a monthly fee. It can't be that hard to fix this - some programmer made a minor error somewhere in the PNG save code. The Photoshop 2019 code worked just fine, so a simple comparison of the two sets of code should show some obvious difference.

I have been waiting a month for this. How much longer will I need to wait?

[Earth Oliver]

just an FYI, but some of us have been waiting years, if not decades for bug fixes. Hopefully they fix your issue soon, but who knows what really caused it to break in the first place...

[J453]

It's being worked on.

[David Badke]

Not fixed with Photoshop 21.0.3 update (Adobe Photoshop Version: 21.0.3 20200115.r.91 2020/01/15: 21f283574f6 x64).

[PECourtejoie]

David, I understand your frustration... Even if the team had found the solution, they need to test it, to make sure that it does not create further issues.
In the mean time, are you using Bridge to copy the metadata from one file to the other?

[David Badke]

No, I am not using Bridge. I am using Photoshop 2019, which actually works. I won't be using Photoshop 2020 until this is fixed.

I am well aware of the need for testing - I used to be a computer programmer, so I know how our clan screw up. I am also aware that this is not a high-priority item for Adobe, though it should be a simple fix.

[J453]

This release is just for macOS hardening and the top windows crasher. There are a couple of forthcoming updates that will address more customer reported issues in the very near future.

[J453]

This should be fixed in the 21.1 update that went out last night.

[David Badke]

It is working as expected in 2020.1.0 release.

[RLBoston]

This is broken again in 25.6.0. No meta from the orginal photo means not using this format. 

[Stephen Marsh]

@RLBoston – I'm on an Intel Mac (Monterey 12.7.4) running Ps 2024 (25.6.0) and all metadata is retained when using Save As to PNG.