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

[KLMyers]

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.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

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?

[KLMyers]

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....

[KLMyers]

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.

[c.pfaffenbichler · Accepted solution]

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

[KLMyers]

Thanks for your help!

Re: preferences, I was already in these two modes:

==>Photoshop > Preferences > Appearance > Open Documents as Tabs

==>Photoshop > Preferences > Appearance > Enable Floating Document Window Docking

But this was enabled:

==>Photoshop > Preferences > Performance > Use Graphics Processor (Mode:Basic)

When I turned it off, the display issue re: the "thumbnail" overlying the main display tab vanished. (Hurray!). There was still a hint of a graphics display problem with the text in this dropdown, but the main problem is fixed.

It is the case that I have seen other issues with other products (particularly Firefox) that seem to be related to the video card. (2-yr old Lenovo ThinkPad laptop running a comes-with Nvidia card: Quadro M1000M/PCIe/SSE2. I never touched the video arrangement in this laptop, but I did add memory and maybe I disturbed something.)

Re: the supported OS, PS CS5 claims to support Win 10, and indeed I've seen nothing to make me doubt that.

----

Now I have a decision to make... I am an occasional PS and Lightroom user. Both my products are now several years old (6-9-ish) and have transitioned from Win 7 to Win 10. If I move to the CC versions, it'll cost me close to $300/yr. (If I only move PS, I'll surely need to move LR eventually.) If I were more than occasional, I'd move both of them as a cost of doing business. As it is...

The absence of support for PS CS5 from Adobe (even if I paid for it) is... disturbing.  I am very grateful for your attention to my post, and to your success in pinpointing the probable root cause, but it might not have worked out that way, too, and I'd be left hanging. (And there's still the hint in the embedded image of a residual issue.)

So I'm toying with biting the bullet and moving to the CC model for PS & LR (I downloaded the PS CC version on trial yesterday).

My question to you, if you're comfortable replying, is how vulnerable am I becoming if I still try to milk more functionality out of my (significant) investment in the standalone versions vs moving on? Is there a presumption of always-current, as well as support, that makes it worthwhile?  I'm not really concerned with improved functionality -- what I have now is really quite sufficient for my uses. (PS CS5 had a feature I needed, or I'd still be in CS3.)

But I can't control things like evolving OSs or (possibly problematic) graphic cards, and (presumably) the CC model and its support should be dealing with that. Can you advise?

Again, thanks VERY MUCH.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Unfortunately turning off GU usage is no proper solution as it invalidates GPU dependent features (like the Rotate View Tool and some Filter acceleration for example) but it indicates problems with the GPU driver or the OS.

Again unfortunately: the GPU driver may need an update or a downgrade …

As for CC:

The photography plan (including PS and Lightroom) used to be 10$ a month, so the cost may be slightly lower than you feared.

Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan | Professional photo editing software

If you decide to stick with Photoshop CS5 you should make sure to be able to roll back any and all software and hardware updates in case they »break« the set-up. Ultimately it may prove too impractical to stick with it in the long run …

Personally I consider Adobe’s switch to the exclusive Cloud License model regrettable but depending on the nature and amount of work you do with Photoshop you could also consider alternatives (freeware like Gimp or a bought license for Affinity Photo for example).