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11

Overwrite a jpg create a copy instead

Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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I have just updated to PS 2020 after long time with PS CC 2018. I'm on macOS Catalina. 
I have a problem in overwriting files: when I try to save an image that already exists, Photoshop asks me if I want to overwrite the file. 

Even if I confirm, it always decides to save a "namefile_copy.jpg" of it, so I find myself with two files and I have to manually erase the old one and rename the new one without the "copy", is there something to prevent the creation of a new file? I want to overwrite my existing jpg.
Thank you! 

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Feb 15, 2021 Feb 15, 2021

Hi there. I found/created a fast workaround that works perfectly for me and probably for everyone else.

I used the actions-panel to solve this problem, because there is an underestimated backdoor:
The moment you create a new action (BEFORE you start recording it), you can set a keyboard-shortcut for the action.

 

So what ever you will record will be "launched" by simply using the given shortcut.

I recorded the following:
• "create new document from current state" in the history panel

• then: Layer-> Fl

...

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LEGEND ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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I've checked and they said it works flattening the image, but it's a step further. If photoshop asks if I really want to replace a file, it should replace it without creating a copy.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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If You have added a layer and did not then  flatted if you use save Photoshop will switch to save as  to give you the opportunity to save your layers. If you select file type jpeg and click save Photoshop will see that the file exist and ask if you want to replace the file I believe.  Before using save flatten the layered document I believe then when you the use save photoshop will overwrite the jpeg file that you opened into Photoshop.

 

Note: I use windows operation may be different on a Mac.

JJMack

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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Yes, that's what I do: I don't flatten my layers - save as - jpg and I have the message "file already exists. Do you want to replace it?"
I click replace but instead of replacing it, photoshop save a copy "namefile_copy.jpg" 
I will try to flatten the image but it should work even with layers, I guess (or it should not ask if I want to replace my file then) 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 05, 2020 Feb 05, 2020

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As I wrote I use windows when I reply to overwrit  Photoshop overwites the Jpg file  it does not create a new file FileName_copy.jpg

JJMack

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 22, 2020 Mar 22, 2020

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Hey glossyjuice, I've been having the same problem. It seems to be a Photoshop/Catalina glitch. I found this workaround for JPGs, PNGs, SVGs, and GIF files: 

 

File > Export > Export As will actually overwrite the file in question, not create a copy like the glitchy Save As command. It's more time consuming, but maybe not as time consuming as having to navigate to the saved file, deleting the old one, and renaming the copy. Hope this helps! 

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 04, 2021 Feb 04, 2021

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This solution doesn't work if there are spaces in the file name. Export tends to replace a space with an underscore, so the file name may not always be exactly the same as the file you selected to overwrite. I did try this method, and that's how I discovered the problem. With critical deadlines and files that need to remain exactly the same, it will still require deleting the old file and changing file names.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 22, 2020 Apr 22, 2020

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This has been a huge headache for me. I've been working on a series of very similar Google ads with two versions of each ad and there have been a lot of changes. Not being able to overwrite the file each time has added a ton of time and annoyance. I will try thunderboltmanhattan's solution, but Please fix this Adobe!

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New Here ,
Oct 29, 2020 Oct 29, 2020

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Can i know if this have been solve? I also need to know how to overwrite existing jpeg file instead of creating a copy of it.. Please guide me if there is a solution for this issue. Thank you.

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 04, 2020 Nov 04, 2020

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OMG This is doing my head in! I have the same issue and its drving me bananans! 

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New Here ,
Nov 22, 2020 Nov 22, 2020

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Jeez. Your post ist from February. It's End of November and I still have the same issue. Adobe, fix this!

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 13, 2020 Dec 13, 2020

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At first I was just dumbfounded into believing I did something wrong, but after carefully reading what photoshops aske me and confirming that indeed(!) I want to replace the existing file it still creates a copy. And now I also discover that almost one entire year has passes since this has been reported. 

 

Fix it, please! For me it is very important to have this kind of funcionality, can't bother myself to retype file names or fix things, dyslexia can be quite a problem in this cases. And this is where I rely on computers, to do the precise thing instead of me. I mean, might as well use pen and paper to write.

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 14, 2020 Dec 14, 2020

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Still having the same problem, it's crazy that no one is taking care of this

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New Here ,
Dec 28, 2020 Dec 28, 2020

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Just checking in to say it still hasn't been fixed, same as you guys, it's been driving me nuts for more than a year. Come on Adobe folks please do something 😞

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Community Beginner ,
Dec 28, 2020 Dec 28, 2020

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It's almost a yea since I've opened this issue 😞 

What I'm doing now, if that can help someone, is asking PS to save my file and from the saving window I directly delete the old file, that way I can save it with the same name and PS doesn't ask me to replace (as it doesn't exist anymore)

But yeah, if PS asks me if I want to REPLACE the file and I, indeed, confirm that I want to REPLACE it, it should replace it, not create a copy -_- 

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Community Beginner ,
Jan 19, 2021 Jan 19, 2021

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Experiencing the same thing and getting extremely frustrated with the annual updates and all their issues. While everyone's 'helpful' suggestions are good if you're doing 1 image at a time, they are not practical for a PSD with a back of 150 images where you are updating 30 bio photos, or text titles and need to overwrite the existing files EXACTLY as named to replace them on a Web site. Flattening the PSD each time is time consuming and risks the chance of destroying a Master PSD file. There's also the time loss of either using history to restore the layers back or reopening the original file. That's just not a practical solution for daily batch operations, when it worked flawlessly in past versions.

In another forum, a Tech Support 'Expert' offered a suggestion of going into the computer and changing the

'Library > Application Support > Adobe' permission settings to the main user. I tried it and that didn't work either.

So I've wasted now 2 hours reading and researching how to fix a problem that I never created.

 

I was certified to teach Photoshop back in CS6 and early CC, but with all these changes, I can't keep up and personally, I don't see the need.  I'm getting increasingly frustrated with something like this not being tested before release. To me, this is a critical flaw in the application, not a bug. During my business day, I don't have those few extra seconds per file to rig something up to make it function. Seconds become minutes and hours of lost time on projects that are now taking longer, not due to complexity, but due to an inferior product.

We should be telling them to fix the issue, not working around it. It's why we're now paying a subscription fee. They OWE it to the end user to fix their product.

 

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New Here ,
Jan 31, 2021 Jan 31, 2021

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Very fustrating bug. You can overwrite the file with 'copy' in the filename but you can't overwrite on the first attempt.

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Community Expert ,
Jan 31, 2021 Jan 31, 2021

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Have you tried the sequence menu Layer>Flatten Image menu File>Save that seems to work on Windows. If you don't flatten Photoshop will switch to Save As to give you a chance to save your layer in a PSD file. If you switch the file type to jpeg Photoshop will add copy the the document name. or check the dialog as copy option.

Capture.jpg

JJMack

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 01, 2021 Feb 01, 2021

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True that this method works for a single PSD file, but it's not practical when most of the PSDs I'm needing to save out with the EXACT SAME NAME are part of a huge layered file with multiple stages for a Web site to do a batch replace. 

There are 2 problems with this method: 1)—You run the risk of destroying the overwriting and destroying the layered master file in the process. 2)—It takes a lot more time for larger files to flatten and restore using the history palette, which means everything takes longer so for business professionals, we're losing money.

 

 PLEASE STOP CALLING IT A BUG. IT'S A MAJOR APPLICATION FLAW that needs to be fixed.
Adobe Engineers have been aware of the problem since before CC2020 released and they should never have released CC2021 without repairing it. We're paying the subscription for an applicaiton that should do everything that previous versions did with extra benefits. 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 01, 2021 Feb 01, 2021

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I do not understand what you are witting.  If you open a PSD in Photoshop and makes changes menu File>Save should save over the opened PSD file and not add Copy. That is how Photoshop works on my Windows PC. 

 

A Batch Process could  overwrite file if programed to do so. In my opinion that would not be a good practice for if there is a problem in a batch process all you files could be destroyed. Overwriting  source files in a batch process is a bad idea.  You should delay deleting the source files to after you confirm that batch process worked correctly.  Adobe Batch  Processing  may add Copy it the output file exists.  If the Batch Process opens a PSD File and Saves Jpeg Files if the output jpeg file exist.  Other Scripted Batched process like Image Processor or Image Processor Pro they will always save a new files so the will they will not overwrite files they insure  the output save files have a unique name.  File Names will have a suffix sequence number added so you will have version if you process image files and save updated versions of the image files into location  of  the original image file.  If you do not want  versions  suffix save output files to a different location the the source location.

 

Adding  copy is not a bug. Adobe programmed that feature into Photoshop. Most likely to help use from accidentally destroying their assets.

 

If You are saving the Jpegs from Layered Documents and you do not want to flatten and you don't want the Copy Added. Before the Batch run delete the existing Jpeg File that you want the Batch process to save.  If the files do not existe  I do not think Adobe will add the Copy to the Save AS Jpeg file names. The Image Processors will also will not add  version suffix if the jpeg file do not existe.

 

JJMack

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 01, 2021 Feb 01, 2021

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Adding  copy is not a bug. Adobe programmed that feature into Photoshop. Most likely to help use from accidentally destroying their assets.

If I work a PSD and I save as -> jpg I should be able to write a jpg without having to flat the image.
There is a warning window
"filename.jpg already exists. Do you want to replace it?

A file or folder with the same name already exists in the folder. Replacing it will overwrite its current contents."

If I confirm that I want, indeed, replace the file, photoshop SHOULD replace the file. 
So no, it's not a photoshop "feature". 

 

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Community Expert ,
Feb 01, 2021 Feb 01, 2021

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You do not have to flatten the current layer document to save a Jpeg file.  The Saving Process will save a flatten image into the  jpeg file.  However,  in the save as dialog you set some file name in some folder to save.  If a jpeg file with that name exists in the folder Save As will interactivity ask if you want to overwrite the existing file.  A batch process does not use user interaction for that stops processing so Adobe batch process simply add copy to the file name it does not overwrite existing files. You need to delete any existing jpeg file you want the batch process to replace without Copy before you run the batch process. 

 

A Save As in a action that would overwrite a file would most likely save a File Name Copy not overwrite.

JJMack

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New Here ,
Feb 11, 2021 Feb 11, 2021

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Clearly not everyone works in Windows PC. Most designers and UX professionals don't because it's an inferior system for graphics. So, please, stop saying you work in Windows PC because it's irrelevant to the problem. 

 

I'm having the EXACT same problem and it's a year after the first post. If a user selects "Replace" then the system should do exactly that and REPLACE it. The system shouldn't second guess my direction or motivation. Therefore it should do exactly as I requested.

Now because of this "feature" (the oldest joke in the book for a bug) I have duplicate files for no reason. When you're creating dozens of files and updating them quickly, you shouldn't have to flatten them, or rewrite the name, or do anything to OVERRIDE the system. The system should follow the user not the other way.
around. 

As users we all know what we want and we want it to behave as previous versions of PSD did and overwrite the original file, thus REPLACING IT. Just like we asked it to. Why ask us if we want to replace it if it's going to ignore us? 

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Community Beginner ,
Oct 01, 2021 Oct 01, 2021

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For this reason, I have been writhing in pain for two years.

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