Photoshop CS5 autosave feature?

[ac361]

Hi. Is there a way to set up Photoshop CS5 to periodically save my work? Thanks.

[Zeno Bokor]

Theoretically no as it's against the Adobe.com terms of use which you agreed to when you made your account. That said, i don't have a problem with it as long as it's on-topic and it's not done too often.

[LBroome]

No autosave? That's crazy. I'm crushed. I can get past not having flying cars and robot house keepers, but not having autosave is cruel, barbaric, inept. I do almost all of my writing in OneNote and Final Draft, apps that make it almost impossible to lose work. Software that protects creative labor against the dark evil of data loss is something to be admired.

[Guest]

How about making an action or a popup that comes on at a user-specified time interval which prompts to save or not? Simple and easy, and a good idea.

I have some friends who work in 3D animation who made an independant app that does that for the OS, pops up a dialogue that just says "SAVE!!!!" every 5 minutes.

Would be nice to have something like that that autolaunches w/ PS.

[Guest]

Found one!

http://ps-scripts.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1064

Someone with the same brilliant idea did an applescript that does just that for PS!!

Woohoo!

[Noel Carboni]

RadhaMadhava108 wrote:

applescript

And this helps how?  Keep in mind Windows users are reading this.

Honestly, I can't think of much more frustrating than to have Photoshop just stop and spend time saving my document while I'm trying to work interactively.  If an autosave could be made completely non-intrusive that would be one thing, but given that some larger/multi-layer documents can take quite a long time to save, I'd have to say a script solution would be impractical to live with.

-Noel

[Guest]

This is autosave program 'Photoshop autosave'

It's all Free and Portable. Autosave and Backup files. Support Photoshop,Painter,Manga Studio

It's free but you can buy me a beer ;->

supported(tested) Photoshop CS3/4/5 and Painter 9/11

https://sites.google.com/site/pautosave/home

[ac361]

Thanks, Elfpainter79. Just downloaded and running it after the latest Photoshop CS5 freeze. Lost an afternoon's worth of work. I got so caught up in my work forgot to save. What's puzzling is that there's no Save button anywhere on screen within Photoshop -- you have to go to File > Save. Why is there no save button? At least give us the option to add that.

[Guest]

Keyboard: Ctrl S   ...Often.

[Guest]

Hi,  I just lost about 2 hrs worth unfortunately because this box wasn't on a UPS...it is now.  I read this year long thread and am amazed Adobe hasn't solved this issue way back.  I am an old engineer using ACAD all the way back to 2.0.  I believe they started AutoSave in version 9 (Late 80's) and has been bullet proof since and minimally disruptive even on large files...considering the alternatives.  Your code jockey's may want to confer with them for tips especially with AI. 

Thanks for those above with the tips of 3rd party code to help with the issue.  I downloaded 2 of them and will give them a spin.  I have Production Premium CS4 and Design Premium CS5 on a dedicated XP Box and found Premiere to be painful in this issue...definitely got a solid habit of ^S with several large projects...this time my bad from the weather/power glitch and adding the UPS.  Adobe should fix this in my opinion...and give choice on big file save timing if necessary.

[Chris Cox]

Your code jockey's may want to confer with them for tips especially with AI.

Small changes to vector data are inherently easier (and faster) to save incrementally than image data.  You're talking kilobytes versus gigabytes of data.

[Guest]

Did you know Premiere has autosave already?

Auto-saving a relatively tiny Premiere project file that simply references external video files is very different than how Photoshop works. Premiere project files do not need to move the amount of data that is in a Photoshop project file.

[Noel Carboni]

I'm going to side with the folks who feel Adobe should add more sophistication re: saving files.  I realize the architecture may not suit doing this easily, but perhaps it's worth putting some extra effort into...  Even a LOT of extra effort.  It's software - it could be done with sufficient expenditure.

I hate to point out the obvious but...  Photoshop can clearly write gigabytes to the Scratch temp file without blocking user operations much.  It's rather a thin argument to say that it's impractical to write to the disk in the background, even when we're talking about large blocks of data.

I'd really like to see the following implemented...  I believe this would make Photoshop a more professional tool:

1.  A configurable background autosave process.  Off by default, those with computers more than capable of supporting large disk operations without affecting interactivity (or who are willing to take a performance hit for a little peace of mind) could enable it.

2.  A recovery process that will allow one to recover an image from a remnant Scratch temp file (invoked during the next Photoshop startup).

3.  Use of the Recycle Bin on Windows systems to hold files that are superseded via Save operations.  This covers the rare case where something goes wrong during save, leaving the user with no file at all.

Note that if we had #2, we might not need #1 quite so badly.

-Noel

[Guest]

Noel Carboni wrote:

I'm going to side with the folks who feel Adobe should add more sophistication re: saving files...

Which folks are saying that they should not? 

[Noel Carboni]

Let's just say the idea has been resisted on occasion.  Possibly not overtly in this thread, but Chris has implied writing gigabytes is of particular difficulty.

-Noel

[Chris Cox]

I'm all for a good implementation of auto-save.  I just don't want to be hassled by a bad implementation.

But some people seem to think that all this stuff is easy, just because we make it look easy in the end.

Just because the concept is simple, does not mean that a useful implementation is simple.

[the_wine_snob]

Chris,

If done to perfection, I would tend to agree. I have relied on a few Premiere Pro AutoSaves, but not THAT often.

I've been using PS from the first release for the PC. I have used the top-of-the-line computers for each iteration. However, an AutoSave, while I have an intricate Selection in progress would frustrate the heck out of me.

Going back to PS 3.0, I had the largest HDD of the day, 1GB. To work on a triple-truck ad, I had to first uninstall most programs, but PS. I could do one Save, and then had to take a break to archive that to tape (DLT was still a bit in the future, so it took 20 - 30 mins. to archve the Image), so that I could continue working and then do another Save, when the time came. Not a very quick workflow, but it worked, and was the best of that day.

Now, HDD's are giant, fast and cheap. Doing planned Saves, Save_As and Save_As_a_Copy, all work fine for me. I have lost 1 Image form PS over almost 2 decades, and that was a combo of an anomaly plus OE. Even with PrPro, with its AutoSave, I know to do a structured combo of Save, Save_As and Save_As_a_Copy. As mentioned above, in PrPro, one is only Saving a very small XML file, the PRPROJ file, and on a fast system, this takes only the blink of an eye. Even on one "opus" Project, with 9 hours of Video, they take maybe 5 sec.. During that process, however, one looses control of the GUI. If I am creating that mega Selection, and I hit an AutoSave, that looses THAT, I would be miffed.

I would assume that if implemented, even at the very best, there would be user control, as with PrPro, that would allow the "feature" to be toggled OFF. Even if it were perfect, I do not think that I would use it, or deviate from my normal PS workflow with utilitzation of the various Saves. I feel that too few users understand those, their similarities, their differences, and how to use them to one's advantage. If they did, they would not clamor for AutoSave.

Just my 02¢,

Hunt

[Xylinx]

It seems thsat the autosave feature is very much needed when projects take days to complete and overlooking something so elementary as File Save when creating the file.  I spent days on creating a montage of layers only to loose it during a Save For Web and Devices memory error in which hangs photoshop in a loop.  Then called support took 2 hours to get started becasue the phones kept dropping (20% unemployment and we still outsource our calls to India?  BAD Capiltolists!)  Once I got a good call I was able to get "No you cant recover from a temp file" that will be $39.00.

Tip to the developers

Try to find ways to help us save the file WHEN we create a new psd.  We are bad humans, with terrrible habits and are in need of your skills to better ours!

Tip to the coproration

Try and find ways to eliminate outsourcing unless you too want to move over there.  Maybe you can lobby congress into giving you tax breaks for doing so. Or maybe you can fix Indias phone / power problems

[Guest]

Xylinx wrote:

...(20% unemployment and we still outsource our calls to India?  BAD Capiltolists!)  Once I got a good call I was able to get "No you cant recover from a temp file" that will be $39.00.

(BAD spelllers!)  

Getting someone to pay $39 (for a question that can be more quickly and better answered here) seems like "good capitalists". 

I've used an autosave plugin in the past. It was too much of a nuisance. I'm assuming that Adobe's reluctance to incorporate such a feature may be due to liability. There are more things that can go wrong with an autosave (even as an optional feature) than without.

[sfxjhw2]

"I've used an autosave plugin in the past. It was too much of a nuisance."

I've used autosave in the past and it was  GODSEND.

"I'm assuming that Adobe's reluctance to incorporate such a feature may be due to liability. There are more things that can go wrong with an autosave (even as an optional feature) than without."

You know that EULA you 'sign' before you use PS.  This absolves them of liability of the responsibility of your work due to their product.  There are not issues of liability here. I'm happy to list of the hundreds of programs out there that have autosave and have dealt with these issues of 'libability' headon and some products where issues of importance and liability trump any feasible use of PS (e.g. AutoCad has autosave).  No, autosave isn't a no-brainer, there are logistical and artechitechual issues, but the point is that there is nothing prohibitive (esp. 'liability) which should prevent users from having the **OPTION***.

[Noel Carboni]

A business angle to explore:  Would an integrated "Autosave" feature sell more copies?

• Power users who run good hardware and don't have it crash much and have a workflow that already does some CYA probably wouldn't feel it was a "must have" feature.  I don't think it alone would drive me to upgrade (though I have other reasons I always buy the upgrades).
• New users who don't know Photoshop wouldn't really know they need autosave.  How do you advertise "we recover from crashes" without implying "we crash"?
• Maybe some casual users of current versions would feel it was a feature worth upgrading for.  Who knows how many this might be?  And don't forget that three or more users have to buy a Photoshop upgrade to make Adobe as much money as every one who buys it afresh.

Perhaps the next "gee whiz" feature (like Content Aware Fill was for CS5) may be more attractive to Adobe marketing than spending money to tidy up existing shortcomings.  After all, this cash cow is paying off nicely already.

-Noel

[Guest]

I agree Noel, the concept of ROI is always king in business.  I also agree about the golden calf.  They are obviously creating enough revenue to be able to create all these other ventures and revenue streams.  My experience has been that if you minimally support your bread and butter, it eventually comes back to bite.  I would think that this feature would bolster new sales, especially if they could get a simple training for novices that actually taught work flow.  The old die hards will upgrade for some juicy feature just because, but maybe not this one.

Maybe they are waiting to get in on their new Cloud so we don't have to worry about our personal crisis/crashes...but I fear the day that thousands crash at once because of bad code or a virus or heaven forbid a Hurricane or earthquake...regardless of redundancy.  Could make a 100k hrs all lost to the ethers...that would be some real work flow...of lost opportunities.

PJH

[Guest]

I was not referring to a legal liability.  A developer needs to determine if a feature has a beneficial impact on performance and on the required level of user support.  The previous posts in this discussion and years of similar autosave discussions that can be found on this Photoshop forum indicate a serious cost is involved with implementing autosave. There is a liability in cost.

[Guest]

Using the keyboard command/contol+S frequently is a very good habit to acquire.

It is short, sweet and reliable, and best of all.... under the operator's control and works with every program flawlessly.

Autosave would just be in the way with my workflow.

I do not even think about hitting Cmd/Cnt+S. It is like looking in the rearview mirror while driving.

Please excuse me for mentioning this, but you, the operator, are the most important part of the process.

All computers and programs hang, and with all due respect, it sounds like Adobe is being blamed for poor work habits.

[sfxjhw2]

I can't believe this is even up for discussion.

It would be an autosave OPTION.  let the user decide whether or not to save that 'gigabyte file' periodically, and they might (*gasp*) want to if the file is that important.   I came to this thread becasue I kicked my power cord and lost a days worth of work.  Would have been nice to have an autosave.  But the thing is there are MANY reasons why you would have an improper PS shutdown: computer error, power loss, windows crash, adobe crash..etc.   If you don't want to give the user the OPTION of enabling an autosave (yes even for that 1GB file) thats fine, but know that you are sitting back as people lose literally thousands of hours of work and productivity across the PS userbase, because, let's face it: when every program on your computer has some autosave feature (audacity, word, excel, pdf annotator, acrobat, etc..) you are NOT in the habit of saving every 10 seconds.  This seems so obvious to me, I don't know why there is such reluctance.

[the_wine_snob]

But the thing is there are MANY reasons why you would have an improper PS shutdown: computer error, power loss, windows crash, adobe crash..etc.

And this is exactly why most PS power-users have, long ago, incorporated systematic Save_As operations into their workflow, when they want them, and not during an intricate Selection process, where if there was an AutoSave, all would be lost.

I feel that too many PS users do not understand, or even know of, Save_As, and Save_As_a_Copy. They should become great friends with each, along with the Ctrl+S (Save).

In almost 2 decades, and working with some monster images, I have never lost more than about 30 mins. work. I always have my Save_As to go back to.

If such was introduced, I would demand that it have a toggle, and that there was some sort of a flag, visible in the GUI, when it was on. I can just imagine all the folk complaining that they just lost a 2 hour Selection, when AutoSave kicked in.

Hunt