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"...not a valid Photoshop document" error when opening Mac cc file on PC

New Here ,
Aug 28, 2013 Aug 28, 2013

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I get a "Could not complete your request because it is not a valid Photoshop document." error message whenever I try to open up a PSD file created on a Mac using Photoshop CC on my PC using CC. Other people have been able to open the file from the same location, so the files aren't corrupted. Anyone know how to fix this?

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Community Beginner , Apr 12, 2014 Apr 12, 2014

I know this thread is a bit old, but I wanted to share my experience and solution in case anyone else runs into this.

The other day, I spent many hours editing some photos for a client. I saved them all and closed Photoshop. When I tried to open the .PSDs, they all came up with this "Not a valid Photoshop document" error. I was freaking out. I could see the thunmbnails and previews with the MacOS Finder and could see the images just fine in Lightroom, but couldn't open them in Photoshop CC.

Finall

...

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Community Expert ,
Aug 28, 2013 Aug 28, 2013

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Does the psd file have the .psd extension?

If you try File>Open As>PSD in photoshop cc on windows, does that work?

Do you have windows set to Show file extensions?

(uncheck Hide extensions for known file types in the folder options)

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New Here ,
Nov 22, 2013 Nov 22, 2013

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I get a "Could not complete your request because it is not a valid Photoshop document." error message

whenever I try to open up a PSD file created on a Mac using Photoshop CS6 on my iMac using CC.

I have tried checking and unchecking the hide extension for known file types

I stil have the same problem.

Is there another soultion?

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 12, 2014 Apr 12, 2014

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I know this thread is a bit old, but I wanted to share my experience and solution in case anyone else runs into this.

The other day, I spent many hours editing some photos for a client. I saved them all and closed Photoshop. When I tried to open the .PSDs, they all came up with this "Not a valid Photoshop document" error. I was freaking out. I could see the thunmbnails and previews with the MacOS Finder and could see the images just fine in Lightroom, but couldn't open them in Photoshop CC.

Finally, I remembered that these were NOT supposed to be .psd files! They were supposed to be TIFFs. What happened was, when I edited them from within Lightroom into Photoshop, they opened as TIFFs. However, when I did "save as", I wanted to name them similarly to some other files I had. I clicked on one of the existing files to copy the file name in the Save As dialog to make it easier to name the new file I was saving, but I didn't realize it was changing the file extention from ".tif" to ".psd" as well. The older MacOS (version 9 and earlier) didn't rely on file extensions fo identifying file types, so it didn't hit me right away that this would be the problem. When I changed the incorrect .psd file extension to .tiff, the files opened in Photoshop just fine.

SO... if you run into this "Not a valid Photoshop document" error, try figuring out if it's actually another file type (.jpg, .tif, .png, etc) by either getting the file info from another program or just experimenting with different file extensions. Chances are good that your file isn't actually corrupt, but just named improperly!

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Contributor ,
Oct 24, 2014 Oct 24, 2014

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Thank you a thousand times. This was EXACTLY what I was suddenly going through with one file. Thank you.

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Community Beginner ,
Nov 24, 2014 Nov 24, 2014

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Thanks technishn-dfwcp ... your suggestion worked for me.  Although I found it strange as I originally saved the file as a .psd.

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Explorer ,
Jan 01, 2015 Jan 01, 2015

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This was my problem exactly! And, switching the name from a .psd to a .tif was the trick to get it to open.

Now, the question I have is why was photoshop confused? It was a 500mb, multilayered composite that was deliberately saved as a .psd file. But, photoshop wouldn't open it until I changed it to a .tif.

Weird.

Thanks for the cure!

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Jan 01, 2015 Jan 01, 2015

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You didn't save the file as PSD, you save a TIFF file and mistakenly changed the extension to PSD (which is not the same as saving a PSD file).

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New Here ,
Nov 05, 2017 Nov 05, 2017

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THANKYOU!! I am up against a deadline and needed to open some composites that I had done, and got the "not a valid ps doc" error. All I did was make a duplicate just to make sure I didn't lose the file all together, and changed the extension in Finder to .tiff. Then I dragged it straight into PS (CC). Worked like a charm!! Many thanks to you!

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New Here ,
Jan 28, 2023 Jan 28, 2023

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So I worked on a PSD file for 16 hours and I don't know it's a PSD file? Is it an "solution" or an ar5e trying to be the smart?

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Contributor ,
Nov 24, 2014 Nov 24, 2014

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Many of the images that I get from our suppliers have had the extension changed.

I have found the freeware IrfanView software will tell me what the real format of the image is, convert it to the correct format, and save it.

Just drag the image onto the desktop shortcut and a popup gives you the info.

Only thing it doesn't work with are ".eps" files.

Saves me a lot of time trying to figure out the correct extension for the files.

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New Here ,
Sep 26, 2015 Sep 26, 2015

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I seem to have this exact same problem but none of these suggestions have fixed the problem. I have tried changing the extension to .tif but it still refuses to open in any program, yet this sound slike this described problem. I have tried repairing with a PSD repair specific app too but it does not read the file (I am assuming because the computer thinks its a tif file). I am desperate to get the art back but I am at my wits end at this point because nothing works. I'm working off of windows 8  pc.

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New Here ,
Nov 02, 2015 Nov 02, 2015

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I found that the file I was trying to open was originally a lightroom document, and on my new computer I didn't have lightroom installed.

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Guest
Jul 06, 2016 Jul 06, 2016

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Eu recomendo que você selecione este software para saber como abrir o arquivo PST corruptos em Photoshop de uma maneira fácil http://www.photoshoppsdrepair.com/pt/corrigi-corrupto-arquivo-em-mac.html

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New Here ,
Mar 01, 2017 Mar 01, 2017

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If none of this works, try opening it through Bridge! Worked for me!

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New Here ,
Nov 27, 2017 Nov 27, 2017

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I logged in after not logging into this site for years to thank you for this. It saved me hours of re-work.

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New Here ,
Mar 22, 2018 Mar 22, 2018

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YES. I had a .psd that was actually a .tif. Thank you for the save!

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New Here ,
Mar 28, 2018 Mar 28, 2018

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Not true.  I have a bunch of PSD files that have worked for ages.  I recently had to re-build my computer, and now I get that error with ALL my PSDs, which open fine on other machines

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New Here ,
Oct 27, 2019 Oct 27, 2019

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Same! Can please someone help?

 

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New Here ,
Aug 15, 2018 Aug 15, 2018

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Im having the same problem but the file in question is an actual psd file that i created and edited several times without any problem until yesterday when i tried to open it and the error message popped up. The file extension says "Adobe photoshop image.18" but so do all my other psd files (i am able to open all those files without any problem though) I am working on a pc and the files dont show the extension in the name so I cannot just retype the extension from .psd to .tif. is there another way to do this?

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New Here ,
Feb 01, 2019 Feb 01, 2019

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If this happens so much, can you guys have a more specific and helpful error prompt when it happens?

Thanks!

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New Here ,
Oct 20, 2019 Oct 20, 2019

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Could not complete your request because it is not a valid Photoshop document.

 

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New Here ,
Oct 27, 2019 Oct 27, 2019

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I just switched to the new OX: Catalina. When I open a recently made psd (which I only use next to jpg) I have the same problem. I tried to re-safe it in psd, but it doesn't work. So my filetype is for sure psd and I don't know how to solve it. 

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New Here ,
Aug 23, 2020 Aug 23, 2020

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Same. I know they were PSD files, not tiffs.

 

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New Here ,
Nov 01, 2019 Nov 01, 2019

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Worked for me. Thank you.

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