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Known Participant
February 24, 2021
Answered

Re-saving PSDs with Maximize Compatibility

  • February 24, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 2286 views

I've been using Ps for decades. Before Lightroom existed, best practice was to turn "maximize compatibility" off to save space unless you needed compatibility with specific DTP programs. When Lightroom came along, best practice changed to turning "maximize compatibility" on. That left users like me with many files that couldn't be imported into Lightroom. Logic would suggest that simply re-saving these files after the "maximize compatibility" option was changed in Preferences would be enough to solve the problem. It is not. What do I have to do to get Ps to resave the files so they can be imported into Lr?

 

FWIW, I have tried re-sizing (w/o resampling) and saving. That didn't work. I've tried adding an empty layer. That didn't work. This process shouldn't be this hard. I'm looking for a fast, non-destructive way to do this without adding unnecessary size to the file. (I understand that maximizing compatibility necessarily increases file size. I'm talking about anything else.)

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Correct answer Dan Rodney

When you do a Save As you can replace the original file so you won't have duplicates or different file names. I think you have to do a Save As to get the Maximize Compatibility option.

3 replies

Participant
August 26, 2021
Jeff Arola
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 24, 2021

After turning on Maximize Compatibility did you use File>Save As to generate a new file or write over the old file?

t.linnAuthor
Known Participant
February 24, 2021

Hi Jeff. I've been saving. Not Saving as. I'm trying to avoid creating duplicates or messing up my file naming structure.

Dan Rodney
Community Expert
Dan RodneyCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
February 24, 2021

When you do a Save As you can replace the original file so you won't have duplicates or different file names. I think you have to do a Save As to get the Maximize Compatibility option.

— Adobe Certified Expert & Instructor at Noble Desktop | Web Developer, Designer, InDesign Scriptor
Trevor.Dennis
Community Expert
Community Expert
February 24, 2021

Have you tried grouping the older image files into a Smart Object and resaving, or saving with a different file name?

Have you started a similar thread in the Lightroom forum?

 

I know that one of the things that does not work unless you use max compatability is Displacement Maps.  I found that out the hard way some years ago.

t.linnAuthor
Known Participant
February 24, 2021

Hi Trevor.Dennis. I have not started a similar thread elsewhere. I have not been using the "Save as" approach because I'm trying to avoid creating duplicate files. This is not the first time I have encountered this issue and I'm sure I was able to find a solution by just re-saving but, for the life of me, I can't remember how I did it.