Save as confusion!

[Autie1876]

Hi all, normally I process my CRAW in Adobe Raw then open the CR3 file in PS, do all my edits then hit "save as" and save as my final JPEG. The edits on my CR3 file would be kept in a side car and my JPEG would open and I would finish up my photo and hit save.  

Now I'm using the latest PS version but things have changed. I have "use legasy save as" ticked. But now I I do my Adobe Raw edits, open in PS and when I finish up and hit "save as" as a JPEG , PS asks if I want to save my CR3 as a PS file, which I don't so I click no, it closes and the saved JPEG no longer appears in it's place. So in order to continue editing my JPEG I have to go looking for it in my saved files and open it again. What am I doing wrong, what changes do I have to do to get back to that more efective way of editing my files?

Thanks.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Check the ACR UI.  I have noticed it now defaults to Open Object  whereas it used to default to Open.  So it now opens the image as a Smart Object in Photoshop.  I don't know it will stick if you use the drop down and change how to open.  If it doesn't then maybe set up a simple action to Flatten Image.  It should let you save as a JPG.  You might have to manually select JPG the first time, but it should go stright to JPG there-after.

Can you let us/me know if this works for you?  Thanks.

[D Fosse]

This is normal and the correct behavior! It has to work this way.

When you are saving out the jpeg (via Legacy Save) you are saving out a copy. It has to be a copy because the jpeg format does not support all the properties of the file out of ACR.

The original is still open and unsaved. It is still open because Photoshop, as a matter of general policy, never discards data without your explicit permission.

This is how it has always worked. The difference now is that ACR opens in 16 bit depth (not supported in jpeg), whereas it used to be 8 bit (accepted by jpeg).

[Shangara Singh]

Turn off Enbable legacy "Sav As" and, provided your document is in RGB, or Grayscale, 8BPC, contains no transparency or layers, use File > Save (not Save As), select the JPEG format, and continue working on the  JPEG that you saved.

This whole business of saving, and saving as, appending or not appending copy, legacy Save As, saving 16bps documents as JPEGs is a total mess. I suggested to Adobe moving Image > Duplicate to File menu and forcing user to following the Apple saving route, but suggestion was ignored! So we are where we are.

Example, having opened a 16BPC raw from ACR (my workflow), I can convert it to 8BPC and save it in the JPEG format and continue working on it. Now, if I step back to the open state, document is still a JPEG (according to the document header), but it's in 16BPC, which JPEG doesn't support. So on and so forth.

[D Fosse]

@Shangara Singh 

It's not a mess. It's all perfectly logical and transparent as long as you understand the underlying functions.

The "new" Save protocol is also far more logical than the one used from CS 5 until CC 2021, when you could pass off a jpeg copy as an original file.  That was a mess! That is in fact what is causing all the current confusion. People have gotten used to bad habits and inconsistent file handling.

The problem is getting that bad toothpaste back in the tube.

[Shangara Singh]

We'll have to agree to disagree.

IMV, the Apple method is more logical, with no chance of being confused. You want to save a copy? You duplicate the document, and then save it. The original is still accebile.

As I said above, save a JPEG, step back, and you "appear" to be working on a 16BPC document but JPEG doesn't support 16BPC.

What's more, if you change the file name of an open document, it will change in the application but Photoshop is unable to do this.

[D Fosse]

Because you're not saving a jpeg, you're saving a jpeg copy from the original. The original remains open.

This is how it always worked in Photoshop, regardless of "new" or "old" save, legacy or no legacy. This is the underlying functionality of saving a jpeg from 16 bit/layered data. When you understand that, everything falls into place and becomes logical.

What has changed is that previously, this was hidden from the user and you could get the impression that you were "saving the original as jpeg" when in fact you were saving a secondary copy of the original as jpeg. The original file has always remained open in this. It has not changed.

[Shangara Singh]

I've been using Photoshop for some 25 years! What makes you think I don't understand how to use it? I repeat, the Apple method is more logical and intuitive. As I said, agree to disagree.