WHERE ARE THE LAYERS???!!

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

I recently had some work made by a graphic artist. The work was emailed to me through gmail and when I open the files in Photoshop the layers are gone. My photoshop is the latest version and I've uninstalled and reinstalled it. How can I retrieve or get the individual layers of the artwork to pop up? Could this be because the artwork was created on a MacBook and I have a HP? 

[Test Screen Name]

Photoshop files may be way too big to email reliably. Or at all. Use a safer method to share files. 

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

What safer methods would you suggest.

[jane-e]

What safer methods would you suggest.

By @EastEastTip24000613nfch

They put the PSD in Dropbox or Creative Cloud and post a link for you to download.

Jane

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

@EastEastTip24000613nfch - What file format were the files? JPEG, PSD etc.

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

PNG

[jane-e]

PNG

By @EastEastTip24000613nfch

PNG does not support layers.

Jane

[Test Screen Name]

This, then, is easily explained. At least in one way. A PNG is always perfectly flat, that is to say it can never have any layers. If layers it is that you want, having the designer's PSD sent to you is the way. This is going to be a much larger file; you probably should NOT rely on email to get it. 

[Chris 486]

Hi @EastEastTip24000613nfch ,

It will be helpful if you can show us screenshots of the file and know what file type it is. It could also have been flattened before being sent back t you which would have removed all the layers.

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

 

[jane-e]

@EastEastTip24000613nfch 

Ask the artist to post a link to the layered psd in Creative Cloud, Dropbox, or another file sharing service. You haven't answered any of our questions yet, but you probably want to start by querying the artist.

Jane

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

That's for the suggestion. The artist can't figure out why I cannot see the layers either.

[Conrad C]

Then the artist must also understand the advice others have given in this thread, which is that export file formats such as PNG, JPEG, GIF etc. cannot and never have been able to preserve Photoshop layers.

The file formats that can preserve Photoshop layers are Photoshop format (.PSD), Photoshop Large Document format (.PSB), Photoshop Cloud Document format (.PSDC), and TIFF (.TIFF or .TIF). If a Photoshop layered file is exported to a different format than those, it will be flattened to a single layer. Not because of Photoshop, but because other formats simply have no way to store layers created by any application.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Are you sure that they GA intended you to have a layered PSD file?   Was that agreed up front?  I never gave clients editable files because a) it drove a nail into future work from that client if they could do it themselves, and 2) If they do edit the work and make a pigs ear of of it and it, has your name on it, people might assume that you are responsible for shite work.

[EastEastTip24000613nfch]

This is not the case but thanks. 

[Leslie Moak Murray]

I came here to say the same thing. I know that some designers don't like to give up their layered files. As to why one can't figure out why you can't see layers on a .png file, well!