"Could not save as 'filename' because of a program error." Won't allow me to save in ANY format!

[Penderecki]

I have a large file (3500x8300px) that i have been working on in Photoshop CS4 and i tried to save it after working on it for about 30 minutes and got the following message: "Could not save as 'filename' because of a program error."  I tried saving it as .psd, .pdf, .tif, even .jpg and received the same message each time.  I closed down all other software to ensure that there was enough memory available but to no avail.  I then just closed my MBP and waited until the next day hoping it was just a glitch and might work later on.  I opened it up the next day (forgetting about the save issue) and worked on the file for a few more hours and then tried saving it again. (that's when i remembered the issue...too late...the work was already done).  Nope...still won't let me save it.  I'm afraid i'll have to restart the program but cannot afford to lose this work.  Any thoughts on how to fix it?

*note: i tried 'save for web' and it allowed me to save it as a flattened image (although rather slow due to filesize) but i need it in a layered format.

ANY HELP would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

**(I'm running PS CS4 v. 11.0.2 on a MBP 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 and have Lion OS X 10.7.2.)

[Charles_Lehnert]

This is one of the many bugs CS4 has on Lion. I get this error intermittently, with the document not being used by any other applications (I know how to check this-I have been using Macs and Photoshop for close to 20 years now.)

As I said in my post above, the only way I was able to save the document was to save it to a networked drive. I then copied it back to the original location on my local HD and reopened it.

[PECourtejoie]

I know it was on a PC then, but if I have Bridge CS3 showing the folder, when saving a file from PsCS3 to said folder, I often had a file already exists error.

Bug might have been fixed since then, but I'd like to ask if Bridge or Mini Bridge are open when the errors pop up? Or if there was a finder window showing the destination folder?

[wind737]

Re: Could not save because _____file is already in use or was left open.

I use a pc, and always keep Bridge open in the background, so I can access it quickly. If there is a CS4 bug, would hope it would have been addressed by now.

[Llnda]

Thanks! I managed to save my file through this reply
I saved it to my external harddrive, the only thing that worked out.

[akarazor]

OK - same issue saving to network ("could not save because of a program error") but interestingly if you click "disconnect from server" in finder window (from shared in sidebar)  (it won't actually disconnect) it then solves the issue every time...you can then save

– hope this observation sheds some light on what is happening? Mac OSX 10.6.8 to network raid Pegasus via mac mini server

[Chris Cox]

There are several known bugs in MacOS filesystem code when saving to a file server.

We have notified Apple, and Apple has fixed some of them in recent OS versions.

We are attempting to work around the remaining OS bugs.

[DrGrafix]

RE: saving a file to a file server/NAS drive.

Funny how prior to Mavericks it seemed that I could save and/or open files from my WD MyBook NAS drive with _NO_ issues whatsoever.  Been doing it for a couple years since I got the MBL drive set up.  I know Adobe says to store files on a "local" drive and then copy the drive/folder contents onto the NAS drive and reverse that when opening an archived file for additional work... but that doesn't really help productivity from the artist's point of view.  It tedious and redundant.  It also doesn't explain why it seemed to work fine before Mavericks.  I kind of put the blame on Apple because I know it also doesn't work anymore using Handbrake.  I also had a problem with trying to save a file from my PC to the NAS drive as well, although I use the PC less and less.  It all used to work before Mavericks.  Of course that could be an anomaly for me and my mac/pc setups on the network.

[Chris_Tarantino]

There was a serious issue with drivers for WD drives and Mavericks. There has been an update from WD to fix this if you haven't already done so. Good possibility for WD drive to get wiped clean. Could be a similar drive issue for your NAS drive.

Cheers!

[DrGrafix]

I was on the phone with WD Conceirge Service yesterday for over an hour.  The tech and I concluded its something in the Mavericks code... we also confirmed I have the latest firmware for both the MyBookLive and the MyCloud drives.  They have Macs running Mavericks but none running older OS X like from last Summer.  So they are experiencing the same issues I am.

I pointed out that this issue started when I went to 10.6 IIRC and then thinking Mavericks was a big fix... I updated to it and no change.  They did not mention any drivers for my NAS drives so for now, I'm stuck with the redundant method of working with two drives rather than one.  A real PITA.

[Chris_Tarantino]

Sounds like you are running out of Scratch disc space. The external HD is a good idea, but youmight want to upgrade your MBpro HD if you are running into this more often. Either that or a bigger external. You also might want to fix permissions on the laptop as this can also cause issues with saving.... such as the already in use error or unable to save.

[wind737]

Re: Could not save because _____file is already in use or was left open.

My Photoshop document was only open in Photoshop, no other place, no other connected files, no other programs even open, and it is on a local drive and Bridge is only open on that same drive. Although was not using Bridge at the time, only trying to save a relatively small psd file when I got this error I see frequently.  It was not open any where else. Again, if i save it as filename_version 2.psd, works just fine. So I don't see how that is a scratch disk error or it is full.

[carolakashorty]

Hi all,

Had the same error when i tried to open a ps file from windows 7 to windows 8.1

My problem turned out to be the text layers.I had to rasterize all text with "!" . I couldn't convert to shape or anything. Wasnt able to save, export in any file type, open in illus. nothing. just work and well...just work.

Thankfully i managed to solve it. Rasterized the problematic layers and was good to go.

I realised that the file was not corrupt but one of the layers was when i tired dragging a layer into a new file. I Was able to but when i tried to group all and drag in , it didnt work. So i went through the layers one by one and voila!

Hope this helps someone.

_______________________________________________________________

Trial and error always + never give up till your head or computer explodes!

(it's the only way)

[SVO_Media]

My problem was solved by flattening the layers and saving to .pdf or whatever I needed.  First create a backup file to keep the layers.  Problem solved.

[R_Hinder]

Thanks svoutdoors media & carolakashorty. Flattening or Rasterizing the layer fixed the issue for me!

I found out the "Could not save as 'filename' because of a program error." issue was caused by one layer (found by trial and error)

Once I found the layer preventing me from saving to PDF, I rasterized the layer, and I was able to save as PDF again.

Not sure what caused the layer problems, but importing the layer from another PSD didn't help. Rasterizing or Flattening the layer was the key for me.

Cheers!

[Niles_Ridgeman]

My two most sucsessful solutions:

• Try saving on a different disk.
• Try turning off all layers and saving (lately this has been most sucsessful).

[Chris_Tarantino]

Turning off the top adjustment layer usually works for me.

Cheers!

[tomasio]

Thank you Niles,

that helped me save the file (literally).

[2sparkies]

Same problem here. Got the "Could not save as 'filename' because of a program error." ( 356mb file with 16 layers ) and went through everything layer by layer.

Eventually narrowed it down to one layer mask. Copied the mask to a new layer, deleted the offending layer mask, hit save, done.

No idea what was wrong with that particular mask but 3hours worth of work eventually got saved.

[ds63359555]

2sparkles solution worked for me. My bottom most layer had a disabled layer mask. I no longer needed it but disabled it until I was certain. I deleted the mask and bazinga. All is right with the world.

[drew.smith]

So, I found a solution that worked for me.

I ran an existing action I had which saves a 'PSD to desktop'. This seemed to work when the 'Save' and 'Save As' command didn't.

Find action sets here: WeTransfer

All the best.

[GDGD]

I just trouble shot this issue on PS CS6 on PC, Ended up using the image processor under File>Scripts>Image Processor to create a TIFF in the same file location and it recreated the file perfectly, just as good as saving. Thank god for that too, it would have sucked to recreate the file after all the edits I've put into it.

Hope this helps a few frustrated designers out and saves some work!

[jlapierre017]

Just had this exact problem... fixed it by deleting an invisible layer.

[Alice Wonderland]

Hi, to fix this issue disable the autosave option.

Edit/Preferences/File Handling

Image Previews: Never Save

File Extension: Use Lower Case

Save As to Original Folder (unchecked)

Save in background (unchecked)

[AYELYASHKEVICH_RETOUCHER]

I Just came across this. I tired the suggestions and I got nothing.

What worked for me is - Turning the entire file into a smart object. Duping it into a new file. ( Saved fine )

Then i went into the smart object and duped all the layers into a new file again and saved it out, in case one didn't open.

[lukelisi]

I was getting the, "Could not save as 'filename' because of a program error," message in Photoshop CC 2014 and I tried much of what's mentioned here, but with no luck at all. I didn't want to close Photoshop for fear of losing the progress altogether.

What ended up working for me was to simply resize the image in question (Image > Image Size). All it needed was a subtle adjustment (let's say from 3000px width to 2998px width).

I didn't extensively test this solution, but it did work for me the first time I tried.

Hope that helps!