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Save your files in Photoshop

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  1. Photoshop User Guide
  2. Introduction to Photoshop
    1. Dream it. Make it.
    2. What's new in Photoshop
    3. Edit your first photo
    4. Create documents
    5. Photoshop | Common Questions
    6. Photoshop system requirements
    7. Migrate presets, actions, and settings
    8. Get to know Photoshop
  3. Photoshop and other Adobe products and services
    1. Work with Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
    2. Work with Photoshop files in InDesign
    3. Substance 3D Materials for Photoshop
    4. Photoshop and Adobe Stock
    5. Use the Capture in-app extension in Photoshop
    6. Creative Cloud Libraries
    7. Creative Cloud Libraries in Photoshop
    8. Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
    9. Grid and guides
    10. Creating actions
    11. Undo and history
  4. Photoshop on the iPad
    1. Photoshop on the iPad | Common questions
    2. Get to know the workspace
    3. System requirements | Photoshop on the iPad
    4. Create, open, and export documents
    5. Add photos
    6. Work with layers
    7. Draw and paint with brushes
    8. Make selections and add masks
    9. Retouch your composites
    10. Work with adjustment layers
    11. Adjust the tonality of your composite with Curves
    12. Apply transform operations
    13. Crop and rotate your composites
    14. Rotate, pan, zoom, and reset the canvas
    15. Work with Type layers
    16. Work with Photoshop and Lightroom
    17. Get missing fonts in Photoshop on the iPad
    18. Japanese Text in Photoshop on the iPad
    19. Manage app settings
    20. Touch shortcuts and gestures
    21. Keyboard shortcuts
    22. Edit your image size
    23. Livestream as you create in Photoshop on the iPad
    24. Correct imperfections with the Healing Brush
    25. Create brushes in Capture and use them in Photoshop
    26. Work with Camera Raw files
    27. Create and work with Smart Objects
    28. Adjust exposure in your images with Dodge and Burn
  5. Photoshop on the web beta
    1. Common questions | Photoshop on the web beta 
    2. Introduction to the workspace
    3. System requirements | Photoshop on the web beta
    4. Keyboard shortcuts | Photoshop on the web beta
    5. Supported file types | Photoshop on the web beta
    6. Open and work with cloud documents
    7. Collaborate with stakeholders
    8. Apply limited edits to your cloud documents
  6. Cloud documents
    1. Photoshop cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Photoshop cloud documents | Workflow questions
    3. Manage and work with cloud documents in Photoshop
    4. Upgrade cloud storage for Photoshop
    5. Unable to create or save a cloud document
    6. Solve Photoshop cloud document errors
    7. Collect cloud document sync logs
    8. Share access and edit your cloud documents
    9. Share files and comment in-app
  7. Workspace
    1. Workspace basics
    2. Learn faster with the Photoshop Discover Panel
    3. Create documents
    4. Use the Touch Bar with Photoshop
    5. Tool galleries
    6. Performance preferences
    7. Use tools
    8. Touch gestures
    9. Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
    10. Technology previews
    11. Metadata and notes
    12. Default keyboard shortcuts
    13. Touch capabilities and customizable workspaces
    14. Place Photoshop images in other applications
    15. Preferences
    16. Default keyboard shortcuts
    17. Rulers
    18. Show or hide non-printing Extras
    19. Specify columns for an image
    20. Undo and history
    21. Panels and menus
    22. Place files
    23. Position elements with snapping
    24. Position with the Ruler tool
    25. Presets
    26. Customize keyboard shortcuts
    27. Grid and guides
  8. Web, screen, and app design
    1. Photoshop for design
    2. Artboards
    3. Device Preview
    4. Copy CSS from layers
    5. Slice web pages
    6. HTML options for slices
    7. Modify slice layout
    8. Work with web graphics
    9. Create web photo galleries
  9. Image and color basics
    1. How to resize images
    2. Work with raster and vector images
    3. Image size and resolution
    4. Acquire images from cameras and scanners
    5. Create, open, and import images
    6. View images
    7. Invalid JPEG Marker error | Opening images
    8. Viewing multiple images
    9. Customize color pickers and swatches
    10. High dynamic range images
    11. Match colors in your image
    12. Convert between color modes
    13. Color modes
    14. Erase parts of an image
    15. Blending modes
    16. Choose colors
    17. Customize indexed color tables
    18. Image information
    19. Distort filters are unavailable
    20. About color
    21. Color and monochrome adjustments using channels
    22. Choose colors in the Color and Swatches panels
    23. Sample
    24. Color mode or Image mode
    25. Color cast
    26. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    27. Add swatches from HTML CSS and SVG
    28. Bit depth and preferences
  10. Layers
    1. Layer basics
    2. Nondestructive editing
    3. Create and manage layers and groups
    4. Select, group, and link layers
    5. Place images into frames
    6. Layer opacity and blending
    7. Mask layers
    8. Apply Smart Filters
    9. Layer comps
    10. Move, stack, and lock layers
    11. Mask layers with vector masks
    12. Manage layers and groups
    13. Layer effects and styles
    14. Edit layer masks
    15. Extract assets
    16. Reveal layers with clipping masks
    17. Generate image assets from layers
    18. Work with Smart Objects
    19. Blending modes
    20. Combine multiple images into a group portrait
    21. Combine images with Auto-Blend Layers
    22. Align and distribute layers
    23. Copy CSS from layers
    24. Load selections from a layer or layer mask's boundaries
    25. Knockout to reveal content from other layers
    26. Layer
    27. Flattening
    28. Composite
    29. Background
  11. Selections
    1. Select and Mask workspace
    2. Make quick selections
    3. Get started with selections
    4. Select with the marquee tools
    5. Select with the lasso tools
    6. Select a color range in an image
    7. Adjust pixel selections
    8. Convert between paths and selection borders
    9. Channel basics
    10. Move, copy, and delete selected pixels
    11. Create a temporary quick mask
    12. Save selections and alpha channel masks
    13. Select the image areas in focus
    14. Duplicate, split, and merge channels
    15. Channel calculations
    16. Selection
    17. Bounding box
  12. Image adjustments
    1. Perspective warp
    2. Reduce camera shake blurring
    3. Healing brush examples
    4. Export color lookup tables
    5. Adjust image sharpness and blur
    6. Understand color adjustments
    7. Apply a Brightness/Contrast adjustment
    8. Adjust shadow and highlight detail
    9. Levels adjustment
    10. Adjust hue and saturation
    11. Adjust vibrance
    12. Adjust color saturation in image areas
    13. Make quick tonal adjustments
    14. Apply special color effects to images
    15. Enhance your image with color balance adjustments
    16. High dynamic range images
    17. View histograms and pixel values
    18. Match colors in your image
    19. How to crop and straighten photos
    20. Convert a color image to black and white
    21. Adjustment and fill layers
    22. Curves adjustment
    23. Blending modes
    24. Target images for press
    25. Adjust color and tone with Levels and Curves eyedroppers
    26. Adjust HDR exposure and toning
    27. Filter
    28. Blur
    29. Dodge or burn image areas
    30. Make selective color adjustments
    31. Replace object colors
  13. Adobe Camera Raw
    1. Camera Raw system requirements
    2. What's new in Camera Raw
    3. Introduction to Camera Raw
    4. Create panoramas
    5. Supported lenses
    6. Vignette, grain, and dehaze effects in Camera Raw
    7. Default keyboard shortcuts
    8. Automatic perspective correction in Camera Raw
    9. How to make non-destructive edits in Camera Raw
    10. Radial Filter in Camera Raw
    11. Manage Camera Raw settings
    12. Open, process, and save images in Camera Raw
    13. Repair images with the Enhanced Spot Removal tool in Camera Raw
    14. Rotate, crop, and adjust images
    15. Adjust color rendering in Camera Raw
    16. Feature summary | Adobe Camera Raw | 2018 releases
    17. New features summary
    18. Process versions in Camera Raw
    19. Make local adjustments in Camera Raw
  14. Image repair and restoration
    1. Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill
    2. Content-Aware Patch and Move
    3. Retouch and repair photos
    4. Correct image distortion and noise
    5. Basic troubleshooting steps to fix most issues
  15. Image transformations
    1. Transform objects
    2. Adjust crop, rotation, and canvas size
    3. How to crop and straighten photos
    4. Create and edit panoramic images
    5. Warp images, shapes, and paths
    6. Vanishing Point
    7. Use the Liquify filter
    8. Content-aware scaling
    9. Transform images, shapes, and paths
    10. Warp
    11. Transform
    12. Panorama
  16. Drawing and painting
    1. Paint symmetrical patterns
    2. Draw rectangles and modify stroke options
    3. About drawing
    4. Draw and edit shapes
    5. Painting tools
    6. Create and modify brushes
    7. Blending modes
    8. Add color to paths
    9. Edit paths
    10. Paint with the Mixer Brush
    11. Brush presets
    12. Gradients
    13. Gradient interpolation
    14. Fill and stroke selections, layers, and paths
    15. Draw with the Pen tools
    16. Create patterns
    17. Generate a pattern using the Pattern Maker
    18. Manage paths
    19. Manage pattern libraries and presets
    20. Draw or paint with a graphics tablet
    21. Create textured brushes
    22. Add dynamic elements to brushes
    23. Gradient
    24. Paint stylized strokes with the Art History Brush
    25. Paint with a pattern
    26. Sync presets on multiple devices
  17. Text
    1. Add and edit the text
    2. Unified Text Engine
    3. Work with OpenType SVG fonts
    4. Format characters
    5. Format paragraphs
    6. How to create type effects
    7. Edit text
    8. Line and character spacing
    9. Arabic and Hebrew type
    10. Fonts
    11. Troubleshoot fonts
    12. Asian type
    13. Create type
    14. Text Engine error using Type tool in Photoshop | Windows 8
  18. Video and animation
    1. Video editing in Photoshop
    2. Edit video and animation layers
    3. Video and animation overview
    4. Preview video and animations
    5. Paint frames in video layers
    6. Import video files and image sequences
    7. Create frame animations
    8. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    9. Create timeline animations
    10. Create images for video
  19. Filters and effects
    1. Use the Liquify filter
    2. Use the Blur Gallery
    3. Filter basics
    4. Filter effects reference
    5. Add Lighting Effects
    6. Use the Adaptive Wide Angle filter
    7. Use the Oil Paint filter
    8. Layer effects and styles
    9. Apply specific filters
    10. Smudge image areas
  20. Saving and exporting
    1. Save your files in Photoshop
    2. Export your files in Photoshop
    3. Supported file formats
    4. Save files in graphics formats
    5. Move designs between Photoshop and Illustrator
    6. Save and export video and animations
    7. Save PDF files
    8. Digimarc copyright protection
  21. Printing
    1. Print 3D objects
    2. Print from Photoshop
    3. Print with color management
    4. Contact Sheets and PDF Presentations
    5. Print photos in a picture package layout
    6. Print spot colors
    7. Duotones
    8. Print images to a commercial printing press
    9. Improve color prints from Photoshop
    10. Troubleshoot printing problems | Photoshop
  22. Automation
    1. Creating actions
    2. Create data-driven graphics
    3. Scripting
    4. Process a batch of files
    5. Play and manage actions
    6. Add conditional actions
    7. About actions and the Actions panel
    8. Record tools in actions
    9. Add a conditional mode change to an action
    10. Photoshop UI toolkit for plug-ins and scripts
  23. Color Management
    1. Understanding color management
    2. Keeping colors consistent
    3. Color settings
    4. Work with color profiles
    5. Color-managing documents for online viewing
    6. Color-managing documents when printing
    7. Color-managing imported images
    8. Proofing colors
  24. Content authenticity
    1. Learn about content credentials
    2. Identity and provenance for NFTs
    3. Connect accounts for creative attribution
  25. 3D and technical imaging
    1. Photoshop 3D | Common questions around discontinued 3D features
    2. Creative Cloud 3D Animation (Preview)
    3. Print 3D objects
    4. 3D painting
    5. 3D panel enhancements | Photoshop
    6. Essential 3D concepts and tools
    7. 3D rendering and saving
    8. Create 3D objects and animations
    9. Image stacks
    10. 3D workflow
    11. Measurement
    12. DICOM files
    13. Photoshop and MATLAB
    14. Count objects in an image
    15. Combine and convert 3D objects
    16. 3D texture editing
    17. Adjust HDR exposure and toning
    18. 3D panel settings

Learn how to save your document in Photoshop in various file formats

Topics in the article:

Introduction to file-saving options in Photoshop

You can use the Save commands in Photoshop to save changes to your documents based on the format you want to use or the way you want to access them later.

To save a file in Photoshop, go to the File menu and select any of the Save commands — Save, Save As, or Save a Copy. On selecting a save command, you can choose to either — Save to Creative Cloud or Save on your computer.

Watch this video to quickly learn more about the saving options in Photoshop. Read the article for more step-by-step details.

Return to the top.

Save

To save changes to your document and save in the current format, choose File > Save.

Save As

To save a file with a different name,location, or format, do the following:

  1. Choose File > Save As.

  2. Choose a format from the Format menu.

  3. Specify a filename and location.
  4. In the Save As dialog box, select saving options.

  5. Click Save. A dialog box appears for choosing options when saving in some image formats.

Note:

To copy an image without saving it to your hard disk, use the Duplicate command. To store a temporary version of the image in memory, use the History panel to create a snapshot.

Default Save As

Updated in Photoshop 24.1 (December 2022 release)

With the December 2022 release of Photoshop 24.1, the default is to save your files locally on your computer instead of saving to the Creative Cloud.

You can set the Default File Location as On your computer to see the local path while creating the new documents from any of the below locations:

  • Windows: Edit > Preferences > File Handling
  • macOS: Photoshop > Preferences > File Handling

If you wanted to save your documents as cloud documents, select Creative Cloud as the default file location.

File location preference in Photoshop

If you have a question to ask or want to share your issue with this setting, notify us on the Adobe Photoshop community. We'd love to hear from you!

Revert to legacy Save As options

With Photoshop 22.4.2, you can both revert to the legacy Save As workflow and/or omit the addended “copy” when saving as a copy if desired. 

To find these new preference options, navigate to: 

  • (macOS) Photoshop > Preferences > File Handling > File Saving Options
  • (Windows) Edit > Preferences > File Handling > File Saving Options 
Revert to legacy Save As workflow in Photoshop desktop

When you turn on the Enable legacy "Save As” preference:
  • macOS: The Save As and Save a Copy options will now both open the legacy save dialog enabling the Save As options that were available in Photoshop v22.3 and earlier, including the As a Copy checkbox. With the legacy workflow enabled, if you use the Save a copy option to save your Photoshop file, the As a Copy checkbox will be turned on by default. When selecting the Enable legacy "Save As” option in preferences on macOS, you will receive a warning dialog alerting you to the risk of overwriting files that arises when using the legacy Save As workflow, as “copy” will no longer be interactively appended to the filename. Because of this, when selecting the Enable legacy “Save As” preference the Do not append “copy” to filename when saving a copy preference will automatically become enabled and cannot be turned off unless the Enable legacy “Save As” preference is turned off.
Warning dialog for legacy save as

  • Windows: The Enable legacy "Save As” preference operates the save as workflow as it originally did, including the interactive appending of “copy” to the filenames when appropriate. Hence, you will not see a warning alert when turning on the legacy preference on Windows. Additionally, since the legacy Save As workflow can append “copy” to filenames, you will not see a warning alert and the Do not append ‘copy’ to filename when saving a copy preference option can be turned on or off based on your requirement. 

Do not append ‘copy’ to filename when saving a copy

macOS and Windows: The Do not append ‘copy’ to filename when saving a copy preference controls whether “copy” is appended to the filename of your Photoshop document in situations where the user is exposed to the risk of overwriting files. By selecting this preference, the term "copy" will no longer be automatically appended to file names when you save as a copy, both in the new Save a Copy and the legacy Save As (macOS and Windows) options.

Additionally, when you turn on this preference, you will see alert dialogs to warn you of the potential risk of overwriting your Photoshop file in absence of "copy" in the filename on both macOS and Windows. 

Warning dialog for legacy save as

Save a Copy

If you’d like to save a layered file as a flat file, you’ll need to create a new version of the document. Also, if you don't see a desired format like JPEG or PNG, use Save a Copy option for all formats and create a preserved version of your document.

To do so, choose:

  • File > Save a Copy 
  • Save a Copy button under the Save As dialog box
Not seeing the desired format like JPEG or PNG? Save a copy of your document for all formats
Not seeing the desired format like JPEG or PNG? Save a copy of your document for all formats

Return to the top.

File saving properties

You can set a variety of file saving options under the Save As and Save a Copy dialog box. The availability of options depends on the file you are saving and the selected file format.

Alpha Channels

Saves alpha channel information with the image. Disabling this option removes the alpha channels from the saved image.

Layers

Preserves all layers in the image. If this option is disabled or unavailable, all visible layers are flattened or merged (depending on the selected format).

Notes

Saves notes with the image.

Spot Colors

Saves spot channel information with the image. Disabling this option removes spot colors from the saved image.

Use Proof Setup, ICC Profile (Windows), or Embed Color Profile (Mac OS)

Creates a color-managed document.

Note:

The following image preview and file extension options are available only if Ask When Saving is selected for the Image Previews and Append File Extension (Mac OS) options in the File Handling Preferences dialog box.

Thumbnail (Windows)

Saves thumbnail data for the file.

Use Lower Case Extension (Windows)

Makes the file extension lowercase.

Image Previews options (Mac OS)

Saves thumbnail data for the file. Thumbnails appear in the Open dialog box.

File Extension options (Mac OS)

Specifies the format for file extensions. Select Append to add the format’s extension to a filename and Use Lower Case to make the extension lowercase.

Note:

As of the 2015 release of Photoshop CC, the File > Save For Web option has been moved to File > Export > Save For Web (Legacy) alongside newer export options. To learn about these new export options, see Export artboards, layers, and more.

File-saving preferences

  1. Do one of the following:

    • (Windows) Choose Edit > Preferences > File Handling.

    • (macOS) Choose Photoshop > Preferences > File Handling.

  2. Set the following options:

    Image Previews

    Choose an option for saving image previews: Never Save to save files without previews, Always Save to save files with specified previews, or Ask When Saving to assign previews on a file-by-file basis. In Mac OS, you can select one or more preview types. (See Mac OS image preview options.)

    File Extension (Windows)

    Choose an option for the three-character file extensions that indicate a file’s format: Use Upper Case to append file extensions using uppercase characters, or Use Lower Case to append file extensions using lowercase characters.

    Append File Extension (Mac OS)

    File extensions are necessary for files that you want to use on or transfer to a Windows system. Choose an option for appending extensions to filenames: Never to save files without file extensions, Always to append file extensions to filenames, or Ask When Saving to append file extensions on a file-by-file basis. Select Use Lower Case to append file extensions using lowercase characters.

    Save As to Original Folder

    When saving, defaults to the folder images originated from. Deselect this option to instead default to the folder you last saved in.

    Save in Background

    Background saving lets you keep working in Photoshop after you choose a Save command. You don’t have to wait for Photoshop to finish saving the file.

    Automatically Save Recovery Information

    Photoshop automatically stores crash-recovery information at the interval that you specify. If you experience a crash, Photoshop recovers your work when you restart it.

macOS image preview options

In macOS, you can select one or more of the following preview types (to speed the saving of files and minimize file size, select only the previews you need).

Icon

Uses the preview as a file icon on the desktop.

Full Size

Saves a 72‑ppi version of the file for use in applications that can open only low-resolution Photoshop images. For non‑EPS files, this is a PICT preview.

Macintosh Thumbnail

Displays the preview in the Open dialog box.

Windows Thumbnail

Saves a preview that Windows systems can display.

Save large documents

Photoshop supports documents up to 300,000 pixels in either dimension and offers three file formats for saving documents with images having more than 30,000 pixels in either dimension. Keep in mind that most other applications, including versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop CS, cannot handle files larger than 2 GB or images exceeding 30,000 pixels in either dimension.

  1. Choose File > Save As, and choose one of the following file formats:

    Large Document Format (PSB)

    Supports documents of any file size. All Photoshop features are preserved in PSB files (though some plug-in filters are unavailable if documents exceed 30,000 pixels in width or height). Currently, PSB files are supported only by Photoshop CS and later.

    Photoshop Raw

    Supports documents of any pixel dimension or file size, but does not support layers. Large documents saved in the Photoshop Raw format are flattened.

    TIFF

    Supports files up to 4 GB in size. Documents larger than 4 GB cannot be saved in TIFF format.

Return to the top.

Export layers to files

You can export and save layers as individual files using a variety of formats, including PSD, BMP, JPEG, PDF, Targa, and TIFF. Layers are named automatically as they are saved. You can set options to control the generation of names.

  1. Choose File > Export > Export Layers To Files.

  2. In the Export Layers To Files dialog box, under Destination, click Browse to select a destination for the exported files. By default, the generated files are saved in the sample folder as the source file.
  3. Enter a name in the File Name Prefix text box to specify a common name for the files.
  4. Select the Visible Layers Only option if you want to export only those layers that have visibility enabled in the Layers panel. Use this option if you don’t want all the layers exported. Turn off visibility for layers that you don’t want exported.
  5. Choose a file format from the File Type menu. Set options as necessary.
  6. Select the Include ICC Profile option if you want the working space profile embedded in the exported file. This is important for color-managed workflows.
  7. Click Run.

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