Expert: LizaL - 8/15/2005

Question
I created a poster 34 x 44 inchs with a mosaic of photographs.  I have saved this work in psd format and jpeg.  It is a large file. I cannot get the psd to open with the images displayed, it comes up blank although the thumbnail shows the images.  I am using photoshop elements 2.0.  The jpeg format will open very slowly but doesnt have the same working capabilities as the psd.  How can I open the psd file to continue working on my project?

Answer
Hi Kevin,

I have a couple of questions for you:

1. You say the file that opens is blank -- so let's make sure there's actually something there in the file.

Are you working on a PC or a Mac? If you're working on a Mac, go to wherever you've stored the file, select (highlight) the icon (don't double-click) and hit Command + I on your keyboard. This will give you the information about the file -- specifically, the file size.

If you're using a PC, and I'm running Windows XP, you can mouse over any file to see its size.

The reason you'd want to check the size is to make sure something has actually been saved to that file. If the file is truly blank, then the preview icon *shouldn't* come up showing the images, but it could have cached or otherwise stored itself somehow, and is showing.


2. How do you open this document? My advice to everyone about opening files is NOT to double-click on them, but to first open the application you're using -- in this case, Elements -- then go to the File pulldown menu and select Open, then navigate to your file and select it. This method of opening files is preferred because it's less processor work, and if there's truly a file there, it'll open this way.


3. Is it possible you've accidentally written over your PSD file and saved it as JPEG, too? Or some other format? Again, look at the file info and see what it tells you.


4. I'm guessing that this file has layers, and probably lots of them. By some chance, when you open your file, are you seeing a blank layer?


Please check these things, and post back and let me know what happens. If you still can't open the file, it's possible it's corrupted. But let's not jump to that conclusion yet. Check it out a little further and post back.

Hope this helps --

Lisa