Expert: LizaL - 2/22/2005

Question
-------------------------Hi Lisa,  i think my problem was that they are pdf files, (but i really think this happened before w/ other type files), but i did try the flatten image & that totally works,  i am using p/c version, 5.5 of photoshop & windows 98.  when it has happened in the past i really dont think it was a pdf file, but i cant remember for sure. so far the flatten image is making it work.  but i really dont know when its going to happen again.
thanks so much for all the info, i will keep all in mind.
June

Followup To
Question -
Hi Lisa,  i have been having problem with my photoshop when i want to save a photo as a tiff, i could be working on lots of photos & saving a tiffs, then all of the sudden i can only save it as a photoshop file,  when i click on the arrow to select other options to save file as,  it only gives the photoshop option,  it is really weird, i have tried re-starting my computer & all, but nothing seems to help,  any ideas would be greatly appreciated
thanks,
June
Answer -
Hi again June!

There could be a couple of things going on here, namely the way the files are being saved (in terms of Options, etc.), or your Photoshop application. I'll explain what I mean about both:

-- From the file-saving problem standpoint:

I tried to re-create this problem on my machine, using Photoshop CS, and I couldn't get it to happen. I had thought it might have something to do with the format the photos were *originally* in, prior to their being brought into Photoshop. But I tried it with JPEGs, PSDs, PNGs -- you name it, and I was able to save every one of them as a TIFF, without stopping.

Let me ask you:

1. What is the format of the photos, originally?

2. Are you using a PC or a Mac? And what operating system are you running on your computer?

3. Have you installed any other software lately? Have any of your other applications behaved strangely?

4. Are you able to save your Photoshop files as other formats, like JPEG and GIF?

5. When this happens, and you aren't able to save as a TIFF, do you get an error message of any sort?


I did a little research and unfortunately, I can't seem to find much information on this problem. I can offer a little advice, though, based on some things I read:

1. If you're scanning the images, don't save them as TIFFs when you scan them, and then save them as TIFF again from Photoshop.

2. Make sure your image color is 8 bits/channel. You'll find this setting under the Image pulldown menu, and then select the Mode submenu, and make sure 8 bits/channel is ticked.

3. Before you save as a TIFF, flatten your image (go to the Layer pulldown menu, and near the very bottom, you'll see the Flatten Image option). This would only apply if you have more than one layer in your file.


I'm still looking around on some other forums, so in the meantime, if you could answer the questions I asked, I might have a little more luck figuring out what's going on.


-- From the standpoint that there might be a problem with Photoshop itself:

The other option here is that the problem has NOTHING to do with  the files, but with your Photoshop application itself. If worse comes to worse, and we can't find a solution based on file saving fixes, I'd suggest you uninstall and then reinstall Photoshop. But let's try and hold off on that unless it's completely necessary.

Thanks, June!

Lisa  

Answer
Hi June,

Glad flattening your files is seeming to work for you! And what you said about your original file being a PDF might be part of the problem.

What I'd do if I were you is just make note of every time you have the problem -- write down the type of file it happened on, and any particulars about the file. Then let me know, and maybe we can come up with something more definitive for a fix.

But if flattening is working, I'd keep on doing that.

Also, although I'm sure you're doing this, make sure your Byte Order is set to IBM PC -- this step comes after you've done Save As, and selected TIFF. Then you see the dialog box that says TIFF Options, and Byte Order is in the middle. Since you're working on a PC, your default might already be IBM PC, and you should stick with that.

TIFFs can be kind of strange, and they have lots of options for compression, as I'm sure you can see when you save your files. For general knowledge, here's a good article about TIFFs:
http://searchsmb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid44_gci214180,00.html


Anyway, hope things continue to work, and please let me know if you continue having problems!

Lisa