Saving psd files - compatability on or off?

[TonyW]

A question that has been bugging me recently. The Photoshop Bible calls that preference option to Maximize PSD File Compatability evil and that the first thing you should do is turn it off. So obediently I did in Elements and Photoshop as all it was supposed to do was make the files bigger and make them compatible with old versions of Photoshop and other applications that I don't have,

But when I did that I started running into messages about missing composite images when I used saved psd files as displacement maps and (I think) textures and patterns. And most recently some people (but not all) have reported a text on a circle psd file that I posted giving the same message.

So I'm puzzled. What does that option really do? When should I be using it? Is there a difference between Elements and Photoshop that makes the Photoshop Bible advice appropriate for one but not the other. Or is the bible wrong :eek:

Tony

[GaryK]

Tony

Strange about the text on a cirlce..worked fine for me.(PE5)
I wonder if the problem ones were older versions of Elements.:confused:

I also get that messge if I try to use irfanview to view a PSD. I think it has to do with the compatibility on/off thing as well.

I thought all it did was include sort of a thumbnail that would allow other programs to view it. Probably thumbnail isn't right, but likley some code as to what exactly the image contains and how to access it.

[Juergen D]

Tony,
What is supposed to be the evil, other than the larger file size? I just checked, and I have the maximize setting on in all my PSEs (2,3, and 5). From what I read, it provides backward compatibility with older versions of Elements, which I like, because I do go back to an earlier version sometimes, for example if I do not have a certain plug-in in the latest version.

Juergen

[TonyW]

Juergen: Only file size was mentioned which I agree isn't a big issue these days however he is very persuasive (he actually says it's not just evil - it's pure evil :eek: ) and also says that the option should be named "Double My Files Sizes Just Because".

Later he says it's there to support older versions that don't support layers - so that's getting to be pretty old and I doubt anyone's using them any more.

But from my experiences I'm suspecting there's more to it than that.

Gary: One person who had the problem was using PSE5 so that's a real puzzle. I can only guess that maybe I was using a font that they didn't have but I haven't been able able to test that out as I don't have any fonts that I don't have :D . But that would also suggest that there's a lot more to compatability than just layers or no layers so I have it turned back on again - just in case....

Tony

[CalamityJanet]

Tony, I had a problem a while back with doing a displacement map...getting the text thing you mentioned. The final conclusion, after much help from Wendy, was that if you have the max compatibility turned off you have to flatten your grayscale image to make the displacement map work.

[TonyW]

Janet: Thanks for the tip - I did wonder if that was part of my problem - probably the same with textures. I think I've had that message when just browsing around for interesting psd files on my computer and I'm sure they wouldn't have been flattened.

Tony

[Wendy]

Hi Tony ...

I come on the side of it is evil :twisted:

All it does is create a composite of the image and that means older version or some other types of software can then see it. That comes at a price :D file size ... now space may not be a problem but multiply all those extra kb up and way ... its a lot.

I work on large files and at 100MB+ I certainly don't want they extra composite ... not only does it add to the file size but it takes longer to open too!

... only time I would ever need it is if I wanted to use a layered file in something else (not very likely) and as a displacement map (then I flatten it)

I have oodles of space ... but don't want to use it up on the evil compatability composite :D

Wendy

[ClickCardo]

Wendy, do use DAM software? I find it indispensible. It can make using it there easier in some software.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

Sorry I don't know what DAM software is ... :(

Wendy

[seebee]

In the PS Killer Tips book, Scott mentions basically what Wendy says. Old, old versions of PS couldn't read layers, so it saves your work as an unlayered version as well as a layered version if you keep the compatibility on. Since almost no one uses that old of a version of PS, it's not really necessary, which is why most people are recommending you turn it off, I guess.

[GraceT]

Interesting reading. I always had it On. No wonder my PSD files are huge!

Now, I changed my Preferences: Maximize PSD File Compatibility Never.

Thanks for the information.

[ClickCardo]

Wendy

The Organizer can be considered DAM software. I use CS2/3 now and have been using IMatch as my DAM software. Peter Krogh has written the definitive book on the subject call "The DAM Book" no less. He uses Iview Media Pro which just got bought out by Microsoft. His book gives a process to go through defining a photographic workflow of which DAM is featured. I highly recommend it to get the most out of the Organizer or any DAM software.

CC

[Barb O]

I recently purchased "Photoshop Elements 5 Workflow" by Tim Grey and Peter K Burian and I hope to have time to read it later this week. It does include some discussion of the Organizer. However, it is not primarily a discussion of DAM applications and I purchased it for editing workflow more than Organizer/DAM.

Specifically for the Organizer, I use Michael Slater's book "Organize your Photos with Adobe Photoshop Elements 3". Even though I now have version 5, the concepts in that book are still valid. Yet I would not consider it a general DAM book - I would describe it as a mixture of "do this" specific directions and general planning information for managing your photo files.

[troush]

I turn it on so IMatch (I use it, too) can generate a thumbnail.

-Trish

[Wendy]

Hi CC ...

Thank you ...

I'm a Mac user so I don't have the Organiser but I will take a look around at DAM software :)

Wendy

[Codebreaker]

Actually it's not just legacy programs that will need the Maximise Compatibility - Adobes newly launched Lightroom will also need that option if you import images into it.

Personally I'm moving away from PSD to the more open format of TIFF.

DAM > Digital Assest Management

Colin

[troush]

Colin,

That's what my other excuse was! Adobe "closed" the PSD file format at a certain version (I don't know which one), and added the "maximize compatibility" thing so other apps could at least "read" the PSD file and see them. I hadn't thought about saving as TIFF. Isn't TIFF much bigger than PSD's though?

-Trish

[Codebreaker]

Tiff can be bigger than a PSD but there is also some compression options you can play with.

For example a JPEG at just over 1MByte saved as a 27MByte PSD and 29MByte Tiff. This was just a quick test with no compression options.

Quite a difference :eek:

Colin

[Wendy]

Which is one of the reasons if I am not going to use the layers again and I won't be working on the images again ... then I save as a best quality jpg :)

Wendy

[ClickCardo]

Hi CC ...

Thank you ...

I'm a Mac user so I don't have the Organiser but I will take a look around at DAM software :)

Wendy

Wendy

I think it's Apple, http://www.apple.com/aperture , who have a great DAM / Photo Workflow / RAW converter. It works on TIFF and JPG too. Not sure what it does with PSD, but you can download a free trial at that link. Peter's DAM book covers everything involved with DAM which means the photo workflow from capture to naming to hardware to backup to etc. I'm sure you'd get great ideas from it for Aperture too.

CC

[Wendy]

Thank you ... :)

Wendy