# Can't save from Photoshop as a normal jpeg image



## jjlad (May 17, 2021)

I enhanced a jpg in photoshop so that I could crop in and not lose as much detail
Once the dng was in Lightroom I selected Edit in/Photoshop.
There I selected the subject onto a new layer then blurred the background
I then flattened the image and went to the Save As dialog and found there is no option to save it as a regular jpeg.





If I select that option a dialog opens that I've never seen before for saving jpf2000 format. I'm running behind and I really don't need this hassle right now as it is messing up my workflow.  I've never even seen a jpf file.

Can anyone advise as to what is going on with this?


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## Rob_Cullen (May 17, 2021)

This is the possibilities as I see them-
1)  After editing in Ps- do a [SAVE]  (NOT [Save As] ) then Export a JPG from the image (TIF or PSD) that automatically appears back in the LrC library.
2) In LrC Create a Preset for an 'Additional External Editor' and set Photoshop as the 'Additional' with the specifications to create a JPG.  The JPG will also auto appear back in the Library when you do Ps [Save].
3) In Ps go MENU: File > Export as Quick JPG. (the fastest easy way to export a JPG)
4) In Ps go MENU: File > Export As...    and set all your specs in the dialog that opens.

1) and 2) are the only options to have the new JPG automatically appear back in the Catalog library.
3) and 4) would require you do a deliberate File Import process, either by the full Import dialog, or the Synchronize Folder method.


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## Johan Elzenga (May 17, 2021)

Many years ago, the Photoshop ‘Save as’ dialog would only show options like TIFF and PSD if you added layers to your image, or used 16 bits/color. The reason was simple: because JPEG does not support layers or more than 8 bits/color, that could not be an option because that would require Photoshop to flatten the image and/or decrease the bit depth. As a result, people could lose their layers thinking they saved the image before quitting Photoshop. Many people did not understand this, so the question why JPEG was suddenly not an option in the ‘Save as’ dialog (after they had added a layer, that is) was one of the most frequently asked Photoshop questions of that time.

Adobe solved this problem by adding some routines that would analyse the image when you used ‘Save as’, and add ‘copy’ to the name if you tried to save such a layered file as JPEG, keeping the image in Photoshop as ‘unsaved’. That way users were protected against losing work because they chose a non-compatible file format, and could still quickly save a JPEG copy.

Unfortunately, in MacOS Catalina Apple removed the API that was used in these routines. The result was a strange bug when you tried to overwrite an existing JPEG file. Photoshop would ask you to overwrite the file, but then it would not do that even though you said ‘yes’. The only way that Adobe could restore the option to save a copy in a non-compatible file format, without introducing a serious risk of people losing work, was to split up the dialog in ‘Save as’ (with compatible formats only) and ‘Save a copy’. 

And so now people are asking again why the ‘Save as’ dialog does not show JPEG as option with their layered file. It is quickly becoming the most frequently asked Photoshop question again…


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## Rob_Cullen (May 17, 2021)

And then I must get with the latest in Ps 20.4! so I see what Johan is talking about.
See the new [Save a Copy] command-  SAVE A COPY AS JPG


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## jjlad (May 17, 2021)

Thanks guys. I did find a workaround. 
I selected Save as Copy and that opened a dialog that let me select the file on disk and either overwrite it or save with a different name. 
This just came up suddenly and only with files I opened from Camera Raw after enhancing. I've saved thousands of jpgs just using the save as dialog. 
The image was already flattened so I don't get why that other dialog popped up and offered no jpeg or jpg option. 
All the options show up when Save as Copy is selected.


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## Johan Elzenga (May 17, 2021)

jjlad said:


> This just came up suddenly and only with files I opened from Camera Raw after enhancing. I've saved thousands of jpgs just using the save as dialog.
> The image was already flattened so I don't get why that other dialog popped up and offered no jpeg or jpg option.


Check the bit depth in the Camera Raw preferences. It’s likely that it opens the image in 16 bits/color, and JPEG does not support that either.


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## jjlad (May 22, 2021)

This gets more and more interesting. It would be nice if Adobe would simply revert to allow jpegs in the normal Save as dialog.
I'd also like to see an option added to all save or export dialogs ...to add that file to the Lightroom catalog if it got into Photoshop from LR to begin with.  It makes no sense to why that hasn't been there all along. Is there a living Lightroom subscriber who wouldn't want that option?


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## Rob_Cullen (May 22, 2021)

jjlad said:


> .to add that file to the Lightroom catalog if it got into Photoshop from LR to begin with.


If it is a JPG to want to edit in Ps, and return to LrC from Ps, then there is the option to create a Preset for Photoshop as an ADDITIONAL External Editor with the parameters for a JPG file.


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## Johan Elzenga (May 22, 2021)

jjlad said:


> This gets more and more interesting. It would be nice if Adobe would simply revert to allow jpegs in the normal Save as dialog.
> I'd also like to see an option added to all save or export dialogs ...to add that file to the Lightroom catalog if it got into Photoshop from LR to begin with.  It makes no sense to why that hasn't been there all along. Is there a living Lightroom subscriber who wouldn't want that option?


Yes, me. I have no interest saving images as jpeg, except for temporary use. That means that I will never want to add a jpeg produced in Photoshop to my catalog again. I also think it is totally unecessary for anyone else. An image that was edited in Photoshop and returned to Lightroom as TIFF or PSD, can be exported from Lightroom as jpeg when you need a jpeg copy for something.


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## clee01l (May 22, 2021)

Johan Elzenga said:


> Yes, me. I have no interest saving images as jpeg, except for temporary use. That means that I will never want to add a jpeg produced in Photoshop to my catalog again. I also think it is totally unecessary for anyone else. An image that was edited in Photoshop and returned to Lightroom as TIFF or PSD, can be exported from Lightroom as jpeg when you need a jpeg copy for something.


I agree with Johan here.  JPEGs have no place in a managed image inventory unless this is the only source file for the image. (i.e. you have a simple camera that only creates JPEGs.)  For this reason, you should only shoot RAW and retain as few intermediate (full fidelity) RGB files as necessary to express the result.  Remember,  you can always recreate the effects of an external editor from the RAW source.   I would estimate that I need only LrC for 95% or more of my finished output.  I only resort to Photoshop when there is a Photoshop process not already available in Lightroom or I need a layered result.


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