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Could not complete your request because the file-format module cannot parse the file

Mar 12, 2009 3:32 AM

Hi there!

I use Photoshop CS4 now and I have a problem when I want to import (by dragging'n dropping, importing, open - I tried every way)a .png or i.e. also an .jpg:

when I worked a short time with PS (i.e. 10 minutes) and want to open a .png then, there comes the popup-window with:
"Could not complete your request because the file-format module cannot parse the file"

The funny thing is: my file is NOT broken!! Because if I then shutdown PS and open it again, there is no longer a problem to open the .png-file.... after a while of course it comes back...

So all solutions that I found on this problem were "the norton anti virus is also running"-solution: but I have no NAV running!!
And the files are NOT damaged!! Otherwise I couldn't have opened it after restarting PS.

I purged all files and I have enough cache!! So it doesn't seem to be a problem of my computerperformance.

Any idea???

Thanks a lot,
Nina
  • Currently Being Moderated
    Community Member
    Mar 9, 2010 7:50 AM
    Try resetting your preferences as described in the FAQ.

    http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.ef4a07f/1

    You either have to physically delete (or rename) the preference files or, if using the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift method, be sure that you get a confirmation dialog.

    This resets all settings in Photoshop to factory defaults.

    A complete uninstall/re-install will not affect the preferences and a corrupt file there may be causing the problem.
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    Community Member
    Mar 20, 2009 6:29 AM
    Can you tell us a little more about your setup? If the problem went away when you eliminated your preferences, then returned -- The question is why are your preferences getting borked in the first place. Something unusual is happening.

    So we need to know more specifics including your workflow ...
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    Community Member
    Apr 1, 2009 7:26 AM
    OK so do you have enough scratch disk and ram assigned to Photoshop to be working with so many image levels/images at the same time ? I don't recall you posting your system specs. I'm leaning toward a memory issue; corrupting your preferences (assuming that you don't have enough memory space to be working with that many files open continuously). Of course can't rule this out until seeing the specs.
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    Adobe Employee
    Apr 1, 2009 8:52 AM
    SDA - if RAM or scratch space were low, nina would get an error message saying so.

    But the error message reported means that the file is corrupt (can't be parsed).

    But if the same file works sometimes and not others - that indicates some other problem. Possibilities are: bad RAM, interference from another app (virus, anti-virus, disk utility, etc.), bad hard disk system, a seriously malfunctioning third party plugin (especially if you are using a third party PNG plugin), etc.
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    Community Member
    Apr 1, 2009 9:42 AM
    @Chris Cox Of course you're right; that's what I covered (or meant) with "being a ram issue". ;-D Could have been more than one scenario. Thanks for the clarification.

    I suspect the OP should bite the bullet and get an IT person to look at at box in question. Some things are a little difficult to troubleshoot through a forum.
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    Community Member
    Apr 6, 2009 3:22 AM

    Hi to all,

     

    thanks for your answers! I am still absolutely perplex ... it seems that only I have this probleme .. !

    I will check all the solutions you've suggested (the RAM and virus-stuff) and hope that something gonna work --

     

    Thanks to all of you.

     

    Nina

     

    *my account seemed to be broken since they relaunched the forum but: I am nina1234567... so hope you gonna see this*

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    Community Member
    Apr 22, 2009 6:45 AM

    STILL same problem!!

     

    Meanwhile I re-installed Photoshop and because of the missing positive result I then also re-installed my whole CS4-Package!!!

    I don't get it! I never had this problem with CS3!! Since I installed CS4 this problem occures!!! *ARGH*

     

    And I cannot understand why I should be zhe only one who has this problem!!! I really searched the whole internet - NO RESULTS!

     

    If I want to batch some .png-files, i have no choce: I have to open them by hand and if after a while the problem shows up, I have to shut down PS and open it again and then the the manual opening goes on!

     

    Any solutions?

     

    Greetz,

    Nina

     

    P.S. My collegue has the same problem!!!!! And he heard it could be a bug.... well -- they didn't seem to have fixed it yet! argh!

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    Community Member
    Jun 25, 2009 10:37 AM

    Hello,

    i too got the same problem too with the PNG. Every time i open 2-3 "Big" document and i want to open a PNG i got the parsing error message.

    I'm running WinXp Pro 64 sp2 intel core 2 quad CPU q700 @ 2.66mhz, 8.00GB ram.  NVIDIA Quadro FX 370.


    All is brand new, ie.CS4 was like the first thing i installed. Its pretty weird and closing/reopening PS is not the best workflow around.

    If anyone have an idea on how to solve this, i'm taker.

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    Community Member
    Jun 25, 2009 11:43 AM

    -" Every time i open 2-3 "Big" document and i want to open a PNG i got the parsing error message."-

     

    I used to have this exact problem with CS3, but never 2ith CS4 or below CS3. (Win XP 32bit Quad Core CPU, Nvidia 9800, 4GB RAM)

     

    However, i fixed it. My problem seemed to be the files location was in a deep directory and any png files i opened from there crashed photoshop. I simply moved the files and renamed aload of folders going down to the directory to make the path name shorter and it opened them fine. This solution worked, but i did see the probelm make a come-back after a few months that was not have been caused by the same thing.

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    Community Member
    Dec 4, 2009 7:28 AM

    We are facing the exact same problem here on 4 PCs with Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended - support is not very helpful as they are only sending back standard makro answers.

     

    Resetting preferences in Photoshop, reinstalling and a clean new installation did not help - the problem remains.

     

    Anyone any idea on how to fix this? This is really a killer!

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    Community Member
    Jan 30, 2010 10:08 AM

    I'm having the same problem!  It's making me CRAZY!

     

    I keep getting 'cannot be parsed' message and my files are being saved to a file deep dark location. I've reset the preferences several times and it keeps coming back.

     

    Help Please!

     

    FYI:  I did a factory reset on my laptop a few days ago, reinstalled Design Premium and now have this issue.  Never had any problems before.  Grrrr!

     

    Thanks,

    Kristin

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    Community Member
    Feb 9, 2010 6:05 PM

    Hi Nina,

     

    Did you find anything to fix this problem? I am in

    exactly the same position as you were with exactly the same problem. I've tried everything mentioned

    in the forums but to no avail. The one thing I didn't try was replacing the .8bi. file because that was for CS2 and CS3 and I don't know whether things are the same in CS4.

    I can't believe how many people have this problem or why Adobe don't come out with a solution. - Unless I'm missing something of course.

    I'm operating in Windows Vista Home Premium and CS4 Extended and have heaps of ram etc. I can open the PNG files in my old elements and CS3 so it's a problem with the software not the individual files.

     

    Cheers

    Maggiestam

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    Community Member
    Feb 9, 2010 8:32 PM

    All,

     

    I have suddenly started having the same issue. We need to find a solution to this quick because it is already putting a damper on my production.

    Time is money!

     

    Photoshop CS4 (32 and 64bit mode), Windows 7 Professional x64, Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0Ghz, 8GB RAM, 1TB SATA 7200rpm HDD

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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Community Member
    Feb 10, 2010 4:14 AM

    Hi Maggistam,

     

    fortunately I dont't have this problem anymore...but not, because I found a good solution.. but because I got a new computer and I think with little different hardware or preferences... I don't really know why, but since then I can work the same way I had worked before all this crab appeared.

     

    I am sorry, that I cannot help you all with a better answer... I just hope, that this problem will never appear again...

    But I cannot be sure.

    Maybe this problem appears only when there are certain factors coming together .. and we all are one part of a "funky abnormal crowd".

     

    But ADOBE should find a way to solve this problem immediately!!!

     

    Cheers,

    Nina

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    Community Member
    Feb 10, 2010 4:41 AM

    Thanks so much for getting back to me Nina. It's all so very frustrating. It

    is about time Adobe sorted it out as there are so many people having the

    same problem. They have been totally unhelpful so far. I'm glad it's all

    sorted out for you, though and I certainly hope it doesn't reoccur on your

    new computer.

     

    I'm waiting to hear back from Adobe so we'll see what happens there.

     

     

    Cheers

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Feb 10, 2010 10:26 AM

    I have the same problem!!  So Annoying!

     

    My problem started after I did a factory reset on my laptop and reinstalled Design Premium.  I can use all my Design Programs normally, except Ps.  Isn't there anything that can be done to fix this?  I didn't 'deactivate' Ps before I did the reset, could that be the problem?  Don't know, it's a long shot, I'm sure.

     

    My laptop will be replaced in a couple days...not because of this problem but because I'm upgrading.  I would love to find a solution in case this happens again.

     

    Nina - Do you mind me asking which computer/laptop you got?

     

    Thanks,

     

    Kristin

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    Adobe Employee
    Feb 11, 2010 6:30 PM

    Adobe can't solve corrupt files.

    They are corrupted by bad disks, bad RAM, or other applications (malware mostly) on your hard disk.

     

    Photoshop simply reports problems reading the files when the files are corrupt.

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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Community Member
    Feb 11, 2010 8:14 PM

    There was a fairly recent post here, on corrupt Photoshop files, and a repair utility, that I had bookmarked. HERE is that utility.

     

    That would be my first place to look. I have not used it, nor have I needed to, but it came highly recommended from others.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 4:15 AM

    Hi Chris,

     

    I don't know if you got the problem right.

    Photoshop just says the file is corrupt, but when I skip PS and then reopen it:

    Surprise: now PS has no problem to open the file!!

     

    So the file doesn't seem to be corrupt at all, because when it would, then it should stay corrupt 5 minutes later.

     

    Cheers,

    Nina

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    dec9,
    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 7:29 AM

    Nina,

     

    I have had the same problem like yours. So I just open the file in Paint Shop Pro X2, save it as a copy and open the copy in Photoshop. Then everything is fine. Some have done the same using GIMP. Maybe it won't work on the really botch corrupt files.

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    Adobe Employee
    Feb 12, 2010 1:20 PM

    If the file opens sometimes and not others -- then something outside of Photoshop is interferring with disk/file activity.

    That could be a bad disk, bad RAM, malware, or a buggy utility (we've seen bad anti-virus software do that, but it usually get fixed quickly).

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 1:39 PM

    There are multiple files that this is happening to but the files are able to be opened in other applications including an earlier version of Photoshop. It doesn't matter if the file is opened from one hard drive or another as I have tried copying it to multiple HDDs to no avail. The file type is BMP and it opens just fine in Microsoft Picture and Paint. Brand new hard drive, memory diagnostics come back with no errors, clean OS install with Norton Internet Security 2010... if the problem is not Photoshop I will be very surprised. Especially considering I have not seen this in earlier versions and the amount of people reporting this issue would make it rather coincidental that we all happen to have the same environmental influences on file corruption.

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 6:26 PM

    Another possibility could be Windows Indexing locking the file, while trying to index it. Turn this "feature" OFF too - just in case.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 7:18 PM

    Thank you. When you save it again what format do you use? PNG again or PSD?

    or Jpeg?

    Cheers

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 7:20 PM

    Yes, I loaded up some new security software and have now removed it and

    fingers crossed all seems to be well again. Only time will tell now.

     

    Thank you

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 7:21 PM

    I'll have a look at that, too. Thank you so much for taking the time to help

    me.

    Cheers

    Maggie

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    dec9,
    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 7:22 PM

    I saved it as the same format that it was in the beginning. Now if it was a jpeg I will save it as a PSD so I don't lose more of the picture quality.

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    Feb 12, 2010 8:10 PM

    Thank you. So far all of my problems have been with PNG files so I'll just

    resave them as PNG or PSD as I can open them in Elements. Then I can keep it

    in the Photoshop family.

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 9:36 PM

    Maggie,

     

    Like you, I try to keep things in the "family," and that is why I use .PSD's, whenever I can. Now, when going to the Web, one obviously has to use other formats, like PNG. I recall when those were not supported on most browsers, and I had to use GIF, should the client need any form of Transparency. Luckily, those days are pretty much behind us. With Video, .PSD's work perfectly, and I can even Import_As_a_Sequence to keep my Layers, and then animate those to my heart's content. I am a big fan of .PSD's and seldom deviate from those, unless the client has specific needs, like TIFF, or JPEG, or PNG. I even resent when the Mac-based videographers insist on TGA's - "hey, just use PrPro and use .PSD's... "

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Feb 12, 2010 10:09 PM

    Hunt,

     

    Can I save my pngs as psd and retain all

    of the transparency properties? I'm not too worried about the web as I

    print most of my work and will save jpeg copies if I need

    to.

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Mar 1, 2010 9:47 PM

    C**p!  Have just started getting this problem and googled it and came across this post.  I am using mac osx 10.5.8 with creative suite4 and photoshop has just started with this problem.  My problem relates to opening gif files.  If anyone comes up with a working solution, please post.  I just discovered I also have the same problem on my laptop (windows 7) which is brand new and did a quick test to see if it had the same problem there.  Made a quick gif file, saved it and closed it and then tried to re-open it and voila same problem.  I have written to adobe, so will keep this thread updated with their response.  I referred them to this post.  If anyone comes up with a working solution, please post.  Thanks

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 6:39 PM

    I am having the same issue trying to open a simple .gif image

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 6:48 PM

    Maggie,

     

    Can I save my pngs as psd and retain all of the transparency properties?

     

    Yes, .PSD's will save all Transparency, plus all Layers. Now, their use might depend on where the files will be used. With InDesign, AI, Premiere Pro (video), they will work perfectly. With some other applications, it's a big, "it depends."

     

    Good luck, and sorry for the late reply.

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 6:49 PM

    Considering the number of replies, have you tried the suggestions above? Which ones did not work, and which ones helped in some way?

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 6:50 PM

    Write to adobe and let them know of your issue .. mine only does it on some gifs .. god knows why .. i know the images themselves aren't corrupted.

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 6:59 PM

    If it happens on some GIF's, but not on others, then it is most likely an issue with the certain GIF's. The chances are great that they do not have well-formed headers. Where did they come from? What is the provenance of these bad files?

     

    If I get great results with gasoline from one station, but my MB S-500 coughs and sputters with gas from another station, I do not blame my car. More likely it's bad gas.

     

    Good luck,

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 7:02 PM

    This is so frustrating!!!

     

    I have fixed the problem for myself by removing new security software that I had recently installed. I then had to reset CS4 to the factory default preferences. There's been no problem since. It was a lot of trial and error but 'touch wood' it's worked. Someone else somewhere in the forum archives gave me the clue when they wrote that sometimes Nortons has a conflict with Photoshop. My programme wasn't Nortons but it was new software, which they have since corrected.

     

    The parsing problem did not start up straight away after the installation of my new security, but soon after. Just resetting the prefernces to factory defaults first didn't fix the problem either. I had to do that after uninstalling every one of the security files. I have reverted to my old security which is good and I just have to reign in my paranoia regarding hackers.

     

    I hope I haven't jinxed myself by saying that the problem is fixed LOL! Good luck!!!

     

    Cheers

    Maggie

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 7:08 PM

    Maggie,

     

    I so often feel as you do - if I brag on something working, we all know what will happen at dawn the next day...

     

    Good luck, and please share what that program was, as I think that I missed it. Likely to help someone in the future, and I would like to know, so I can stick it in the archives of my mind.

     

    Happy Editing

     

    Hunt

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    Community Member
    Mar 8, 2010 7:08 PM

    Thanks for that .. will try it out

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    Community Member
    Mar 16, 2010 10:36 AM

    Got this error message when opening a PNG in Photoshop CS4 on Leopard, even though it opened fine in Firefox and placed fine into InDesign. Eventually I noticed Firefox was showing that it was a BMP file (in the title bar) ... so I changed the extension to .bmp and voila! it opened in Photoshop. Just something else to try - open it in Firefox and see what kind of file Firefox thinks it is.

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    Community Member
    Mar 19, 2010 8:40 AM

    I have just discovered the same problem since I moved to CS4 from CS2 (Mac OS 10.4.11). The solution I've found is to change the extension from .png to .psd . Works every time, not very elegant and I have no real idea what is going on, but then again I don't really care. It seems to work for me

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    Community Member
    Apr 1, 2010 6:49 AM

    I know exactly what you guys are talking about....  I use CS4 and find the only "solution" is to exit and restart....

    I will also try out some of the above suggestions when the problem is occurring.

     

    UPDATE:::::

     

    Since this problem occurred a few minutes ago  -  tried to drag and drop a few different png with no success.  Someone earlier mentioned renaming the file - so I tried it with a file which was named "hot_air_balloon_from_so_and_so_stock"  (not the actual name, but similar) to simply "hob", to try out the possibility that "parsing" has something to do with being able to read the file name amongst other things.    I might be celebrating a bit too prematurely here, but low and behold it opened without me having to restart Photoshop........  I'll try another similarly named file in a moment........

    I think PS might find it hard to read pngs/gifs with long file names.

     

    It's worth a try anyway , nothing to lose.....

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    Community Member
    Apr 14, 2010 3:44 PM

    Attention all! I fixed this problem on a Mac. I don't know if it's a root problem with photoshop, but I managed to fix my files. My fix is for Mac users, I hope it at least leads windows users in the right direction. Open the .png or whatever files with preview. Click File > Save As and choose to save as a photoshop file. Open the new file with photoshop and save with your intended format. Worked for all of my broken files.

     

    I hope this helps at least one other person!

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    Community Member
    Jun 30, 2010 5:27 AM

    I have to say that I think that this is a bug in Photoshop.

    I have two gif files downloaded from the internet.They were fully visible on the website in question.

    I can view and edit them on my windows machine (running XP SP3) using either paint or the windows image viewer programmes.

    I cannot however open them in Photoshop CS4 installed on the windows machine - getting the error

    'Could not complete your request because the file-format module cannot parse the file'

    I copied the files across to my mac. I can open and view the files in preview, but in Photoshop CS5 I get the error above as well.

    I also get the error with iphoto, so there is something dodgy about the gifs for sure..

     

    I would be interested to see any fixes though.

     

    Both the CS4 (windows) and CS5 (mac) are fresh installs, and are functioning perfectly.. I don't think trashing preference files etc etc is the answer personally. More likely it is a file which has been named incorrectly (maybe) with the wrong extension or something ?

     

    Someone mentioned contacting adobe support. I can't seem to find a place to do this.. can someone point me in the right direction ?

     

    Thanks

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    Community Member
    Jul 19, 2010 1:54 PM

    Hi!

     

    I solve this problem just changing the RGB color to CMYK color from the original archive.

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