PSD file was saved as jpeg but retains psd item type/extension

[luisd57341307]

I was working on an illustration a few days ago which I kept as a PSD, and then I saved a separate jpeg of said file. Now it turns out that I can not open the PSD file with this error:

It did save a separate jpeg file so I know it didn't simply convert my psd to jpeg instead.

The file properties is thus:

What may have happened during the save? is there a way to restore it to psd or at the very least make it an editable jpeg?

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

It seems to be a jpeg with a psd extension. Try to change the extension to .jpeg and see if that opens.

Make a copy and leave the original! just in case you lose track.

[luisd57341307]

thank you for the quick reply. I have regained access to the file by changing the extension. Is there a reason for the issue? anything I can provide to identify a cause for file type errors? I would like to avoid this possible issue in the future as some illustrations are more complex/have masks/effects that jpegs will not retain as opposed to psd.

[D Fosse]

I don't know why it happened. But in the future, always keep in the back of your head that the jpeg specification does not allow anything beyond a flat, 8-bit pixel array. Any special file properties, and jpeg is out.

If your file has layers, masks, alpha channels, 16 bit depth and so on, and you still want a jpeg - then Photoshop saves out a jpeg copy. The original file still sits there, open in your Photoshop workspace!

You cannot close this original file without being asked what you want to do with it. You can save it separately, but you can also close it without saving if you so choose. If you do that, the original is gone, and all you have is the jpeg copy - without any extra properties.

Personally I just never work with jpegs. There are many good reasons for that aside from this one. If I need a jpeg I make a jpeg copy from the PSD master file.