psd mac/pc compatibility

[giampaolo_de_souza]

Hi everyone,

A client has sent me a .psd file he created on mac. I could download the file on my desktop (I am using a PC) and it popped out with the correct .psd icon; however as I opened it all I got was a single flat image of what were supposed to be multiple layers. I had the file resent multiple times but the problem remained - i.e. for some reasons my .psd file did not retain the layer information and transformed in a single flat image.

By the way, we are both using Photoshop CC.

Can anybody help?

Thank you

Giampa

[gener7 · Accepted solution]

How is the client sending this file? If he sends it as an email attachment without at least zipping it, the server might be flattening it. Have the client right-click on the psd in the Finder and select "compress".

Otherwise Mac layered files can be opened up on a PC, no problem.

[giampaolo_de_souza]

Thank you for your reply.

We have exchanged the file via email (gmail).

We have now switched to Dropbox and everything seems to be fine.

Thank you

[Terri_Stevens]

Good call, Gene. I wouldn't have thought of that.

[gener7]

Thanks Terri, Might as well explain:

I have a 58 layer psd from a Japanese CG artist who crafted it on a G4/450MHz Mac on Photoshop 5.5 back in 1999. I've never had it flatten, Mac or PC and it still opens in CC 2017.

So decided to check Google, and yes, directly attaching it to email was listed as a possible culprit. Also print metadata can be lost doing it that way.

Client sends a print ready psd @300ppi and you get it as 72ppi. So direct attachment to email is a bad thing.

Size limits 5-10 MB and email servers mangling the file are just two reasons email is not much good for any more than a small jpeg.

Email keeps flattening the layers on my psd and... |Official Apple Support Communities

Gene

[Terri_Stevens]

Needless to say the Mac and PC PSD file formats are interchangeable. Is it possible the client is not saving the PSD properly by clicking layers in the Save As dialog?

Have them send you the file as a Tiff that is setup as shown as there are more options to choose for saving layers