Autosave and Auto-preserve - where are they?

[Cassel]

I know that Autosave will save open images at specific intervals and they will reopen if the program stops unexpectedly.
The documentation indicates that those files are saved in C:\Users\Utilisateur\AppData\Local\Temp\Corel PaintShop Pro xxxx Temp Files

However, I am a bit puzzled:

1- if I go to that temp folder, none of the files can be opened. So can those be used?
2- I have some folders of Corel Auto-Preserve with some files of work in progress that can be opened. Why do I have some but not always? And are those set somewhere in PSP?
3- what is the difference between Autosave and Auto-preserve?

[Forriner]

Autosave periodically saves copies of open files while you work on them in case PSP crashes before you save them. On re-opening PSP you get the opportunity to open them again. These are the Temp Files files. These are deleted when you close an image or PSP normally.
You enable or disable Autosave under menu File/Preferences/Autosave Settings... where you can set the time period.

Auto-preserve saves an unchanged copy of the (changed) file you save, in a Backup folder under the image's original folder. You enable or disable it under menu File/Preferences/General Program Preferences... > Auto-Preserve

Anything but an expert, but I hope this helps.

[LeviFiction]

EDIT: Forriner beat me to it, and far more succinctly.

So the settings are found in two places:
1) Auto-Preserve Original - File -> Preferences -> General Program Preferences -> Auto Preserve from left-hand list-box.
2) Auto-Save - File -> Preferences -> Auto-Save Settings.

Auto-save is for if PSP crashes. PSP creates temporary copies of all open images at the rate you specify in case PSP crashes unexpectedly. Because these are temporary files they are cleaned up and removed/just made empty when you close the image or PSP itself. As the image is closing without issue there is no longer any need for the temporary backup. These backups will be accessible while the image is still open if you wanted to actually try them. Open an image, wait for the auto-save to make it's first copy, go to the folder, and find the big file. Copy it to another folder, rename the extension to "pspimage" and open it, you'll see an exact copy of your image at the time of auto-saving.

But otherwise they are only for crashes and auto-reloading them into PSP then next time PSP opens. An emergency recovery option. If everything closes appropriately there is no need to keep these files around so PSP doesn't.

Auto-Preserve Original is to help you maintain a copy of your original image if you use Save to overwrite the original. This is to help you be as non-destructive as possible. So if you decide everything you've done is a mistake and you want the original back you can go Edit -> Restore Original and it'll throw away your edited copy and copy your original version back into place. Which is why the folder is a hidden folder. This isn't perfect as I have seen PSP overwrite the saved original before, though I don't remember the circumstances. But in general it's for those people who insist on using Save instead of Save As with a different file name. Just in case they regret their decisions.

If you don't save over your original, there is no need to auto-preserve it. So those won't appear in the auto-preserve folder.

To top it off, I know you didn't ask but just in case anyone else also want's to know, Revert will revert all changes to the last saved instance of the image. Clearing out all temporary saved data and undo steps between the last save and using the "Revert" option.

[Cassel]

Thanks guys.
That make more sense.

LeviFiction, I didn't know about pulling those files OUT of the temp folder and renaming to be able to access them. Something I will definitely try.