Settings Help Needed

[Linda Lou]

I think I missed some settings when I installed 2023. Help and the .pdf don't seem to speak the same language as I when it comes to Search, so I'll try here.
1. In 2018 I could open an image of 200x200 for example and paste a layer of 400x400 on it. At that point I could reposition the larger top layer to my liking. Copying the merged layers or saving would save the image as my original 200x200 size. In PSP2023 the image copies and saves to the larger 400x400 size. Did I miss a setting to save as my original image size?

2. 2023 is not allowing me to work with shadow layers that I created for images in 2018. It shows them in the list of layers, but I cannot copy or edit them in any way. I have to open 2023 and edit or copy shadow layers there. Is there a setting for enabling 2023 to work on all 2018 .pspimage layers that were created in 2018? It is only shadow layers that seem to have this problem so far.

3. I had 2023 freeze/crash only once when working on very large images. In 2018 after a crash or a freeze so that I had to close in TaskManager, upon opening 2018 again it would ask if I wanted to restore the open files. That was wonderful! After my first 2023 freeze>close, PSP did not ask if I wanted to open the images I had been working on, so everything was lost. Where is the setting for this? The only one I could find is the setting for saving a number of Recent (File>Recent Files) and I have that set to the default. Unfortunately, PSP didn't remember it when it closed unexpectedly.

[LeviFiction]

1) I admit I didn't test pasting a 400x400 on a 200x200 image. But did try a 500x500 pasted as new layer on a 255x255 image. And could not duplicate what you're seeing. Both the merged copy and the saved PNG were 255x255.

2) I don't have any such images to test with. But it's not going to be a setting so specific to 2018. In fact 2023 views all images from X8-2022 to be the same. I opened PSP 2020, created a new layer, drew on it, did 3D drop shadow effect, and saved it. Opened in 2023 and I was fully able to move it with the pick tool, paint over it with the paint brush, do it all.

What types of editing did you try and what are the tool settings you're using?

3) File -> Preferences -> Auto-save settings

[Linda Lou]

It wasn't 200x200 and 400x400. I just used those as examples. To be exact it was a 4000x4000 resized to 3600x3600 .png pasted on a 1920x960 .png background image. PSP kept copying it, cutting it, or saving it as 3600x3600 with the merged smaller image at the top and the rest of the transparent large image at the bottom. Strangest thing I've ever seen!

The inactive shadow layer happened on two different occasions with two different images. I opened a .pspimage that I had created/saved in 2018 prior to installing 2023. Now that I have 2023 I opened my image to continue my project. I decided that I did not like the drop shadow that I had used so I tried to delete that layer from Layers. Nothing happened. When that didn't work I tried to erase it on the image with the eraser. Nothing happened. I made sure nothing had been selected so I hit Select None. No change. I tried merging the shadow down, figuring I'd just replace the background layer it merged to. It would not move. Nothing happened. I closed 2023 and opened the image in 2018. I was able to easily do all editing in 2018.

Regarding the auto-save, my setting for Auto Recover is already checked and set for 15 minutes. That is why I was so surprised when I was not asked if I wanted to recover anything. I thought maybe there is another setting somewhere. I just tried it again using Task Manager to close 2023. Again there was no prompt to recover when I re-opened PSP. I also tried checking Auto Preserve. That did not help either. I guess that one will remain a mystery.

If any of these problems occur again, I'll investigate further and take some screenshots. I wanted to do that yesterday but was up to my eyeballs in a Mother's Day graphics deadline and just couldn't stop work to experiment.

[LeviFiction]

Yeah, sadly doesn't sound like a common issue you can just fix with a few settings. But if you experience them again, any screenshots or recordings will be great. Even better if you come up with detailed steps for duplicating the issue reliably (assuming that's possible).

Still can't replicate the copy and paste even matching file sizes. I have seen an odd bug occasionally put a new layer (pasted or merged) beneath the background layer. But I always move it back into place. Obviously not exactly the same but I don't know if these are loosely related or not. Imagine PSP saves a layer as the bottom-most layer when it's not supposed to be, and that becomes the canvas size.

If you can recreate the shadow issue in a junk image you don't mind sharing, I would like to test it out. As I don't have 2018 installed, and 2020 won't replicate it, it's hard to test.

It will depend on whether or not the auto-save has happened, was successful, and whether or not PSP cleared it out before closing. PSP saves the temporary files to the AppData directory. If you go to File -> Preferences - > File Locations and look at the Undo/Temporary Files it'll give the exact location. Most files will be zero kb in size. When an auto-save executes two files are created. A *.PspAutosave file and a *.tmp file that the AutoSave file references for image data. The .tmp file is a full PSPImage file, you could copy it out of there, change the extension, and open it like any normal image. If this file exists and PSP closes without being able to clear it out, then it should find the file and offer to open it. But if it doesn't find these files it won't.

[Linda Lou]

PSP saves the temporary files to the AppData directory. If you go to File -> Preferences - > File Locations and look at the TUndo/Temporary Files it'll give the exact location. Most files will be zero kb in size. When an auto-save executes two files are created. A *.PspAutosave file and a *.tmp file that the AutoSave file references for image data. The .tmp file is a full PSPImage file, you could copy it out of there, change the extension, and open it like any normal image. If this file exists and PSP closes without being able to clear it out, then it should find the file and offer to open it. But if it doesn't find these files it won't.

That's good information. I didn't know that!

I tried multiple times closing PSP projects with Task Manger, but each time nothing asks me if I want to restore the previous session's images because PSP closed unexpectedly. Oh well.

Regarding the shadow issue, I have not been able to find a 2018 .pspimage with a separate shadow layer that I have not already merged. It was just the unmerged works in progress from 2018 to 2023 that had the problem. If I come across some old (Christmas?) unfinished images I'll experiment.

Thank you for the help.