PSCS4 could not save because the file is locked or was left open

Hello—
I'm getting this error a lot, maybe once out of every dozen attempts to save. This occurs on files that are indeed open... because I've opened them in Photoshop! I open the file, make a change, hit CMD-S and get this message.
The finder's info panel says that I have permission to read and write the file.
This happens with multiple file types, not just one file.
All my work is done locally. Not trying to load or save across a network or any such.
Any guesses what might be going on? Obviously it's easy to work around. I "Save As" and give it a new name, then later delete the old file and rename the new one. Still, it's annoying, especially after waiting 10 minutes for a save to complete on a large file, then having to start over.
Thanks in advance!
Steve

No anti-virus software (they cause far more problems than they solve, at least on a semi-secure network), I don't leave Bridge running. iTunes is running, so is InerTrak (time tracking software)... so it has to be Spotlight or Time Machine unless Activity Monitor will lock files. Or it could be Quicksilver, which creates indices like Spotlight.
First thing I'm doing is adding all my hard drives to "Prevent Spotlight from searching these locations" and we'll see if this comes up again.
Could it be the Finder? Does the Finder lock the file while reading the thumbnail?
I'm surprised that there's no way to tell what process has locked the file.
OK, last bit: Why doesn't Photoshop lock the file when it's open so that other programs won't open it?

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PS CS4 could not save because the file is locked

I saw this post, my problem is very similar, but this solution does not solve my problem:
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2121454#2121454
Everytime I try to save a photoshop file I get the "Could not save becasue this file is locked" -- and then I go to save again and it does save, becasue the file has disappeared from where I had originally saved it!
This is VERY irritating, as it is not happening EVERY time I try to save a photoshop file.
In reference to the previous post about this, I do not use Spotlight, and often I do not have anything else open when working on these photoshop files.
I am using CS4, and this occurs when saving files both on and off a server.
I am afraid I will at some point end up losing a file.
Any suggestions?

No anti-virus software (they cause far more problems than they solve, at least on a semi-secure network), I don't leave Bridge running. iTunes is running, so is InerTrak (time tracking software)... so it has to be Spotlight or Time Machine unless Activity Monitor will lock files. Or it could be Quicksilver, which creates indices like Spotlight.
First thing I'm doing is adding all my hard drives to "Prevent Spotlight from searching these locations" and we'll see if this comes up again.
Could it be the Finder? Does the Finder lock the file while reading the thumbnail?
I'm surprised that there's no way to tell what process has locked the file.
OK, last bit: Why doesn't Photoshop lock the file when it's open so that other programs won't open it?

InD blocking Ps to save a file / Could not save * because the file is already in use error

Many users have reported a Photoshop Could not save * because the file is already in use error in many different circumstances.
I place raw jpgs in InDesign document, then open them in Photoshop via Edit original order to adjust them. On random occasions Ps gives me that annoying error. So i found a little trick to avoid saving that image under a different name and relinking it plus reloading Ps since the error repeats on other pictures to.
All you have to do is: when Ps gives error, (Cmd-Tab) switch to InD, directly select the worked jpg in image frame (one that you try to save in Ps) and simply move it left-right (or move it and Undo). Now you can save it without problem.

JPEG is a "lossy" compression format. Every time you save as jpeg you recompress and throw away a little more information. In addition, jpeg does not support transparency or layers, both very useful features for woring with images. For example, you can add an adjustment layer in Photoshop to do your adjustments non-destructively for may of the things that you can do using Image > Adjustments... which will change your pixel data permanently. Throw away an adjustment layer and you image data is untouched. Also, ID allows you to place a layered image and control layer visibility from within ID, making it possible to multi-purpose a single file by showing or hiding various layers.

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See this : http://forums.adobe.com/message/4055429
Look at the solution in the last reply by mrmorgan_chs

Could not save because the file is already in use....

For the last couple of days I have gotten this error message several times. It seems it only happens when I do a 'Photo Merge' initiated in Bridge.
I have Adobe CS4 Extended on Vista.
In my 18 years of working with PS I have never gotten this before. I have tried everything, closing all applications, except PS, changing the file name, changing the file extension, nothing works.
I have also researched this topic in the forums. They pertain mostly to Apple computers, and I have not seen a satisfactory solution, explanation, or 'workaround.'
I sure hope hope somebody can help me with this.
Many thanks!
christian

Hi
I have run into this a couple of times, though not in a while.
I believe I got around it by selecting Save AS and saving the file with a new name i.e. Panorama B.tif or something to that effect.
That seemed to convince it that I wasn't trying to save something that was in use someplace else.
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This is constantly happening when I try to save and replace a JPG in the same folder or save as a copy in the same folder. Sometimes it seems to happen when I even save to another folder, though I've also been able to workaround this by doing that (though it's inconvenient and messes with my folder structure).
A tmp file is saved successfully every time, and I can manually rename the tmp file to the desired filename (as another very inconvenient workaround).
I see on these Forums that this save error is somewhat common in Adobe products, but I don't see a report of this consistently happening on this particular platform. I appreciate it's a beta (RC) of Windows 7 and therefore may not be technically supported (yet?).
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Problem Fixed:
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My biggest 'pain' at the moment is that every time I go to change then save a Photoshop CS3 file it says 'cannot save as the file as it has been left open or is in use by another application'

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Albumdata.xml does not contain your photos - and again NEVER make any changes to the content of the iPhoto library - no dragging - no changes - never go into the library
We need to know exactly what you did
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For reference after you get things working
Moving the iPhoto library is safe and simple - quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library intact as a single entity to the external drive - depress the option key and launch iPhoto using the "select library" option to point to the new location on the external drive - fully test it and then trash the old library on the internal drive (test one more time prior to emptying the trash)
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The files are not set to "read only" when I right click on them and choose 'Properties' in the Windows 7.
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http://board.flashkit.com/board/showthread.php?t=796857
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2980090?tstart=0
http://www.actionscript.org/forums/showthread.php3?t=153738
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I am working with a large files, currently it has 149 layers, all of which are high resolution photographs. It is part of my final degree show work and i am needing to save all of the layers with the image size remaining a4- this is so that if a few of the files print differently in colour to another i can go back an re-edit from the original. Unfortunately I've got to the stage that the work is over 2 gb in size and now am completely stuck as i have no idea how to save a file this large. I've only been using photoshop since September and so I'm not overly familiar with all of the photoshop features...
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It looks like you're on a Mac. Hitting Command+Shift+3 places a capture of the contents of your entire monitor on your Desktop; hitting Command+Shift+4 will give you a cross-hairs cursor for you to select just the portion you want to capture.
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And what exactly? What PNG? From where? What system? What version of PS? You need to be much more specific.
Mylenium

PSCS4 could not save because the file is locked or was left open

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