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Save As closes original file


bstjohn

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When I'm working on a PDN file and choose File | Save As, change the file type to PNG (or whatever) and save it, the PNG file is then opened in Paint.NET and the PDN I was working on is closed.

 

Is there any way to keep leave the PDN file open when doing a Save As?

 

I have a group of images all based on the same PDN file.  All of these images (PNGs) have several layers in common on the PDN.  But each of the PNGs have a layer (or more) that are distinct.  So after making changes in the PDN for one of the PNGs and saving it, the PDN file is closed and I have to reopen it to work on it for the next PNG. It gets to be tedious.

 

It would be nice when doing Save As to get prompted whether or not to keep the current image open, perhaps with a checkbox to "Always do this".  The prompt might be annoying to others, though, so maybe have some other way to configure this behavior in the settings.

 

Thanks for your consideration.

 

 

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Just select "save"  :FileSave:  to keep the original PDN file and if you must select "save as"  :FileSaveAs: to make it into a different format. If you are working on a multi-layer image and you opt to save as  :FileSaveAs: paint.net will give you a prompt to flatten the image and the option to cancel. I only flatten / save as a PNG when I have finished what I was working on, even then I often chose to save the PDN file at regular intervals. 

jtrj8o.png

 

As for a checkbox to give you the option to keep the current image open, i have never seen a feature request for this.

Edited by Lloyd

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Lloyd-   Thanks for the reply.  I already do as you describe, but after I've saved my PDN and then need to convert it to PNG, doing Save As closes the PDN and leaves me with the PNG.  Then I have to reopen the PDN file to modify it for the next PNG.

 

There's another thread going "Export function as extension of the "save as ..." that has a way to work around this.  Thanks for your help just the same.

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Paint.NET does not close an image when you Save or Save As. The filename at the top of the window will be updated with the new file name that you chose when you did a Save As for the PNG. It works just like most document-oriented applications, even including things like Notepad and regular Paint. Your History will still be there.

 

As Lloyd said, the image is flattened when you have multiple layers and save to a format that does not support layers.

 

Open the History window (there's a button at the top right of the main window, or just press F6). You will see that it has a "Flatten" item at the bottom. Just undo it and then go back to doing a Save As with the original PDN filename.

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  • 3 years later...

I have the same trouble here. I want to create an animation. I have original PDN file, do some changes in one layer, export to PNG (too much questions everytime), then I close PNG file and reopen the PDN file to repeat the process with new changes. I did it 9 times already and I hate that I need to do it at least 20 times.

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Files are not being "closed" or "opened". Just undo the flattening. When you go to re-save it will require the use of the PDN format because PNG only supports 1 layer.

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You can also Select All (Ctrl+A), then Copy Merged (Ctrl+Shift+C), then Copy into New Image (Ctrl+Alt+V), and save that as the PNG. There's your "export to PNG" functionality for now.

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6 hours ago, Rick Brewster said:

You can also Select All (Ctrl+A), then....

 

PRO TIP: omitting this ^ step is possible in many cases as Ctrl + Shift + C defaults to the entire canvas if no selection is active. So if you have no selection active go ahead with Copy Merged (Ctrl+Shift+C) followed by Copy into New Image (Ctrl+Alt+V).

 

Wow! Two keys saved! 😁

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Yes, the easiest thing is to do once the image is saved as a PNG and you're back on the PDN main screen is simply click the Undo button. As flattening any layers is the last part of the process involved before saving as a PNG the layers will then unflatten and you're back to where you were before you saved the image.

 

I do that all the time when saving work in progress and want to check how it looks as a PNG or JPG. Undo is probably my most used PDN function.

Edited by IHaveNoName

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  • 4 weeks later...

While it's certainly possible to workaround the lack of an "export" behaving function, I believe there is strong merit to add this feature.

  • It's a very common feature found in rastered image editing software (for good reason)
  • There are clear use cases where such a feature is preferred - such as frames in animation. Another one is for quick review - I personally do a lot of work with web, where I'm adjusting dimensions, and rapidly testing 4-7 times in my web browser inside a web site or web app.
  • "Export" is what users intend: save a copy, then continue on the current "file" as is with layers, and without a "Merge Layers" step in their file history after saving the file.

I suggest the simplest implementation might be:

  • Open a new file-tab
  • Copy the contents from layers in the original file-tab
  • Merge-down
  • Save the file
  • Show to the user
  • The user can close that file-tab if they want

Even better, if the source tab can send the new tab a merged-down version in the first instance:

  • Open a new file-tab
  • Copy the merge-down content from the original file-tab
  • Save the file
  • Show to the user
  • The user can close that file-tab if they want

 

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  • Rick Brewster locked this topic
14 hours ago, merarischroeder said:

I suggest the simplest implementation might be:

  • Open a new file-tab
  • Copy the contents from layers in the original file-tab
  • Merge-down
  • Save the file
  • Show to the user
  • The user can close that file-tab if they want

 

  1. Ctrl + Shift + C
  2. Ctrl + Alt + V
  3. Ctrl + S
  4. Ctrl + W (or Ctrl + F4)

Ten keys plus naming your file.

 

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