Do you see a not a PNG file error on Adobe Photoshop?
Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard when it comes to creative and professional tools for photo editing and graphics design. It’s the most used software by professionals and offers a wide variety of tools that can be useful even for the most basic users.
Photoshop also has support for a handful of file types, allowing for maximum compatibility and versatility.
Unfortunately, Photoshop still has some limitations and could suffer from occasional errors.
One problem that you might face while opening images on Photoshop is the ‘not a PNG file’ error.
This error message obviously occurs while opening a PNG format image. Usually, this problem is caused by corrupted or broken files. On the other hand, it can also be due to outdated software.
Some users also suggest that this issue occurs when someone just renamed a photo to PNG and did not convert it first.
To help you out, we’ve decided to make a guide for fixing the ‘not a PNG file’ error on Adobe Photoshop.
Let’s begin!
1. Restart Your Computer.
Restarting your computer is a common fix for most issues on any software. While it might look simple, it actually allows your device to reload your system resources and eliminate temporary errors.
For Windows users, see the steps below to restart your computer:
- On your keyboard, hit the Windows key to open the Start Menu.
- Next, click on the Power Options tab.
- Finally, choose Restart.
If you’re using a Mac, follow the guide below:
- Access the Apple Menu on your Mac.
- Now, select the Restart option.
- Finally, click on Restart to confirm your action.
Once done, go back to Photoshop and try accessing the PNG file.
2. Change the File Extension.
It’s common for users to manually change file extensions of images to run them on specific software. However, changing the file extension of an image can cause it to corrupt. Due to this, it is recommended to convert an image instead of just changing the file extension.
If you can’t open a PNG file on Photoshop, try changing the file extension to JPG.
There’s a chance that the PNG file you’re trying to access is originally a JPG file, and someone just changed its extension.
3. Disable Use of Graphics Processor on Photoshop.
For some users, they were able to fix the ‘not a PNG file’ error on Adobe Photoshop by disabling the ‘use of graphics processor’ option on Photoshop.
Follow the steps below to disable the feature on your end:
- First, launch Adobe Photoshop on your computer.
- After that, click on the Edit tab and choose Preferences.
- Lastly, access the Performance tab and untick the ‘Use Graphics Process’ option under Graphics Processor Settings.
Once done, try opening the PNG file again to check if the problem is solved.
4. Reset Your Preferences.
Another way to fix the ‘not a PNG file’ error on Adobe Photoshop is by resetting Photoshop’s preferences. You might have played around with your configurations and changed some settings that caused the error.
To fix this, see the steps below to reset your preferences:
- On Adobe Photoshop, click on the Edit tab.
- After that, choose Preferences.
- Finally, go to General and click on Reset Preferences on Quit.
Go back to your project afterward to check if the problem is solved.
5. Reinstall Adobe Photoshop.
At this point, the last thing you can do is reinstall Adobe Photoshop. This should roll back all the changes on Photoshop and ensure that there are no corrupted installation files on your computer.
Here’s how you can uninstall Photoshop on Windows:
- First, open the Control Panel on your PC.
- After that, click on Uninstall a Program.
- Lastly, right-click on Photoshop and choose Uninstall.
For Mac users, access the Finder, go to Applications, and drag Adobe Photoshop to the Trash to delete it.
Once done, go to Adobe’s website and download the latest installer from there.
That ends our guide for fixing the ‘not a PNG file’ error on Adobe Photoshop. For your questions and other concerns, please leave a comment below, and we’ll do our best to help.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
