I would really appreciate a response to this.
"Maximize Compatibility" effectively creates a flattened version of the image within the file, so it can at least be opened and viewed in earlier versions.
However, any layers produced using new features introduced in the latest versions will, of course, not be editable in versions of the software which do not have that feature.
Chris.
Ok I understand that but I did not use any of the newer CS3 features. All I did with the CS2 file was open it in CS3, remove some unused layers and save it. The problem seems to be with every shape layer in the file. CS2 does not recognize them.
If there is not a list of compatibility issues between the application versions published somewhere there should be.
I will have no choice but to rebuild the file as my client does not have CS3. I would not have expected a feature that has been present since at least Photoshop CS to be modified to such an extent in CS3 that it would render the psd unopenable in CS2 without any warning.
Have you only tried opening them in your copy of CS2, or do they definitely not open in the client’s CS2?
It could be your CS2′ prefs have become corrupt. Try resetting them as detailed in the FAQs.
I was part of the prerelease program and was switching files back and forth between the two versions. apart from the new features which were not supported the files opened correctly and looked fine. I did not see any issue with shapes.
try trashing your prefs as Chris suggested.
Thanks for the input. After reading the error message in CS2 more carefully, which I should have done in the first place, it is vector smart objects that are causing the problem. These were icons I copied from Illustrator CS2 and pasted into Photoshop CS2 choosing the smart object option when asked.
Note here, I did not create these vector smart object layers in CS3 I merely opened the file in CS3 and deleted a few unused layers before shipping it to the client. It seems some new feature in CS3 has converted these vector smart objects into something CS2 cannot read. My choices on opening the file are either discard the layers or read the flattened composite. I was initially alerted to this problem when my client tried to open the file so it is not just my copy of CS2.
Now here is the amusing part, or not depending on your sense of humor, I decided to just try hitting the discard button over and over for each smart vector object layer CS2 found it couldn’t digest and voila, the file opened with everything intact even with the vector smart object layers still as vector smart objects. It was all a false alarm.
I still say Adobe needs to publish a notice about this as it caused me several days delay and allot of grief thinking I was going to have to rebuild a complicated piece.
I have no idea what is happening here and I understand not everything can be backwards compatible but if the incompatibility does not involve a new feature or, as in this case, it is merely a sort of bug that is not a problem at all, users should be made aware of this issue.
