How to Save as PNG in Photoshop CC

Dec 31, 2021

You've created a masterpiece, but now you've gone to save it as a PNG file - the royalty of all file types - and you can't. Photoshop CC won't let you. Why is that? Did you do something wrong? Please, Photoshop gods, don't make me save this as a JPEG.

There may be moments where saving your design as a PNG just can't happen, but most of the time changing a setting or two will allow you to save in the format of your desire. Here are a few things to try before you give up. If you use these tips, you should be able to save your design as a PNG in Photoshop CC.

Photoshop will not let you save your image as a PNG if you are working in CMYK color mode, so you'll need to switch it to RGB.

To do this, make a copy of your image and open a new document. In the settings for your new document go to Color Mode and make sure RGB color is selected. Next to color mode is another dropdown. Make sure you have either 8-bit or 16-bit selected in this dropdown, as PNG files only support 8-bit or 16-bit RGB.

Then, paste your image in the new document. Try "save as," at this point, and if it lets you save as a PNG you know that was the problem.

Instead of saving, you could try to export your image file as a PNG. Go to File --> Export --> Export As, and select PNG.

This is the trick I normally use. If you hold down the alt/option key while you click "Save As," it removes any non-PNG allowed formatting and saves a copy of your image that you can work with.