File Browser bug

[Rick_Stare@adobeforums.com]

We just noticed some odd behavior in File Browser in Photoshop CS that was not there in Photoshop 7. One of our image capture areas has been naming their images with a .RAW file extension to indicate that they are fresh from the Phase One camera and have not yet been retouched. They are NOT Photoshop Raw format, they are normal Photoshop or TIFF format, but we just have an unfortunate naming convention (I know, we need to change it).

If we open one of these files in Photoshop CS using File>Open, Photoshop sees that it is in Photoshop format and it opens fine. If we open it via the File Browser, Photoshop actually thinks it is Photoshop Raw format (even though the Metadata in the File Browser clearly shows it is Photoshop format) and we get the Photoshop Raw Options dialog asking for dimensions, etc. If you click OK in this dialog, it opens as garbage.

The weird thing is that the File Browser in Photoshop 7 opens these files just fine. I thought that the file extension on the Mac was pretty much just a convenience thing, but here is a situation where Photoshop seems to be looking specifically at the extension and ignoring all the other data that indicates file format. I took a regular Photoshop format file, renamed it with .RAW and duplicated this experience - opens fine in File>Open, but cannot be opened in File Browser in CS.

This is Photoshop CS and Photoshop 7.0.1 on Mac OS 10.2.6

* Rick

[Scott_Byer@adobeforums.com]

Apple has slowly been making the extension more and more important, and some
of that may have slipped into the File Browser file handling. Also note
that the FileBrowser didn't integrate with CameraRaw in Photoshop 7 nearly
as much as it does in Photoshop CS.

-Scott

[Rick_Stare@adobeforums.com]

Scott,
Thanks for the reply. Good to know that the file extension DOES mean something on the Mac (although it's also scaring me because we routinely use the file extension for workflow purposes and drop the Photoshop file extension). Are we getting to a point where we need to consider using the .PSD file extension? We have tens of thousands of archived design source images with no extensions or extensions that are unique to us.

FWIW, File Browser is seeing these as Photoshop Raw not Camera Raw. All the same, we need to change our workflow... it's just not wise to use a file extension that Photoshop already uses for another purpose.

* Rick