Which Format to Save In Photoshop: PSD, PSB, TIFF, PDF

The golden rule: Save ≠ Export

Before arguing about formats, understand the fork in the road. Photoshop has two fundamentally different actions, and they live in different parts of the File menu.

Save As is about the working file. Here live the formats that remember everything you did: layers, masks, smart objects, text, styles. This is your source, the one you'll reopen tomorrow to fix a headline or nudge a logo. That's PSD, PSB, TIFF and Photoshop PDF.

Export As (and Save for Web) is about the finished picture. Photoshop takes all your layers, flattens them into a single flat image, and hands you a light file — PNG, JPG, GIF or SVG — that you can upload to a site, drop into a chat or show a client. The layers are gone: the result can no longer be "taken apart."

This article covers the first half of that fork: the formats you save into. For exporting a finished picture for the web, we have a separate deep dive.

PSD — the layered workhorse

PSD (Photoshop Document) is the default format and the right call for 95% of projects. It stores the entire state of your document: layers and their order, blend modes, masks, adjustment layers, smart objects, editable text, guides and more. Open it tomorrow and you pick up exactly where you left off.

PSD has two hard limits worth knowing up front:

• Side length — up to 30,000 pixels. For banners, posts, covers and most layouts that's plenty, with room to spare.
• File weight — up to 2 GB. Heavy collages made of dozens of RAW shots on separate layers can bump into this limit.

If you shoot photos and want to understand how layers, masks and smart objects work inside a PSD, see our breakdown of the PSD file structure. And for what PSD even is versus a finished picture, read "What Is PSD".

PSB — when PSD hits the ceiling

PSB (Large Document Format, "Photoshop Big") is the same PSD, minus the tight walls. It exists for exactly one reason: to handle giant files that PSD physically can't.

* An effectively limitless format ceiling; your real cap is your disk and RAM.

When do you need PSB? A 3×2-metre print poster at 300 ppi, a wide panorama, a huge texture map, a multi-layer composite where the layer count runs into the hundreds. Photoshop will sometimes nudge you to switch to PSB once you exceed the PSD limits.

TIFF — for the print shop and the archive

TIFF is the universal heavyweight for when maximum pixel fidelity and print-world compatibility matter most. It has three strengths.

Rule of thumb: PSD to work, TIFF to send to print or park in a long-term archive. How to prep a TIFF for the press is covered in "TIFF for Print and Scanning". And to turn a finished layout into a TIFF, use the PSD → TIFF converter.

Photoshop PDF — a layout that stays editable

The most underrated format on the list. PDF usually reads as "a flat document for viewing," but Photoshop PDF has a superpower — the "Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities" checkbox in the save dialog.

When it's on, Photoshop tucks a full copy of your PSD inside the PDF: layers, editable text, vector shapes. From the outside it's an ordinary PDF — a colleague opens it in any viewer and sees the finished image. But if you reopen that same file in Photoshop, all the layers are right where you left them. One file, two worlds.

Photoshop PDF shines when you need to show a client a layout for approval or send a finished file to print: the recipient sees the result, and you keep your source. Build a PDF from a layout with the PSD → PDF converter.

Cheat sheet: pick one in 5 seconds

Lost? Just answer one question: "What am I doing with this file right now?"

Handing off a finished file without Photoshop

A common situation: you have a PSD, but the recipient needs a plain image — they don't have Photoshop and don't need it. Sending the source is pointless: it simply won't open for them. The fix is to convert the PSD to whatever format the recipient needs.

The full set of directions — PSD to JPG, PDF, TIFF and back — is always on the all formats page. And to walk through any of these conversions step by step, see the guide "How to Convert PSD".