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Forum Discussion
I need to disable syncing in order to save changes in Photoshop.
There seems to be a change in the behavour in file sync. Now Dropbox interupt the saving process of an application (Planimate from InterDynamics). When the software saves it's file, I understand it d...
My issues have been solved without me doing any active part. My guess is some background update has fixed it.
(edit: the issues WAS solved for a time, but no longer)
That's correct. I need to disable syncing in order to save changes in Photoshop.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hi Mattias3 & u_kadru; I'm sorry for the late reply.
Based on your desription, I believe you are seeing an issue with file locks - correct me if I'm wrong please.
As you noticed, our desktop application is unable to sync some types of files left open by certain applications. When this happens, Dropbox will report that the "file is in use" from the Dropbox desktop application menu.
Some 3rd party apps/services place locks on files while they are being edited. The feature avoids conflicts that can occur if the file is changed by another computer. This lock also prevents Dropbox from accessing and syncing the file.
To allow Dropbox to sync these files, you'll need to save and quit any applications where the file is open. Once you do, Dropbox will fully sync the files.
For more information on file locks, see the Dropbox Help Center article:
https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/stuck-syncing
If you are sharing the data between computers you must NOT run the application on more than one computer at a time as you will generate file conflicts and other problems.
Thus, the pattern needs to be:
- Let files sync
- Start application
- Save files
- Quit application
- Repeat on different computers.
Let me know if this helps!
This issue is driving me insane. I work with large files all day. The previous functionality of Dropbox was simply perfect, I could save a file any time, and it would restart syncing when the file changed. Now Dropbox locks the file and I can't save the file again until it's finished, or if I pause Dropbox, click save, then unpause Dropbox. I work with 500MB files routinely in Blender and Photoshop, waiting for syncing to finish isn't an option, and pausing/unpausing Dropbox every 5 minutes is driving me up the wall. If this behaviour isn't reverted back soon I will have no choice but to stop using Dropbox as this issue is now distracting me from my work. Dropbox should be something I can ignore, that runs in the background, not something I have to micromanage every 5 minutes!
The problem in this case is that Dropbox is the one locking the files. In my case, Photoshop is unable to save the file because it's been locked by Dropbox as it's in the state of syncing.
The solution is to disable Dropbox sync, save the file in Photoshop, enable Dropbox sync. It would be nice if Dropbox actually "sensed" the file is being saved again and released the lock automatically.Hi Walter , the probem is the opposite to your reply. The files are synced. But Dropbox interupt with the saving process of other applications, making it impossible to save the work. I started to report this as a bug to the developer of the affected software, and ended up in the result; "some other software are interfering with the saving process". After some testing on my computer I found out it was Dropbox that interfere. It use to work smoothly, but no longer. I think Dropbox has altered its behavour and is much more "agressivly" syncing files. This creates problems in the daily work. Now I need to remember to "pause sync" every time I start work, and then remember to "resume" after. Not a very smooth solution.
Getting file save errors whilst using Photoshop
- All files are local and on my drive
- Same setup I have been using years
- I have changed nothing apart from Adobe Updates
- Files are not locked and I am only one with access to these PSD files
- Even newly created files will fail on second save in PS, and file has never been closed
- Windows 7 install
- Files can be anything from 50 meg to 500+
So - when working on files, half the time the file will fail to save, and a file save error says file is locked (see screenshot). If i look in explorer, the file is there and zero bytes.
The file will save if:-
- I wait several minutes - then it may save
- If I pause sync on dropbox file will save IMMEDIATELY
Basically, if I turn off file sync in your Dropbox I never get this problem.
Full error photoshop message text:
"Could not save {filename} because the file is locked, you do not have the necessary access permissions, or another program is using the file. Use the properties command in Windows Explorer to unlock the file"
So, it seems the Drobox’s' syncing of the files is being seen as the "other program" accessing the file? and thus photoshop cannot save because of this - which is new and could be from either PS or DB as both seem to have been updated a lot of late.
Even if this was an access problem, the zeroing of the file is worrying
Any assistance would be good, I have seen similar things to this but no one has stated that turning off sync solves this, but I don’t want to be turning on and off all the time?
