Return to original file after 'Save as'

[NickM19]

Hi all,

I often do a 'Save As' when working on a Publisher file. It's a little backup that I like to do every so often.

It is a little annoying when doing this, that Publisher opens that (saved) file, rather than continuing with the file I'm working on .

Is there a option for it to stay with the file I'm working on, instead of opening the Saved file? 

I've been caught out a few times working on the backup and not the original file; and it's a pain every time having to close the backup so I can get back to working on the original file.

Thanks for any help/options.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, NickM19 said:

Is there a option for it to stay with the file I'm working on, instead of opening the Saved file? 

AFAIK, there is no option to do that.

[street79]

Yes, it's true, @R C-R is right, however, you could use this system:
you would just need to change something in the file name (perhaps a progressive number) when you Save as... and then continue working on the source file.

[NickM19]

Thanks for the suggestion, but as soon as you 'Save as', the source file is replaced by the Saved file - so I have to close the Saved file and re-open the source file to keep working.

[Brian_J]

@NickM19 I feel your pain. A feature I often used in Adobe creative products was Duplicate File — the duplicate file can be saved as a backup or kept open and worked on in tandem with the original.

The following post in the Feedback forum is a request for a ‘Duplicate File’ feature — if that’s something that appeals to you, you may want to add a comment there stating your desire for the feature. I’m going to comment in the following forum topic… though I’m not optimistic it’s a feature that will be added.

 

[NickM19]

3 minutes ago, Brian_J said:

@NickM19 I feel your pain. A feature I often used in Adobe creative products was Duplicate File — the duplicate file can be saved as a backup or kept open and worked on in tandem with the original.

The following post in the Feedback forum is a request for a ‘Duplicate File’ feature — if that’s something that appeals to you, you may want to add a comment there stating your desire for the feature. I’m going to comment in the following forum topic… though I’m not optimistic it’s a feature that will be added.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but as soon as you 'Save as', the source file is replaced by the Saved file - so I have to close the Saved file and re-open the source file to keep working.

[NickM19]

I used the 'Save as' all the time in Adobe InDesign - it saves the renamed file, but does not replace the source file, so I could keep working on the source file knowing that there was a 'backup' if anything happened to the file I was working on.

[Brian_J]

3 minutes ago, NickM19 said:

Thanks for the suggestion, but as soon as you 'Save as', the source file is replaced by the Saved file - so I have to close the Saved file and re-open the source file to keep working.

The ‘Duplicate File’ feature I’m referring to duplicates the file in a new window; the original file is not effected. The duplicate file can be saved or worked on as a new file along side the original. 

[Brian_J]

1 minute ago, NickM19 said:

I used the 'Save as' all the time in Adobe InDesign - it saves the renamed file, but does not replace the source file, so I could keep working on the source file knowing that there was a 'backup' if anything happened to the file I was working on.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in Adobe apps; I had forgotten that’s how the ‘Save As’ command works in those apps.

[Komatös]

@NickM19 I'm just wondering why you don't use the history to undo the changes after a Save as...?

[street79]

2 hours ago, NickM19 said:

Thanks for the suggestion, but as soon as you 'Save as', the source file is replaced by the Saved file - so I have to close the Saved file and re-open the source file to keep working.

If when you do Save As you add something to the file name (in my previous post I suggested a numbering) another file is created and the original remains intact.

[DuncanL]

1 hour ago, street79 said:

If when you do Save As you add something to the file name (in my previous post I suggested a numbering) another file is created and the original remains intact.

But,  not speaking for NickM19, but what I think they are saying is that you are then editing the new file.

So  for example:

• Start working on "My New File.afdesign"
• Save
• Make changes
• Do "Save as" "My New File - v1.afdesign"
• You are now working on "My New File - v1.afdesign"

What they want is:

• Start working on "My New File.afdesign"
• Save
• Make changes
• Do "Save as" "My New File - v1.afdesign"
• You are still working on "My New File.afdesign" - the new one is just a snapshot you can open if you need to.

As an example,  Notepad++ has a "Save a Copy As..." menu item which (as the name implies) saves a copy of the current file with a new name - but you keep working on the current file.

[street79]

26 minutes ago, DuncanL said:

As an example,  Notepad++ has a "Save a Copy As..." menu item which (as the name implies) saves a copy of the current file with a new name - but you keep working on the current file.

 Yes that's right, @DuncanL I understand what you mean, it's obvious that it's more convenient while what I was saying consists of an extra step to achieve the same thing.

[walt.farrell]

8 hours ago, NickM19 said:

I used the 'Save as' all the time in Adobe InDesign - it saves the renamed file, but does not replace the source file, so I could keep working on the source file knowing that there was a 'backup' if anything happened to the file I was working on.

After using Save As (with a different name), I just consider the original unchanged file as the "backup", not the newly-saved file. Then the "current" file is always the one with the latest name and timestamp. One benefit of that is that you know the backup can be opened successfully, because you Opened it to begin the session.

But for complete safety, a more complex process is needed because once you've done the Save As you don't know the new file was really saved properly. (We should not need to worry about that, but currently we do need to worry about it, unfortunately.) The more complex (and safe) process involves using Save As twice, under different names both times. Say: Save As project-a and project-b. At that point you're working in project-b. then Open project-a, and if it opens successfully you can close the project-b tab and continue working in project-a. Your backup is the original project file, until it's time to Save As again, where you can Save As project-b and project-c. Then Open project-b to make sure it's OK, and close project-c.

[Gripsholm Lion]

You could just sync your working folders to a back-up folder, make a rule to copy on modification, and use Save while working rather than Save As. A bit of time and effort spent once to save time and effort a thousand times afterwards.

[walt.farrell]

6 hours ago, Gripsholm Lion said:

You could just sync your working folders to a back-up folder, make a rule to copy on modification, and use Save while working rather than Save As. A bit of time and effort spent once to save time and effort a thousand times afterwards.

Personally, I would not recommend that approach. Depending on the user's storage configuration, or perhaps on other factors, Save has been known to result in corrupted files. For important work I would only use Save As to a new name, and always verify that the file can be opened again with its data intact.

[Ldina]

34 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Save has been known to result in corrupted files. For important work I would only use Save As to a new name, and always verify that the file can be opened again with its data intact.

@walt.farrell...Question.....Is this concern just with Publisher, Windows, or all Operating Systems and all three Affinity Apps? I'm not sure if I've had any issues using "Save" with any App on my Mac (Ventura and earlier). I may have, but if so, it's been rare for me. I'd like to know for future safety of my files. Thanks.

[HCl]

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[walt.farrell]

11 minutes ago, Return said:

probably means the suggestion not to use an (auto)script to copy after save as it may cause a corrupted file.

 

20 minutes ago, Ldina said:

Is this concern just with Publisher, Windows, or all Operating Systems and all three Affinity Apps?

No, I am referring to users havingI reported that doing the sequence Save, Close, and then Open results in the application reporting a corrupted file. It is often suspected that the issues are related to the storage configuration, e.g., Saving into a directory managed by a cloud provider, or a NAS, or an external USB drive, which may somehow have contributed to the corruption issue.

But these problems remain unsolved, in my opinion, so for important work I would suggest the approach I mentioned above (multiple Save As commands, and using Open to verify the file was correct), not simply using Save.

Having verified the copy saved by Save As is good, then having something make an additional physical copy would be a good secondary approach. But without verification that the file was Saved correctly, having an additional copy of a possibly corrupt file doesn't seem worthwhile to me.

Ldina: My concern is with all OSes, and all Affinity applications, until the cause of the reported corruptions is known for sure.

[HCl]

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[Ldina]

@walt.farrell Thanks, Walt…interesting. I’m on Mac Ventura and ALL my RAW and Affinity App files are stored, opened and saved directly to a USB SSD drive connected to my MacBook Pro via thunderbolt cable with usb adapter. I never save to my Mac Internal HD first. My external SSD drive is not synced with iCloud or Dropbox. So far, no problems, or if so, incredibly rare. I appreciate the caution and will be extra vigilant going forward. 

[HCl]

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[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, Ldina said:

I’m on Mac Ventura and ALL my RAW and Affinity App files are stored, opened and saved directly to a USB SSD drive connected to my MacBook Pro via thunderbolt cable with usb adapter.

That is extremely risky! Even if you have never had any problems doing this so far, all it could take is a very brief connection problem to corrupt any files you have open & are working on!

Much better to copy the file to your internal drive, edit & save it there, & then copy it back to your external drive.

[R C-R]

40 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

so for important work I would suggest the approach I mentioned above (multiple Save As commands, and using Open to verify the file was correct), not simply using Save.

I am not sure exactly what you are suggesting. When a file is created via Save As, it replaces the original file in the app. So are you saying to close that new file (leaving no version open in the app) & then trying to reopen it?

What happens if it won't open?

[Gripsholm Lion]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

No, I am referring to users having reported that doing the sequence Save, Close, and then Open results in the application reporting a corrupted file. It is often suspected that the issues are related to the storage configuration, e.g., Saving into a directory managed by a cloud provider, or a NAS, or an external USB drive, which may somehow have contributed to the corruption issue.

So why did you criticise my suggestion when I didn't mention closing?

3 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Save has been known to result in corrupted files.

If you don't mind, I'll take that with the big pinch of salt which it deserves. I'm not going to stop saving my progress while working and risk losing that work to a crash because I didn't save it. That's ridiculous. I've dailied these apps professionally for eight years now and never had a corrupted file, but I have lost as yet unsaved work to crashes.

2 hours ago, Return said:

probably means the suggestion not to use an (auto)script to copy after save as it may cause a corrupted file.

If that refers to my comment, which seems to have generated a critique from the experts, LOL, I don't see a reference to scripts. Unless you count backup, sync, and file management apps as scripts. If that category of software was so risky, we should all disable Time Machine because – newsflash – it's copying your files into snapshots and backups while you're working. Perhaps also stop using Hazel, or SSH Sync, or drush… all the kinds of tools which web devs use to sync their work all the time.