GIMP suddenly stopped letting me "Export" my photos

*Louise*

*Louise*

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Name
Louise
Edit My Images
No
Hi all

After a little advice.

I have been using GIMP (the latest version) to edit some photos for a while now and when I'm finished editing I select "Export as" which allows me to save the file in JPG format.

I often then decide to make more changes to said edited file, so open up it up again and make more changes and then repeat the exporting procedure again. I sometimes repeat this process many times until I'm happy and have never had a problem exporting the file no matter how many times Ive gone back in etc.

However, tonight, GIMP has decided after about 6 times of me editing/exporting one particular photo it does not want to let me export it out any more and gives me an error message (attached).

Ive uninstalled and reinstalled GIMP and rebooted my laptop a few times and nothings helped.

Any ideas while its suddenly stopped allowing me to export this one particular file after working on it? Ive tried different photos since and they export fine.

Bit frustrated as I now have a couple more bits I want to tweak and save :-(

Kind Regards
Louise
 

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*Louise* said:
Any ideas while its suddenly stopped allowing me to export this one particular file after working on it? Ive tried different photos since and they export fine.
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This suggests it's an issue with the file rather than with the Gimp software.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that you might be trying to overwrite a file which is write-protected. Have you tried saving the image with a different filename, or in a different folder, or using a different format? Working out what Gimp will and won't do can help narrow down the error.
 
Try exporting as a tiff. Try a different file name. Copy and paste all content into a "new image" and try to save that.
 
Does sound to be a problem with the file....

But, have you tried to save/export with a different file name? (Not familiar with Gimp or Windows)
 
If you have not finished Editting, you should be saving, not exporting. Repeatedly exporting your file will cause image degradation. If you save the file, Gimp will save it in Gimp's native format which is lossless (and preserves layers and such).

Possibly, Gimp is preventing repeated saving of the same file to make sure that image degradation is not excessive and you have reached that limit. Gimp's Help file is your friend.
 
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john.margetts said:
Possibly, Gimp is preventing repeated saving of the same file to make sure that image degradation is not excessive and you have reached that limit. Gimp's Help file is your friend.
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I'm not a Gimp expert but that seems *extremely* unlikely to me. If image editors tried to prevent images from being degraded "excessively" then they wouldn't offer low-quality high-compression JPEG as an option. Plus, if your theory was right, the software would surely either not offer the export as an option, or at least warn the user what was happening.

To my mind what the OP reported has all the hallmarks of Gimp trying to save the file but the operating system not allowing it.
 
john.margetts said:
If you have not finished Editting, you should be saving, not exporting. Repeatedly exporting your file will cause image degradation. If you save the file, Gimp will save it in Gimp's native format which is lossless (and preserves layers and such).

Possibly, Gimp is preventing repeated saving of the same file to make sure that image degradation is not excessive and you have reached that limit. Gimp's Help file is your friend.
Click to expand...

100% This. Opening, editing and then saving a jpeg repeatedly will degrade the image with every iteration. Non-destructive editing, save only lossless file types until you're finished, or always start from the original file and have another go at it.

(I find having a second or third go from the original file nearly always results in a better image than previously achieved or than trying to re-adjust something I've done previously, even with non-destructive editing. It's my mental processes, not the technology at work here.)
 
Note that if you "export" a jpg in gimp, then continue edits, then hit "save" you are *not* working on a re-inported version of the jpg, you are still working on the original xcf format raw data, lossless (within reason).

This is why there is no "save as jpg" and it's termed exporting to make it clear that step is totally outside the editing workflow.
 
Hello all

Thank you all very much for your input.

I was not aware exporting repeatedly/excessively a photo could cause the image quality to reduce, but now its been mentioned by a few of you, its something ill definitely bear in mind going forward .... Ill use the save function rather than the export function and only export when I'm finished. Thanks for making me aware of this :)

With regards to the file I mentioned originally which I'm unable to export (after numerous previous successful exports) ill try some of the suggestions above when like renaming etc and see if it resolves it. If not, ill just have to learn from it and remember exporting excessively isn't a good idea for numerous reasons!

Hope you all had a nice Christmas break :)
 
ianp5a said:
Try exporting as a tiff. Try a different file name. Copy and paste all content into a "new image" and try to save that.
Click to expand...

I didn't find saving under new names or saving in new folders helped, but, copy and pasting into a "new image" did indeed allow me to carry on editing. The only slight downside was that in creating a "new image" I did loose the file info (like date taken etc) but still worth while knowing. Thank you.
 
*Louise* said:
I didn't find saving under new names or saving in new folders helped, but, copy and pasting into a "new image" did indeed allow me to carry on editing. The only slight downside was that in creating a "new image" I did loose the file info (like date taken etc) but still worth while knowing. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Good to hear it.

Incidentally, you can edit back in all the metadata if you have a recent version of Gimp.

"As of Gimp 2.9.4 (possibly 2.9.2) there is a built-in metadata editor/viewer. It is under the menu > Image > Image Metadata."

See: http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/gimp-gets-advanced-exif-xmp-iptc-metadata-support
 
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