Opening a PhotoCD in Photoshop 6 or 7

Photoshop 6 and 7 have changed the way to open PhotoCD files from previous versions of Photoshop. We've put together this guide to help answer questions you may have concerning opening your PhotoCD images. Although the screens may differ slightly, this guide should work on either MACs or PCs.

First, Open Photoshop and then "File" > "Open" and browse the disc. The disc will have a name that begins with "PCD" followed by a four digit number. You should see a window like this:

If you are on a PC you will not see a folder called "Photos", only Macintosh users will see this folder. This folder is created by QuickTime and a system extension called Apple Photo Access. Inside of this are folders for the five different resolutions on a PhotoCD disc which you can open as PICT files. If you are on a Mac, you may open one of these using Apple's Quicktime instead of Photoshop's Color Management. If you are on a Mac or PC you can continue to the next step.

Inside the "PHOTO_CD" folder you will find another folder labeled "IMAGES." Open the "IMAGES" folder.

Inside the "IMAGES" folder are the files Kodak calls the "Imagepac". Refer to your index print to select a file to open. Either highlight the file and click open or double click on the file. That will bring up the next window.

This window gives you options on the size of the file you want to open from your PhotoCD and which profile you want to use to open your images.

The first option is circled in red... This is the resolution in pixels. Unless you have ProScans on a Portfolio disc, you will have five options here. Click on this box to select the size that best suites your needs. If you're not sure about what size will work best, please refer to our size chart below.

Since Photoshop did away with choosing a 'Destination' ICC Profile your last step involves selecting the Color Space for you image. We recommend the RGB 8 Bits/Channel selection. This will result with your image opening with the RGB Working Space. After your image is open you may then convert to the Color Space most appropriate for you printing or project needs.

Now you can hit OK and your image will open. This probably seems like a lot of work, but you only need to do this the first time. Once you have made these selections, Photoshop will remember them and you will only need to change these settings if you change film type (i.e. negative film to slide film), or wish to open a different size file. Please look over the size chart below if you need help choosing the best sizing options for you images.

best viewed at 800x600 screen resolution
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