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.psb

PSB file: what it is and how to open it without Photoshop

A .psb file is a Photoshop Large Document: a PSD for pictures over 30,000 pixels on a side or over 2 GB, such as panoramas and large print files.

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Contenta Converter results screen showing 32 converted photos and a before and after preview
The results screen of Contenta Converter: 32 photos converted in 47 seconds, with a before and after preview.
  1. Add your PSB filesDrop in single files or a whole folder.
  2. Pick output formatJPG, PNG, TIFF, PDF and more.
  3. Click ConvertEvery file converted in one pass.

Only Photoshop and a few editors open it. Contenta Converter reads the flattened image of a .psb and converts folders of them to JPG, PNG or TIFF on Windows, without Photoshop.

PSD and PSB converter: batch flatten to JPG, PNG or TIFF →

How to open a .PSB file on Windows

  1. GIMP (free). Opens PSB files since version 2.10.32, with their layers, and exports any format one file at a time.
  2. Affinity Photo (paid, no subscription). Opens and edits .psb files with layers, masks and smart objects.
  3. Contenta Converter, for folders. Drop the .psb files and get the flattened picture as JPG, PNG or TIFF in one batch, resized for the web or a client preview if you like.

Before you convert PSB files

  1. What changes in the conversion
    The layers, masks, smart objects and adjustment layers: the output is the flattened picture as it looked in Photoshop. Transparency survives in PNG and TIFF, not in JPG. A 16- or 32-bit PSB comes out at 8 bits per channel, and JPG cannot exceed 65,535 pixels on a side, so a gigapixel file needs TIFF or a resize. The .psb itself is never modified.
  2. What Contenta Converter does with PSB
    Contenta Converter extracts the composite image of a .psb or .psd with its psd2png decoder and writes JPG, PNG, TIFF, WEBP or PDF for a whole folder at once, with resize, rename and watermark in the same pass. Output is 8 bits per channel. A file whose composite cannot be read is reported as failed rather than written blank.

The same photo, five outputs

Photo of a stage set with a bed, a small table and a checked sofaDSC_0001.NEF · 3900×2613
  • PNG.png1.9 s
    16.1 MB
  • AVIF.avif2.2 s
    2.02 MB
  • JPG.jpg1.7 s
    1.69 MB
  • WebP.webp1.7 s
    1.32 MB
  • JPEG XL.jxl1.7 s
    1.12 MB
One Nikon D60 RAW file converted to five formats, at quality 90 where the format has a quality setting. PNG is lossless, so it is the largest. Seconds are the median of three runs. Measured with the Contenta Converter 9.0.35 command line on an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, 2026-09-30.
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Format

PSB

Company

Adobe
Description A .psb file is a Photoshop Large Document: the same structure as a PSD, but for images wider or taller than 30,000 pixels or larger than 2 GB, with a limit of 300,000 pixels on each side. Photographers use it for panoramas, gigapixel stitches and large-format print files; retouchers for files with hundreds of layers.
Benefits Keeps every layer, mask, smart object and adjustment of a huge image. Up to 300,000 × 300,000 pixels. Full 16- and 32-bit support.
Drawbacks Opens only in Photoshop and a few editors. Files run to gigabytes. Cannot be printed, uploaded or shared until flattened, and JPG stops at 65,535 pixels on each side.
Metadata Stores XMP metadata inline, including copyright, keywords, camera info, and ICC color profiles.

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PSB image organization

How to open PSB? How to process PSB? How to shrink PSB? How to reduce PSB? How to rename PSB automatically? How to organize PSB in sub-folders? How to recompress PSB? How to create a PDF photo album from PSB?

PSB image color processing

How to convert PSB to black and white? How to convert PSB to sepia? How to adjust the brightness of PSB? How to adjust the contrast of PSB? How to adjust the gamma of PSB? How to invert the colors of PSB? How to boost colors of PSB? How to boost the contrast of PSB?

PSB image processing

How to add a watermark to PSB? How to create animated GIF slideshows from PSB? How to create pencil/ink drawings from PSB? How to sharpen PSB? How to blur PSB? How to refocus PSB? How to denoise hot pixels from PSB? How to crop PSB? How to rotate PSB? How to flip PSB?

PSB image annotation

How to change the DPI resolution of PSB? How to modify the IPTC/XMP dates of PSB? How to modify the IPTC/XMP description of PSB? How to modify the IPTC/XMP location of PSB? How to modify the IPTC/XMP legal information of PSB? How to edit the IPTC/XMP workflow of PSB? How to edit the IPTC/XMP copyright of PSB?

Frequently Asked Questions about PSB

What is the difference between PSB and PSD?

They are the same Photoshop format with different size limits. PSD stops at 30,000 pixels on each side and 2 GB; PSB goes to 300,000 pixels and far beyond 2 GB. Photoshop offers PSB automatically when a file is too big for PSD.

Can I open a PSB file without Photoshop?

Yes. GIMP (free) opens it since 2.10.32, Affinity Photo edits it, Photopea opens smaller ones in the browser, and Contenta Converter converts the flattened image to JPG, PNG or TIFF on Windows.

Can a gigapixel PSB be converted to JPG?

Only up to 65,535 pixels on each side, the limit of the JPEG format. Beyond that, choose TIFF, or resize while converting so the longest side fits. PNG has no such limit but produces very large files.

Need more than PSB conversion? Browse supported cameras that produce PSB files below, or:

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