6

When saving any PNG image in paint to any directory (other image formats save fine), I receive the error:

enter image description here

A 0 byte PNG file is created, and deleted immediately after closing the error dialog.

enter image description here

This started abruptly a few months ago, and I thought it could be related to other installed programs. However, the problem persists even after terminating all non-essential processes.

How can this error be fixed?

1''
  • 229
  • 1
  • 5
  • 17

3 Answers3

2

According to MS:

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

  1. Make a backup copy of the picture to prevent the loss of your picture.
  2. Open the picture in Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. To do this, in Windows Explorer, right-click the picture, point to Open With, and then click Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
  3. Click either Rotate Clockwise or Rotate Counterclockwise.
  4. If you are prompted to continue, click Yes.
  5. Click either Rotate Clockwise or Rotate Counterclockwise as many times as needed to rotate the picture 360 degrees.
  6. Click Copy To to save the changes to your picture.

Another suggestion according to this.

  1. Minimize the Paint window and go to your Desktop.
  2. Right-click on the image you are trying to save in other format or extension.
  3. Click change tab at the upper right-hand corner of the window.
  4. Select among list of applications which can be used to open images from the window.
  5. Click 'Apply' and 'OK' to close the small window.
  6. Now maximize Paint and save the file in other format like PNG.
Outdated Computer Tech
  • 2,724
  • 5
  • 28
  • 41
  • 2
    Made me laugh ;) – ek9 May 05 '14 at 18:20
  • 2
    Thanks, but in my case this often occurs when saving cropped screenshots, so there is no original image. I suppose I could save as another file type and then convert, but that defeats the convenience. – 1'' May 06 '14 at 00:56
  • Both solutions suggest here and [this other answer](https://superuser.com/a/1063689/252292) suggest that the problem comes from trying to save a .png format image. Sure enough, saving a .bmp was successful for me -- but when it warned that "I might lose some color information," boy was it right! Of the ten colored light blue dots in my image, seven completely disappeared into the white background! And undo did NOT restore them. Saving with .gif also distorted the colors a bit. Next time, TIF? – Josiah Yoder May 09 '23 at 13:41
1

If nothing else works, check your environment variables.

Right click on My Computer, click Advanced System Settings, and click Environment Variables.

Make sure both TMP and TEMP in both User and System Variables are set to drives and folders that exist. Change them and create folders as necessary.

Paint needs these set right to create a temporary bitmap file so it can convert it to your target file format.

techraf
  • 4,852
  • 11
  • 24
  • 40
Del Scoville
  • 11
  • 1
  • 1
    Thanks for your answer! I don't have Windows anymore, but I'm wondering if this would explain why only PNGs don't save. Wouldn't this affect all formats equally? – 1'' Apr 10 '16 at 23:17
  • This sounded like a great idea, but when I checked all paths were set correctly on my system. Is it a problem that the system's version, C:\Windows\Temp is only accessible to an administrator? – Josiah Yoder May 09 '23 at 13:43
0

Check the image file properties in Explorer to see if it needs 'unblocking'. This can occur, for example, when the file has been copied from Android to Windows.

Image file properties

Jool
  • 256
  • 1
  • 5
  • In my case, I have not yet saved the file anywhere (it's a screenshot), so this isn't the issue. It may be in other cases, of course. – Josiah Yoder May 09 '23 at 13:43