What Is a PSF File?

Photoshop is one example of a program that can open PSF files, but several other apps use PSF files for unrelated purposes

By

Tim Fisher

Updated on July 18, 2023

File Types

What to Know

Your PSF file could be a preferences file used by Photoshop. Open it through View > Proof Setup > Custom > Load.
Several other formats use this extension, too, like for audio or script content.

This article describes the various formats that use the PSF file extension, including how to open each type and what your options are for converting one to another format.

What Is a PSF File?

A file with the PSF file extension is most likely an Adobe Photoshop proof settings file. It stores specific color preferences so that you can see how an image will look before you print it.

PSF files in Windows 10 that open with Photoshop

PhotoStudio images use this same file extension. They can contain text, layers, and shapes.

Other programs use this same file extension for a GPS support file, AutoCAD PostScript patterns file, Portable Sound Format file, PID script, SPI Proxy output file, or an HP-UX product specification file.

PSF is also short for progressive segmented frame and PC Screen Font, but those terms have nothing to do with the file formats I've described on this page.

How to Open a PSF File

To use a PSF file that's compatible with Adobe Photoshop, open the View > Proof Setup > Custom menu and then select Load to import the file.

Photoshop Customize Proof Condition window

The free XnView program will open PSF files that are associated with ArcSoft's PhotoStudio. The PhotoStudio program can, of course, use them as well, but it's been discontinued by ArcSoft and is therefore no longer supported (though, it's still available for download through that link).

Although this method doesn't apply to most other file types, you can instead just rename the PhotoStudio file's extension to JPG and then open it in Photoshop (and maybe other image editors/viewers).

Here's some information on the other programs that use PSF files:

GPS prediction support file: AGI's Systems Tool Kit (STK) or LinQuest's GPS Interference and Navigation Tool (GIANT)
AutoCAD PostScript patterns file: Autodesk's AutoCAD
Portable Sound Format file: XMPlay (it requires the Highly Experimental plugin) and Audio Overload
PID script: Palmer Performance Engineering's PCMSCAN
HP-UX product specification file: HP's Software Distributor (SD)
SPI Proxy output file: SPI Dynamics WebInspect Toolkit

If you find that an application on your PC does try to open the file but it's the wrong application or you'd rather have another installed program open it, you can change the default program that opens these files in Windows.

How to Convert a PSF File

As you can see from above, there are lots of possible sources for your file. It's important to first recognize what your particular file is used for before you can understand how to convert it.

An Adobe settings file, for example, probably doesn't need to be, nor can be, converted into any other usable format. A PhotoStudio file, though, is an image that can be converted to JPG and other similar formats using XnView.

You should follow the same process for the other types of PSF files listed above. Just open the file in the program that created it and then try to export or save the file to some other format.

Still Can't Open It?

If your file doesn't open after trying all the suggestions above, there's a good chance you're misreading the file extension. This can happen rather easily because so many file extensions share the same few letters, which can make you mistake another extension for this one.

PFS is one example where all the same letters are in the PSF file extension. However, this one is used by PhotoFiltre Studio for saved selection files.

Another is PSS which is used for PlayStation 2 game video files, Picture and Sound Show files, RoboHelp HTML project data files, and more.

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