Why won't certain image files on my desktop open in Photoshop?

AGB56 wrote:

I've discovered that the images that have the Cloud icon will not open in Photoshop. I checked that my cloud drive is on and it is. There must be some kind of configuration that I'm not aware of to get these images to be available.

That's just the way iCloud works. Those files don't actually exist. They are just placeholder proxy files. When apps try to open these files, they will be automatically downloaded and they will open after a short delay. At least, that's the way it is supposed to work. And that's the way it does work with every app except Adobe. Obviously Adobe is doing something unusual and incompatible.

In System Settings, you can turn off the "optimize" setting in iCloud Drive. But this will cause all iCloud Drive files to be downloaded. You may not have enough disk space for that.

Alternatively, you can download individual files by control-clicking or right-clicking on them in the Finder and choosing "Download". I think you can also just click on the iCloud icon next to then file. But if Adobe won't do it for you automatically, then you will have to do it manually.

AGB56 wrote:

Yes, I do have the Cloud turned on. Maybe you're right but it's just funny how some are able to be opened and others aren't even though they were shot the same day. Thanks for your reply though.

No need to speculate. Look for a little cloud icon next to the ones that don't open correctly. You might need to change your view. Right-click or control-click on one without an icon and see if there is a "Download" option. Try that and then try to open it using a procedure that wouldn't have worked before.

Just as a test, you could also try to open it in some Apple app like Preview. Apple has logic to trigger a download if you need to open the file. This is supposed to be the standard behaviour. But Adobe often does things its own way and refuses to support various Apple operating system features.

Do you have iCloud Drive enabled with Desktop and Documents turned on? Perhaps Adobe isn't waiting for older files to be downloaded and just errors out right away.