Why can't I save photos as jpegs in new Photoshop?

Ahh! This is so much easier when you're looking at it. 🙂

The problem is color depth. 16 bit files give these save options.

8 bit files give these save options.

So, in Camera Raw, click the bottom center link to choose your preferences. It very likely won't read exactly like this on your end.

Then change the output to 8 bit.

Or, you can leave the Camera Raw option at 16 bit, then once the image is open in Photoshop's main UI, change the depth to 8 bit.

Then you have the option of saving your master in 16 bit color as a lossless file (such as TIFF with LZW compression), and save out a separate 8 bit JPEG.

You have conflicting information here. Or, I'm a bit confused by your description.

Possibility one: You opened a file in Photoshop where it displays as being a Background layer. You then chose Camera Raw from the filters menu do some tweaking. The confusing part then is the next step. There is no "open" choice for an image that was already open in the main interface (I've done this a jillion times and now can't recall without seeing it if the button says Okay or Done).

Possibility two: You opened a RAW image in PS, which automatically opens into Camera Raw, then clicked Open after you were done with your tweaks. The image then appears in the main interface. From there you should be able to choose JPEG.

Unless! Check your settings while Camera Raw is open. This is something I also can't confirm without looking. But if you chose (if it's a choice) to open images to the main UI in Lab color, then you cannot save the image as a JPEG.

On my iPad at the moment, but look at the Layers palette. If it's a single layer, and it says Layer 1, or anything other than Background, then it's floating layer that must be flattened before you can save the image as a JPEG.

Well, it depends on how you want to look at it. I tested with that option on and saved a 16 bit image out of Camera Raw to the UI. When I did a Save As (or Export), JPEG was a choice, when it wasn't before:

BUT!, the saved image is still not 16 bit. It automatically gets knocked down to 8 bit, as you discover when you re-open the file.

It's better to leave the option off so you know which file formats actually support 16 bit color from those that don't.

First-- I know nothing about Photoshop.

But, Lightroom uses "Export," not save. That makes sense to me, since if you change a picture, it isn't RAW anymore. Is that it?

You can turn that option on if you want, but it doesn't change what format choices you have. All it does is stop Photoshop from appending the word "copy" to a file name.