I sometimes grab a kitchen timer, set it to 30min, and save my programs every time it goes off because I get far too into my (music) productions and forget 8(

I erratically press ctrl-s all the time :o

"Shit, gotta revert to saved version!" *mash F12*
*reverts to a save I just did*
FFFFUUUUU

I sometimes do it without having done anything.. just because I forgot if I did it already. and then again..

PS hasn't got an autosave? I have CS1 and I think, when my pc crashed once during work it asked me if I would like to load the backup file (I'm not entirely sure though, maybe I'm confusing my PS with an other program). Even older versions of M$ Word have temporary backup files in case of a crash. This would be very strange if Adobe forgot about that feature.

Nope there isn't one. At least I haven't found one and after I restarted my computer PS didn't ask anything about temporary files. Although I got unofficial plugin which adds autosave. Works just fine now. :)

I recommend not just saving often but also saving to multiple filenames. As I work on a piece, I'll increment the filename every so often. That way, if the current file gets corrupted somehow... either because of a software bug or my own mistakes... I've got an older version to go back to rather than starting over from scratch.

Consider, for instance, what happens when Photoshop crashes while in the middle of saving over the old file? The old file is gone. And the new file is corrupt. So the whole project is lost.

There can also be issues like... you didn't realize you accidentally flattened some layers a while back. Or otherwise screwed up the file yourself in ways which are hard to reverse. Sometimes I've ended up needing to transplant layers from before I broke something from an older version of the file to the current version of the file. That's save my haunches a few times.

Thats why I love 3dsMAX's "auto incement on save" feature.
I miss that in photoshop.

Yeah, I don't really use ctrl + s much for the reasons you mentioned. I always make new saves.

Duke says: "I've got balls of steel"

Yeah, but iirc he says "This really pisses me off" if he's killed. Or maybe it was on some other situation. Whatever. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlETpUXVCh4

Well yeah, better abuse the hell out of ctrl+s

Ctrl-S is such a natural reflex to me I do it in IM windows and in games.

*comforts* Erf, I know that feeling. Take a break and when you cooled down try again. ^v^ Smashing an empty PS-box helps, too. Seriously. ^v^

Maybe you can activate the autosave option someplace in the settings?

Nah, there isn't autosave. I had to get an unofficial plugin for that. It works just fine now. Probably better, than it would work if Adobe had done it.

It's probably to late now, and I do know the feeling. And while I have no idea if this is a good tool.. I just googled photoshop autosave.. and this came up http://autosave.cz/en/ it even has auto incrementals.

I found some other plugin already, but thanks anyway. :)