"...why I'm being forced into saving a thumbnail in the standard dialog box".. In Preference>File Handling>Image Previews...change to either "Ask" or "Never" (default is always). In PS the "Save As" has never been a satisfactory way of saving Jpeg's from a size and quality standpoint. The "Save for Web" dialog does a much better job,and you will get exactly the file size you want. SWAMP(Chuck)