Why sometime we see 'Save As' while sometime we see 'Export' when dealing with file(s)
Solution 1:
My impression is that the difference is subtle:
- "Save as" is analogous to the simple save, but lets you select a new location. That means that the file will be saved in a format that the application itself can open and edit well.
- "Export" also lets you select a location to save to, but usually saves in a format that is either not suitable for editing or for which editing is not supported by the program.
For example: if you have a file open in Photoshop, using "Save as" will save a new Photoshop file in the selected location. Opening that file will preserve all layers, selections, ... of the image.
Using "Export", however, allows you to create JPEG, PNG and other files. Those files contain the same image, but they aren't well suited for further editing, because they won't contain the layer information, selections, ...
Solution 2:
It made more sense back in the day that computer files had a more technical meaning. The idea of "Exporting" was distinct from simple "Saving" because it involved some kind of conversion process. That technical difference is the kind of thing we tend to abstract from users these days, but was quite prevalent 10 years ago.
Software is adapting to this trend -- for example MS Word no longer makes much distinction.
Solution 3:
I would use export for file formats that are written but can't be read back in - like OpenOffice's "export to PDF"
Similarly import is used for file opening that needs a number of bits of extra information to read the format, like Excel's import csv
Solution 4:
You also see Export used to refer to saving different information than Save. That is, for a development environment like Visual Studio, Save is used for the actual code you are editing, but Export is used for your Visual Studio settings. You might use Save to cover the main purpose of the application, and Export for a small fragment of the data such as "Export to Accounting".
Solution 5:
I may get shot down for this, but I believe it's almost entirely arbitrary and was at the whim of the particular software developer who happened to be writing that code for that application at that moment in time. To be sure, this was likely unconsciously influenced by his or her own history of exposure to existing applications, the way our own vocabulary and regional pronunciation is influenced by the environment in which we grow up.
The answers which suggest that there are subtle differences in meaning are taken from specific instances which happen to support those differences, but do not in any way prove or demonstrate that there is anything like consensus, a standard, or even general agreement.
There are a lot of software developers participating here, and if you take an honest look in the mirror I think you'll admit that a huge amount of what goes into many applications is "at the whim of the particular software developer who happened to be writing that code for that application at that moment in time".
The fact that the question even had to be asked, and that the answers are all pretty much speculative tends to support this.