diff --git a/src/js/app.js b/src/js/app.js
index 6fa651fe..101fc4e0 100644
--- a/src/js/app.js
+++ b/src/js/app.js
@@ -99,6 +99,9 @@
       this.localStorageService = new pskl.service.LocalStorageService(this.piskelController);
       this.localStorageService.init();
 
+      this.desktopStorageService = new pskl.service.DesktopStorageService(this.piskelController);
+      this.desktopStorageService.init();
+
       this.imageUploadService = new pskl.service.ImageUploadService();
       this.imageUploadService.init();
 
diff --git a/src/js/controller/settings/ImportController.js b/src/js/controller/settings/ImportController.js
index d3aaae8e..0dc8f628 100644
--- a/src/js/controller/settings/ImportController.js
+++ b/src/js/controller/settings/ImportController.js
@@ -52,18 +52,7 @@
 
   ns.ImportController.prototype.openPiskelDesktop_ = function (evt) {
     this.closeDrawer_();
-    pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.chooseFileDialog(function(filename){
-      var chosenFilename = filename;
-      pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.readFile(chosenFilename, function(content){
-        pskl.utils.PiskelFileUtils.decodePiskelFile(content, function (piskel, descriptor, fps) {
-          piskel.setDescriptor(descriptor);
-          // store save path so we can resave without opening the save dialog
-          piskel.savePath = chosenFilename;
-          pskl.app.piskelController.setPiskel(piskel);
-          pskl.app.animationController.setFPS(fps);
-        });
-      });
-    });
+    pskl.app.desktopStorageService.openPiskel();
   };
 
   ns.ImportController.prototype.onOpenPiskelClick_ = function (evt) {
diff --git a/src/js/controller/settings/ResizeController.js b/src/js/controller/settings/ResizeController.js
index b10f2443..1a09d4fb 100644
--- a/src/js/controller/settings/ResizeController.js
+++ b/src/js/controller/settings/ResizeController.js
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@
     var resizedLayers = this.piskelController.getLayers().map(this.resizeLayer_.bind(this));
 
     var piskel = pskl.model.Piskel.fromLayers(resizedLayers, this.piskelController.getPiskel().getDescriptor());
-
+    // propagate savepath to new Piskel
+    piskel.savePath = pskl.app.piskelController.getSavePath();
     pskl.app.piskelController.setPiskel(piskel, true);
     $.publish(Events.CLOSE_SETTINGS_DRAWER);
   };
diff --git a/src/js/controller/settings/SaveController.js b/src/js/controller/settings/SaveController.js
index d32b82df..2bbe59aa 100644
--- a/src/js/controller/settings/SaveController.js
+++ b/src/js/controller/settings/SaveController.js
@@ -25,24 +25,14 @@
     this.isPublicCheckbox = $('input[name=save-public-checkbox]');
     this.isPublicCheckbox.prop('checked', descriptor.isPublic);
 
-
-    // prevent default behaviour of ctrl-s is there a way to do this
-    // with the pre-existing system? Should I use alt-s instead?
-    $(document).bind('keydown', 'ctrl+s', function(e) {
-      e.preventDefault();
-      return false;
-    });
+    this.saveFileButton = $('#save-file-button');
 
     //Environment dependent configuration:
     if (pskl.utils.Environment.detectNodeWebkit()) {
       // running in Node-Webkit...
-      pskl.app.shortcutService.addShortcut('ctrl+s', this.saveFileDesktop_.bind(this));
-      this.saveFileButton = $('#save-file-button');
       this.saveFileButton.click(this.saveFileDesktop_.bind(this));
     } else {
       // running in browser...
-      pskl.app.shortcutService.addShortcut('ctrl+s', this.saveFileBrowser_.bind(this));
-      this.saveFileButton = $('#save-file-button');
       this.saveFileButton.click(this.saveFileBrowser_.bind(this));
     }
 
@@ -163,23 +153,7 @@
   };
 
   ns.SaveController.prototype.saveFileDesktop_ = function () {
-    this.beforeSaving_();
-    var serialized = pskl.app.piskelController.serialize();
-    var savePath = pskl.app.piskelController.getSavePath();
-    // if we already have a filename, just save the file (using nodejs 'fs' api)
-    if (savePath) {
-      pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.saveToFile(serialized, savePath, function () {
-        this.onSaveSuccess_();
-        this.afterSaving_();
-      }.bind(this));
-    } else {
-      // "save as" = open a save dialog, and store the returned save path
-      pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.saveAs(serialized, null, function (selectedSavePath) {
-        this.onSaveSuccess_();
-        this.afterSaving_();
-        pskl.app.piskelController.setSavePath(selectedSavePath);
-      }.bind(this));
-    }
+    pskl.app.desktopStorageService.saveFile();
   }
 
   ns.SaveController.prototype.getName = function () {
diff --git a/src/js/service/DesktopStorageService.js b/src/js/service/DesktopStorageService.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c26a1e70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/js/service/DesktopStorageService.js
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+(function () {
+  var ns = $.namespace('pskl.service');
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService = function(piskelController) {
+    this.piskelController = piskelController || pskl.app.piskelController;
+    this.hideNotificationTimeoutID = 0;
+  };
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.init = function (){
+    // activate keyboard shortcuts if this is the desktop version
+    if (pskl.utils.Environment.detectNodeWebkit()) {
+      pskl.app.shortcutService.addShortcut('ctrl+o', this.openPiskel.bind(this));
+      pskl.app.shortcutService.addShortcut('ctrl+s', this.save.bind(this));
+      pskl.app.shortcutService.addShortcut('ctrl+shift+s', this.savePiskelAs.bind(this));
+    }
+  };
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.save = function () {
+    var savePath = this.piskelController.getSavePath();
+    // if we already have a filename, just save the file (using nodejs 'fs' api)
+    if (savePath) {
+      this.savePiskel(savePath);
+    } else {
+      this.savePiskelAs(savePath);
+    }
+  };
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.savePiskel = function (savePath) {
+    var serialized = this.piskelController.serialize();
+    pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.saveToFile(serialized, savePath, function () {
+      this.onSaveSuccess_();
+    }.bind(this));
+  };
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.openPiskel = function () {
+    pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.chooseFileDialog(function(filename){
+      var chosenFilename = filename;
+      pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.readFile(chosenFilename, function(content){
+        pskl.utils.PiskelFileUtils.decodePiskelFile(content, function (piskel, descriptor, fps) {
+          piskel.setDescriptor(descriptor);
+          // store save path so we can re-save without opening the save dialog
+          piskel.savePath = chosenFilename;
+          pskl.app.piskelController.setPiskel(piskel);
+          pskl.app.animationController.setFPS(fps);
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  };
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.savePiskelAs = function (savePath) {
+    var serialized = this.piskelController.serialize();
+    // TODO: if there is already a file path, use it for the dialog's
+    // working directory and filename
+    pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.saveAs(serialized, null, 'piskel', function (selectedSavePath) {
+      this.onSaveSuccess_();
+      this.piskelController.setSavePath(selectedSavePath);
+    }.bind(this));
+  }
+
+  ns.DesktopStorageService.prototype.onSaveSuccess_ = function () {
+    $.publish(Events.CLOSE_SETTINGS_DRAWER);
+    $.publish(Events.SHOW_NOTIFICATION, [{"content": "Successfully saved !"}]);
+    $.publish(Events.PISKEL_SAVED);
+    // clear the old time out, if any.
+    window.clearTimeout(this.hideNotificationTimeoutID);
+    this.hideNotificationTimeoutID =
+      window.setTimeout($.publish.bind($, Events.HIDE_NOTIFICATION), 2000);
+  };
+
+})();
diff --git a/src/js/utils/FileUtilsDesktop.js b/src/js/utils/FileUtilsDesktop.js
index 298ca37f..2f596e74 100644
--- a/src/js/utils/FileUtilsDesktop.js
+++ b/src/js/utils/FileUtilsDesktop.js
@@ -20,10 +20,13 @@
     /**
      *
      * @param content
-     * @param defaultFileName
+     * @param defaultFileName - file name to pre-populate the dialog
+     * @param extension - if supplied, the selected extension will guaranteed to be on the filename -
+     * NOTE: there is a possible danger here... If the extension is added to a fileName, but there
+     * is already another file of the same name *with* the extension, it will get overwritten.
      * @param callback
      */
-    saveAs: function (content, defaultFileName, callback) {
+    saveAs: function (content, defaultFileName, extension, callback) {
       // NodeWebkit has no js api for opening the save dialog.
       // Instead, it adds two new attributes to the anchor tag: nwdirectory and nwsaveas
       // (see: https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/wiki/File-dialogs )
@@ -31,7 +34,16 @@
       var tagString = '<input type="file" nwsaveas="'+ defaultFileName +'" nwworkingdir=""/>';
       var $chooser = $(tagString);
       $chooser.change(function(e) {
-        var filename =  $(this).val();
+        var filename = $(this).val();
+        if (typeof extension == 'string') {
+          if (extension[0] !== '.') {
+            extension = "." + extension;
+          }
+          var hasExtension = (filename.substring(filename.length - extension.length) === extension);
+          if (!hasExtension) {
+            filename += extension;
+          }
+        }
         pskl.utils.FileUtilsDesktop.saveToFile(content, filename, function(){
           callback(filename);
         });
diff --git a/src/piskel-script-list.js b/src/piskel-script-list.js
index 4fed59c7..cb069e6c 100644
--- a/src/piskel-script-list.js
+++ b/src/piskel-script-list.js
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@
   "js/service/LocalStorageService.js",
   "js/service/GithubStorageService.js",
   "js/service/AppEngineStorageService.js",
+  "js/service/DesktopStorageService.js",
   "js/service/BackupService.js",
   "js/service/BeforeUnloadService.js",
   "js/service/HistoryService.js",