We would all like more speed from our Photoshop. Do we need a new computer, more RAM or what?
Here are some tips that might help...
Adjusting the cache levels
Photoshop uses image caching to redraw high-resolution images faster. With caching, Photoshop uses low-resolution versions of an image to quickly update the image on-screen as you work. To enable the Cache Levels option, specify the number (1 to 8) of low-resolution versions you want Photoshop to store (cache). The more versions of an image you have Photoshop cache, however, the slower it opens image files.
In Photoshop, the default Cache Level setting is 6. Setting the Cache option to 1 disables image caching; only the current screen image is cached. Setting the Cache higher than 4 improves the performance when working on larger images by redrawing them faster.
If you have performance issues in Photoshop CS3, set the Cache Level to 2 and then test your performance. If you are using small files, such as those to be used on the web, set your Cache Level to 1 or 2 to increase performance.
Note: Image caching may cause a less accurate preview. When necessary, view files at 100% to ensure an accurate preview.
To adjust the Cache Levels setting:
Bigger Tiles plug-in
The Bigger Tiles plug-in, which is located in the Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-Ins\\Extensions\Bigger Tiles folder, is disabled by default. When you enable it by removing the tilde (~) from the file name, you increase the image tile size in Photoshop. You should only enable the plug-in if you have more than 1 GB of RAM installed.
If you enable the plug-in, then Photoshop redraws more data at a time because each tile is larger, and each tile is drawn, complete, at one time. Photoshop takes less time to redraw fewer tiles that are larger than it takes to redraw more tiles that are smaller. Because Photoshop redraws more data at one time, each tile it takes longer to be redrawn; so bigger tiles can look like they are redrawing more slowly, but they are actually redrawing faster than if the image had more smaller tiles.
Purge Undo, Clipboard, or Histories
Undo, Clipboard, and Histories all hold image data. To free RAM, choose Edit > Purge to purge the Undo and Clipboard. Purging Histories can free RAM or scratch disk space depending on how recent your history data is. To reduce disk space usage, reduce the number of History States available in the General preference.
Reduce the number of History states
In Photoshop CS3, each history state that includes an operation that affects the entire image (for example, when you apply Gaussian blur or unsharp mask to the entire image) creates a full copy of your image at its original size. If your initial image is 500 KB, and you apply Gaussian blur to it, your image will need 1 MB of scratch space.
If your history states consist of operations that affect only part of the image, such as paint strokes, only the size of the tiles touched by the strokes are added to the image size. If you count up the number of histories you have where operations have affected the entire image, and multiply your original image size by that number, you'll have an approximate amount of scratch disk space needed by the image.
If you have applied levels, a reduce noise filter, and an unsharp mask filter to your entire image 5 MB in size, the image will need 20 MB of scratch space. When you reduce the number of History states available, you potentially reduce the number of copies of your image using scratch space.
Dragging and dropping between files
Dragging and dropping layers or files is more efficient than copying and pasting them. Dragging bypasses the clipboard and transfers data directly. Copying and pasting can potentially involve more data transfer and is much less efficient.
Allocating more memory to Photoshop with 32-bit operating systems and computers
Photoshop uses random-access memory (RAM) to process image information. The more RAM available to Photoshop, the faster Photoshop can process image information. Other open applications and startup programs decrease the amount of memory potentially available to Photoshop. Quitting applications or startup items you are not using makes more memory available to Photoshop.
To allocate more memory to Photoshop:
- Choose Edit>Prefernces>performance
- In the Memory Usuage sction, increase the Let Photoshop Use percentage, and click OK.
- Restart Photoshop
- Allocating memory above 2 GB with 64-bit processors
Important: The 3 GB switch is a Microsoft switch and may not work with all computers. Contact Microsoft for instructions before you set the 3 GB switch, and for troubleshooting the switch. You can search on the Microsoft support page for 3gb for information on this switch.
When you run Photoshop CS3 on a computer with a 64-bit processor (such as a, Intel Xeon processor with EM64T, AMD Athlon 64, or Opteron processor) running a 64-bit version of the operating system (Windows XP Professional x64 Edition or Windows Vista 64-bit) and with 4 GB or more of RAM, Photoshop will use 3 GB for it's image data. You can see the actual amount of RAM Photoshop can use in the Let Photoshop Use number when you set the Let Photoshop Use slider in the Performance preference to 100%. The RAM above the 100% used by Photoshop, which is from approximately 3 GB to 3.7 GB, can be used directly by Photoshop plug-ins (some plug-ins need large chunks of contiguous RAM), filters, or actions.
If you have more than 4 GB (to 6 GB), then the RAM above 4 GB is used by the operating system as a cache for the Photoshop scratch disk data. Data that previously was written directly to the hard disk by Photoshop is now cached in this high RAM before being written to the hard disk by the operating system. If you are working with files large enough to take advantage of these extra 2 GB of RAM, the RAM cache can speed performance of Photoshop. Additionally, in Windows Vista 64-bit, processing very large images is much faster if your computer has large amounts of RAM (6-8 GB).
The default RAM allocation setting is 55%. This setting should be optimal for most users. To get the ideal RAM allocation setting for your system, change the RAM allocation in 5% increments and watch the performance of Photoshop in the Performance Monitor. You must quit and restart Photoshop after each change to see the change take effect.
The available RAM shown in the Performance preference automatically deducts an amount that is reserved for the operating system from the total RAM in your computer. You shouldn't set the percentage of RAM to be used by Photoshop to 100% because other applications which run at the same time as Photoshop (for example, Adobe Bridge) need a share of the available RAM. Some applications use more RAM than you might expect. For example, web browsers can use 20-30 MB of RAM, and music players can use 20-50 MB RAM. Watch the Performance Monitor to view the RAM allocations on your computer.
Watch your efficiency indicator while you work in Photoshop to determine the amount of RAM you'll need to keep your images in RAM. The efficiency indicator is available from the pop-up menu (choose Show > Efficiency) on the status bar of your image and from the Palette Options on the Info Palette pop-up menu. When the efficiency indicator goes below 95-100%, you are using the scratch disk. If the efficiency is around 60%, you'll see a large performance increase by changing your RAM allocation or adding RAM.
Check your system for damaged fonts
If there is a damaged font on your system and you have WYSIWYG font preview turned on, your computer can slow significantly. If you turn off font preview and your computer performance improves significantly, test for a damaged font. See the Additional information section below for more information on how to troubleshoot fonts.
For more info check out
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401088&sliceId=1