10 tips for getting Photoshop running faster

Optimizing Photoshop Performance is critical if you're working with larger-size images, using similar features like HDR, image compositing, and video. In this article, I'll give you some tips on how to improve Photoshop's performance so that it runs faster on your computer. OK, start now!

　　1. Memory usage

Photoshop is a 64-bit native application, so you provide it with as much memory as it can use. More memory will be more useful when working with larger sized images. By default, Photoshop will allocate 70% of the memory to use it, but you can change the value by menu editing > Preferences > Performance. After the numerical change, restart Photoshop will not take effect. This is probably the most efficient way to improve Photoshop performance.

The performance settings for Photoshop show how much memory is used for Photoshop.

　　2. Use Scratch Disk

When your memory is fully used, the computer's hard drive will carry the remaining workload. By default, your scratch disk is a system (boot) partition, and usually the system partition is already loaded with your installation application and operating system. It is recommended that you add all your free hard disks as a scratch disk, open the Scratch-Disk Options window under menu editing > Preferences > Performance, and click the up and down arrows on the right to prioritize the use of your hard disk. You can also consider the following:

Solid-State drives (SSD) are faster than traditional hard drives (HDD).

As a scratch disk, internal drives are faster than external drives.

When using external drivers, if you have the ability, make sure you are using the Usb3.0,firewire or Thunderbolt

You can assign and prioritize in Photoshop's Performance Settings window.

　　3. Efficiency indicator

If you select Efficiency in the status bar below the document window, you can see the efficiency level of Photoshop. If 100% is shown, it means the most efficient. You can improve your productivity by reducing the number of layers and smart objects, but you may be able to break your workflow because you don't keep editable source layers.

When you open a Photoshop document, the status bar is displayed at the bottom of the document window.

　　4. Cache and History

When you open the image in Photoshop, the cache stores the low-resolution version of the image so that you can quickly redraw it. There are 8 different levels of caching, and the higher the cache level, the longer the Photoshop file is opened (too high a cache level will cause the file to open very slowly). That is, the higher the cache level, the faster the Photoshop process is when the file is opened.

You can find the history and cache under menu editing > Preferences > Performance. If you have a small document picture, a lot of layers (web design, UI design) can use "small documents." If your document has a large picture, there are fewer layers (digital painting, late image, etc.) you can choose "Large document". In other cases, select Default.

A large number of history pages can degrade performance. The range of changes is 1-1000. If all of you are operating in lossless editing mode, this can be reduced to 5. If you are a digital artist and use a lot of brush tools, it is recommended that you choose 100.

　　5. Reduce image resolution

Before you work with Photoshop, it will be good for you if your document purpose is clear. If you know it will only be used on pages that are 600px wide, don't create 2 million pixel images. Make sure you resize the image first and then use the filters, adjustments, and effects.

　6. Close unnecessary documents

This is self-evident. Opening several documents at the same time will not only be confusing, it will also reduce the efficiency of Photoshop. Your goal should be 100% efficiency (you can refer to the efficiency status bar described earlier).

7. Store and AutoSave in the background

You can find this option in Edit > Preferences > File Processing. If you enable "background storage," You can still use Photoshop to continue working while you are storing large files. You can see the storage progress in the status bar. If you turn it off, you will also not be able to use automatic storage. Automatic storage will be stored in the scratch disk, which may cause problems if your scratch disk does not have free space. You can also set the automatic storage interval from every 5 minutes to every hour.

File storage options for Photoshop

　　8. Cleaning up history and shearing board

You can quickly clean out any history and clipboard information by editing > Cleaning > All. It can be very effective if you have a lot of history or a larger sized picture. Once a file is selected and copied, the file is stored on the Clipboard and takes up valuable memory space.

　　9. Close the Layers panel preview and thumbnail

For layers, channels, and paths, you can turn off the Preview (Level Panel menu > Panel Options > None). Closing the layer preview thumbnail will speed up Photoshop, but it may make it harder for you to find layers. If you're used to naming and grouping layers, you won't be able to find the layer even if you close the thumbnail.

10. Use layers intelligently

First, it is recommended that you set the status bar to display the document size. The first size is the smallest possible flattening file size for the document, and the other is the size of the document now after the "/". If you have several layers, the document size is definitely larger than the minimum size.

One of the most important things to remember is that the adjustment layer is definitely better used than the copy layer because the adjustment layer hardly increases the size of the document. The flattened layer can reduce the file size to a minimum, but this is a very big change because you will lose all of the lossless editing layers. Under File > Script you will find these items, which can also reduce the size of the document without flattening the layers.

Remove all empty layers

Flatten all layer effects

Flatten All masks

　　Summarize

In this tutorial, I'll show you a few tricks that you can use to make your Photoshop run faster. Hopefully you'll learn something from this tutorial and use these tips to make your Photoshop work for you more efficiently.

Category:

• PS Getting Started Tutorial