Ultimate Photoshop optimization-ps tutorial

After reading and practicing a large amount of data, I found that to run Photoshop, the key is not only the hardware configuration, but also the settings. For the same hardware configuration, the optimized settings can get at least 50% or higher performance improvement. this comparison is especially manifested in the reading and practice of a large amount of data when processing large images, I found that the key to making Photoshop run is not only the hardware configuration, but also the settings. With the same hardware configuration, the optimized settings can get at least 50% or higher performance improvement, especially when processing large images.

Photoshop is a leader in the field of image processing, and its dominant position is unquestionable, especially in the personal computer field. At the same time, Photoshop is also an uncompromising "hardware killer". processing a slightly larger image on a computer with 64 MB memory + Pentium II 450 + 7200 hard drive is just like the old scalpers ...... I refused to give up on Photoshop because of my love for it, but it was hard to endure this kind of pain. After reading and practicing a large amount of data, I found that to run Photoshop, the key is not only the hardware configuration, but also the settings. With the same hardware configuration, optimized settings can achieve at least 50% or higher performance improvement, especially when processing large images. Next, let's see how I optimized Photoshop.

　How to improve Photoshop performance

The "performance" of a program refers to the time required by the program to complete certain operations, such as opening a file, applying a filter effect, or re-drawing a screen after editing an image. First, the performance of Photoshop depends largely on your hardware configuration, especially the amount of memory available for it. second, software, virtual memory, file size, complexity, and other factors that have a great impact on it. However, if you are not short of money, configuring a large amount of memory can greatly improve Photoshop performance. I mainly optimized Photoshop in terms of software settings and operations.

1. determine the memory size required by Photoshop

The demand for memory for image processing far exceeds that of other applications and far exceeds people's estimation. Do you know how much space is needed to scan a 32-bit RGB image in A4 format at a dpi resolution? Tell you, if the storage is in BMP format, 24.9 MB! This is nothing, but it is even more surprising ......

The size of the image file opened in Photoshop is not the same as the size of the file listed in the Windows browser. For example, because many file formats use compression algorithms and must be decompressed during opening, the file size after opening is usually much larger than the original size. if you use many layers and channels, the image requires more memory. In general, you have to provide Photoshop with at least three to five times the size of the image file to be processed, plus 5-10 MB of additional memory, in order to basically play the performance of Photoshop.

How much memory does your image processing software need?

1. start Photoshop 5.0 and open an image (taking Photo5.PSD as an example );
2. click the "image" menu, select "image size", and change the image resolution to "150 pixels/inch ";
3. move the mouse over the arrow at the bottom left of the window and press and hold the mouse button. a dialog box is displayed.
4. select "document size" in the dialog box. Then, on the status bar, we can see "(C) document: 6.02 M/M", where the former is the image file size, the latter is the size after opening.

5. Repeat step (3) and select "size of the temporary storage disk ". The status bar displays "(C) network connection: 64.6 M/25.4M ". The number on the right indicates the available memory allocated by the system to Photoshop for image processing. this number is equal to the amount of memory available for Photoshop minus the amount of memory needed to run Photoshop. The number on the left is the total memory size required by Photoshop to process the image. when the number on the left is greater than the number on the right, Photoshop must use a temporary storage disk in addition to memory. At this time, you may be aware that Photoshop performance is greatly reduced.

6. Repeat step (3) and select "efficiency". a percentage is displayed here. if this value is less than 100%, it means Photoshop is using a temporary disk, causing a reduction in processing performance
Inevitably.

From the above we can see that, simply processing a DPI sample of an image (150dpi is almost the minimum requirement for printing at present), Photoshop actually needs a memory of 65 MB, the memory occupied by the operating system and other applications is not included here. If you change the resolution here to 300 dpi, the total memory size is 176 MB. Adding so much memory to a computer is obviously unrealistic. In fact, in addition to adding physical memory, we can increase the image processing speed by allowing Photoshop to require smaller memory and allocate more available memory to Photoshop.

2. make Photoshop use smaller memory

For example, to open the Photo5.PSD image, click "layer" and select "merge layer", and then change its resolution to 150 dpi. Then, follow the steps above to check the "file" and "temporary storage disk size". what ?! The value is changed to 6.02 M/12.3M and 36.7/25.4M ". The total memory size required for processing the same image is nearly doubled. This does not mean that through a simple optimization step, you can get twice the memory capacity on a certain amount of memory, which is indeed exciting.

Why is this happening? Let's open the original Photo5.PSD image again. you can see that it contains more complex layer information. Photoshop must record the image information of each layer and the relationship between these layers. this information requires a lot of memory. After merging layers, Photoshop only needs to record the image information of one layer, so the amount of memory required is greatly reduced.

What operations and information will cause Photoshop to require more memory? It mainly includes the following aspects:

1. pixel size
The pixel size is the number of pixels in the height and width of the bitmap image. The display size of the screen image is determined by the pixel size of the image plus the display size and settings. the file size of the image is proportional to the pixel size. If you want to make a wallpaper, you only need to make a 1024x768 or 800x600 Image based on the resolution of your set monitor. a larger pixel size will not improve the image quality, the processing speed and computer startup speed can only be slowed down.

2. image resolution
The image resolution is the number of pixels displayed per unit of print length in the image, which is usually expressed in pixels/inches (dpi. A high-resolution image contains more pixels than a low-resolution image of the same print size, so the pixels are smaller. For example, a 1 inch dpi resolution 1x5184 image contains a total of 5184 pixels (72 pixels wide x 72 pixels high = ); images with the same resolution of 1x1 inch and 90000 DPI contain a total of pixels. Each time the image resolution is doubled, the image file size is increased by 4 times. Therefore, before scanning and processing an image, determine the final release media of the image.

If the image is used for online display, the image resolution only needs to meet the typical display resolution (72 or 96 dpi ). The display resolution refers to the number of pixels or points displayed per unit of length on the display, usually measured in dots/inches (dpi. The display resolution depends on the display size plus its pixel settings. The typical resolution of a PC display is about 96 dpi, and that of a MacOS display is about 72 dpi. In Photoshop, image pixels are directly converted to display pixels, which means that when the image resolution is higher than the display resolution, the image displayed on the screen is larger than the specified print size. For example, when an image of 1*1 inch or 2 inch DPI is displayed on a 72dpi display, it is displayed in the 2 * area on the screen. Because the display can only display 72 pixels/inch, it requires 2 inch to display 144 pixels that constitute an edge of the image. Therefore, it is completely unnecessary to use a resolution above 72 dpi (or 96 dpi) to create a display image, which will only lead to a reduction in Photoshop performance.

For printed images, the difference is that higher-resolution images use more pixels to represent each area, during printing, they usually have lower-resolution images that reproduce more detailed and finer color variations. Therefore, to make a printed image, you need to determine the image resolution based on the resolution of the printer used. printing an image at a low resolution will result in pixel conversion-the output of a large, rough display of pixels; using too high resolution (pixels are smaller than the output device can produce) increases the file size and reduces the image printing speed. How can we determine the relationship between printer resolution and image resolution?

For the ink dots per inch (dpi) produced by the photodischarge or laser printer, use an image resolution that is proportional to the resolution of the printer (but not the same) to achieve the best effect. The output resolution of most laser printers is 600 dpi to dpi, but the image printing effect from 72dpi to 150dpi is better. The high-end phototypesetting machine can print images of DPI to dpi with even higher precision.

Using the appropriate resolution to create images, we can obtain the smallest file, thus greatly reducing the total memory size required by Photoshop and greatly improving its processing performance.

3. image color mode

In Photoshop, the color mode determines the color model used to display and print Photoshop documents. The color pattern of Photoshop is based on the establishment of a good description and reproduction of the color model. Common models include HSB (color phase, saturation, brightness), RGB (red, green, and blue), and CMYK (green, foreign red, yellow, and black) and CIEL * a * B *. Photoshop also includes modes for output of special colors, such as index color and two-color tone. In addition to determining the number of colors displayed in the image, the color mode also affects the number of channels and file size of the image.

Photoshop mainly has eight color modes:

Bitmap mode: This mode is composed of 1-bit/pixel color (black or white). it requires the least disk space in many modes.

Index color mode: This mode is like a single-channel image (8-bit/pixel), with a color check table containing 256 colors. It requires a relatively small disk space, but only limited edits can be applied.

Gray mode: This mode is composed of 8-bit/pixel information, and uses a gray level of 256 to simulate the color hierarchy.

RGB mode: This mode uses three colors to reproduce up to 16.7 million colors on the screen. RGB images are 3-channel images, so they contain 24 (8 × 3) bits/pixels.

Two-color mode. This mode is mainly used for single tone, two-color tone, three-color tone and four-color tone. these images are 8-bit/pixel grayscale and single-channel images.
CMYK mode: This mode consists of four colors used to print the color separation. They are four-channel images that contain 32 (8 × 4) bits/pixels.

Multi-channel mode: This mode is 8-bit/pixel and mainly used for special printing purposes.

Lab mode: This mode uses three components to represent colors. They are 3-channel images containing 24 (8 × 3) bits/pixels.
The disk space required for the same image in different Image modes is different.

With this knowledge, you can select the appropriate color mode as needed. If you print images on a black-and-white laser printer, you can obtain smaller files in the gray mode. if you want to create an image, the RGB mode provides the best color effect; if the printer used to print the image supports the CMYK color mode, the CMYK mode allows you to achieve the best color restoration effect. if you prepare the image for color separation, before printing an image, it is also a good idea to process it in RGB mode, because the image size is about 75% of that of the CMYK image ......

4. layers and channels
　
In addition to the image resolution and color mode, the number of layers and channels in the image can also greatly increase the file size.

There are many factors that determine the size of an image document. the document size displayed in the status bar, and the number on the left indicates the size of the image after splicing. The data size sent to the printer when the file is printed depends on whether the file is sent in binary or ASCII format. Binary files are usually listed on the left, while ASCII files may be 3-5 times larger. Other factors, such as preview options, paths, file descriptions, and disk types, can also increase the size of files on the disk.

Adding an opaque layer to an image increases the file size. To save hard disk space, you can delete layers, merge two or more layers, or combine all layers in the image into one layer.