As someone who is a graphic designer, photographer, or simply a photoshop fan, you likely experience irritation when Adobe Photoshop lags or operates at a slower pace than usual. Despite its functionality, your computer’s memory may struggle with the demands of Photoshop’s features, resulting in sluggish performance. Have no fear, because this blog post will lead you through simple but effective methods to improve Photoshop’s speed.
1. Increase Memory Usage
The most straightforward way to speed up Photoshop is by allocating more of your computer’s memory (RAM) to the program. By default, Photoshop uses 70% of your available RAM, but you can increase this to give Photoshop more power.
To do this, go to Edit > Preferences > Performance. There you’ll find the ‘Memory Usage’ section with a slider that you can adjust.
I recommend setting it anywhere between 70% and 85%, depending on how often you use Photoshop in relation to other programs. Note that boosting this too high might cause other applications to run slowly.
2. Adjust Scratch Disk Settings
Photoshop uses a part of your hard drive space as a temporary ‘scratch disk’. It’s like virtual memory that comes into use when Photoshop runs out of RAM. If your primary drive is full or slow, you can assign the scratch disk role to another drive.
Go to Edit > Preferences > Scratch Disks. Here you can assign a different, faster drive as your scratch disk.
3. Reduce History States
Photoshop keeps track of all your actions so that you can go back several steps if you need to. It’s a handy feature, but it also consumes a lot of memory. Reducing the number of history states can save you a considerable amount of memory.
Navigate to Edit > Preferences > Performance again. Reduce the number in the ‘History States’ box. Try setting it to 10 or 20, which should be sufficient for most tasks.
4. Use Purge
If Photoshop is still running slow, you can use the ‘Purge’ function to clear out the memory. This action will delete your history and you won’t be able to undo your edits, so use this wisely.
To purge, go to Edit > Purge > All.
5. Optimize Display Performance
You can also speed up Photoshop by optimizing your display performance. Under Edit > Preferences > Performance, you’ll see a ‘Graphics Processor Settings’ section. Click on ‘Advanced Settings’ and choose ‘Basic’ Drawing Mode if you’re experiencing slow performance.
These are some effective techniques to boost Photoshop’s speed. Remember, running any heavy software smoothly also requires a good hardware setup. So, keep your computer updated and consider investing in a powerful processor and ample RAM.
Happy Photoshopping!
