Photoshop CS2 runs slow

[Bachs]

Just had to share this info with you!

My CS2 has been running painfully slow and on doing a search there are many people experiencing the same problem.

I have a very high specced machine but noticed 'effieciency' dropping as low as 20% in CS2.

Here are a number of tweaks that will dramatically increase the effiency and speed of CS2.

1> The most effective fix is to reduce your graphic cards' hardware acceleration by one notch. (right click desktop, got to preferences>settings>advanced depending on your driver)

2> The second priority is to disable Font Preview (Edit>Preferences>Type and untick the Font Preview Size checkbox)

3> Another resource hogger is 'Version Cue' To turn off 'Version Cue' (Edit>Preferences>File Handling and untick checkbox for Version Cue Workgroup File Management)

4> If you have more than one hard drive set your startup and scratch disk to the second drive (Edit>Preferences>Plug-ins and Scratch Disks)

5> In Edit>Preferences>Memory & Image Cache, increase the percentage of system RAM allocated to Photoshop. (I allocate 70% of my 1GB)

6> In Edit>Preferences>General reduce the number of History States and ensure the UI Font Size is set to small.

You will not beleive the difference in speed if you implement the above :thumb:

[Marcel]

Nice tips there Bachs,

1 > I can't do....need the acceleration for BF2 ;)
2 > Just done that (we'll see if I miss it, as I actually like the font preview..lol)
3 > Just done
4 > Already done (I have a spare HD in my machine purely as a scratch/temp/cache for apps).
5 > I had already upped it to 65% but I've just been brave and give it 90% (I don't do much else while chopping anyway)
6 > Again, I liked the increased number of History states, and the UI font size was already small.

Thanks for the tips thoug :) I'm sure there'll be many here who haven't done most of them.

What I would like to know though, is how people have their PSCS2's set up, in that I have a 19" TFT and I'm short on editing space, it's all taken up by too many toolbars etc, which just keep getting in the way. Yet I can't turn them off as I use them.
So I'm just curious to know how other people have theirs set up and how they manage.

[Bachs]

I have the same problem mate with toolbars obscuring the view.
I use a 19" CRT Monitor set to 1024X728.

One thing I do is to group the pallettes in the same windows...ie: I have Channels, Paths, Layers and Actions in one window and Navigator/Info in another.

I keep the Histogram in its own window so I can always keep an eye on it.

I usually view the image at 25% unless I need to use the zoom tool to home in on a detail.

EDIT 18:26:
Marcel...You can squeeze a little more desktop space by toggling with the 'F' key to get 3 options...Standard, Fullscreen with menu bar and Full Screen. The last option hides the PS menu bar and the windows taskbar.

[DJW]

Press "tab" to hide toolbars & same button again to re-instate. :thumb:

[Marcel]

Here's a link (http://www.quepublishing.com/articles/article.asp?p=174335&seqNum=6&rl=1) to a site that explains the settings in Photoshop.

I think it's for PS7 or CS, but mostly applicable to CS2 aswell.
It explains what each preference is for, what the differences betweent the choices are, and a recommendation to what you should use.

The link is to page 6 of the guide, which is what I'm up to so far (started nodding off..lol).
Although it has taught me quite a bit already that I didn't know :)
(Which TBH isn't that hard to do).

[Bachs]

Excellent link Marcel...and good tip DJW :thumb:

[Ross]

5 > I had already upped it to 65% but I've just been brave and give it 90% (I don't do much else while chopping anyway)


I would not recommend doing this unless you had at least 3Gb of RAM.

For people with 1Gb I would say to use a maximum of 75% for any particular app.

[Marcel]

Well I run with 1.5gig in, and windows runs pretty 'clean' anyway (I hate unecessary things running).

While I'm in Photoshop I tend not to be doing much else anyway.
However since the above post I dropped it back to about 850meg maximum memory, which is more than enough. I try and keep an eye on the document size on the status bar, the scratch sizes, and the efficiency just incase.

So far I doub't I've worked on anything that comes even close to requiring most of my allocated memory.

[DJW]

I would not recommend doing this unless you had at least 3Gb of RAM.

For people with 1Gb I would say to use a maximum of 75% for any particular app.

After advice above put my 512MB to 80% on XP/MCE & no probs to date. Appreciate it could be a different matter if this was a Business PC with other Apps running all the time, but for CS2 with several IE windows , EMAIL etc. it's been OK.

[Bachs]

After using the suggestions in my original post, plus picking up some good tips an an earlier link/post, mine is still performing much, much better.

I've allocated 50% of my 1 gig RAM to Photoshop and tend to run little else whilst chopping.

[stepheno]

Thanks for the tips Bachs - what a difference :thumb:

regards

[Ross]

Forgot about this thread tbh

I should probably mention my background is IT support - 7.5 years in public and private sector, and I still stand by my statement that 75% should be considered maximum.

While it may run ok if you allocate that much memory to CS2, I feel you are skating on thin ice - while I do not use CS2 as extensively as some of you - you may find a side effect in that it crashes frequently and you lose unsaved work, but the choice, as they say, is yours.

[busterboy]

Thanks for the tips Bachs - what a difference :thumb:

regards


Yes mate, I applied this when you first posted and its still running a treat and much faster..

Thanks mate.. :thumb:

[Steep]

A lot of these tips also work for elements.