Is Photoshop file growth and slowdown normal when editing Lightroom photos?
Asked 9/8/2016
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When I send a Lightroom virtual copy of a RAW file to Photoshop, the PSD/TIFF grows quickly and Photoshop can become very slow or even freeze. A file that starts around 30–40 MB can end up hundreds of megabytes after retouching, and scratch disk usage can jump into the gigabytes.
My system has 16 GB RAM, an Intel i7, and an NVIDIA 820M GPU. Lightroom itself feels fine; the slowdown mainly happens in Photoshop after I add retouching work. Is this normal Photoshop behavior, or does it suggest a workflow problem? If it is normal, what are the main ways to keep file sizes and slowdowns under control?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
1
Yes. This is normal behaviour.
If you use multiple layers, each time you create a new layer and edit that layer, it stores a whole copy of that layer rather than just modifying the existing layer. So If your original layer in photoshop was 5mb, and you have 10 additional copies of it. It will now be 55mb worth of data being saved. The more layers the bigger it will be. I am unsure about the effects of adjustment layers and new 'blank' layers which is sampling the layer below.
The reason this doesn't happen in LR is because LR doesn't edit/damage the original image everything is meta data, and then applies your changes 'over the top' of the image. Unlike PS.
How to reduce file size in PS, look at storing less layers, merge layers where applicable and remove older layers lower down the stack that are no longer required.
Originally by user55814. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user55814
9y ago
0
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Yes—this is generally normal Photoshop behavior, especially compared with Lightroom.
Lightroom edits are mostly non-destructive metadata instructions applied to the image, so files stay relatively light. Photoshop is different: when you open the image there and start retouching, layers and pixel edits add real image data. Multiple layers can make file size grow quickly, and large layered documents also increase scratch-disk use and can slow the computer.
The main cause is usually layers: duplicated pixel layers, heavy retouching, and keeping many old layers/states all increase the working size. That can easily push a document into the hundreds of MB.
To reduce file size and improve performance:
- use fewer layers when possible
- merge layers that no longer need to stay separate
- delete unnecessary older layers
- be mindful that every additional pixel layer adds overhead
So this sounds more like expected Photoshop workflow behavior than Lightroom doing something wrong. Your computer may simply feel the load more once Photoshop starts handling a large layered file.
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