The limit??? Over 210 layers- yes limits!

[stopa]

And I was trying to make "new group"- and nothing happened. I have reach the limit of Photoshop CS3... Should I ask Adobe to return money?

as a attachment "challenge.zip" I put maximum down-sized original .psd file with all layers.

[pixelzombie]

there is a limit to groups and nested layers, but i think the layer limit in cs3 depends on your memory...

[smak]

I was able to add more new groups and put lots of new layers into new groups. I'm not sure what I have exactly; the layers palette is very long. - 20 groups.
1 gig memory.

[0lBaldy]

stopa, I thought this might interest you

This is an excerpt from an interview in 2005 with Bert Monroy at "Where is Ben?":

Q: On average, how many layers do your images contain and how large are the file sizes?

Bert:
The flattened file of the “Oakland” measures 20 x 15 inches at 480 ppi. That makes for a 197 meg file. I did say flattened. Due to the massive amount of layers that make up any of the individual parts of my image, I had to break it up into many files for each segment of the painting.

There were six individual files where each element was produced. As an example, the marquee behind the name Oakland was a file on it’s own without the word Oakland. The working file with all the paths, layers, alpha channels and such weighed in at 1.5 gigs in size. There are a total of 226 layers. That is JUST for the marquee. I don’t know how many alpha channels there were because I
don’t always save them after using.

I would guess the total number of layers for the overall image would be well into the thousand range.

Bert Monroy's page is <here>

[stopa]

Thanx for your advances. But I post this message rather as a anecdote. I did this massive composition a year ago - and now is my time for retrospection.
Believe me: I had a terrible headache, time was running fast, accounts managers was on the phone, and my old computer (with 2Gb) was breaking out in a sweat...
Somebody ask: "how it is to act as a "pro"?". And my answer is: "those 222 layers was a one month of my life. And I questioning myself was it worth it? "
Now I have a pleasant memory of this experience... and I change my computer for a faster one

[Markzebra]

Yeah, and it may help to revise your working methods a little -thats one of the stupidest layer structures I've ever seen. Theres absolutely no need for all that. Piling multiple adjustment layers onto an image is extremely destructive and usually unnecessary. Dumping successive color fills onto the image is also generally a waste of time. If you really think you need all that ( and you are wrong by the way of you do), and you want simplify the layer structure simpler a little, try smart objects. The more experienced you get the more confident you become at simplifying things.

[wnabelkmikey]

CAN U PLEASE PoST THAT IMAGE!!!!.... LOL..that thing better be worth millions.. and better be one hell of a retouch!...LOL

[stopa]

MarkZebra! You are right! It was crazy. All whole the assumption was wrong.

I did this project with KBX (www.kbx.blog.pl) he was a photographer, and creationist of this image. (KBX is the most influenced artist I ever known) My task was to set up the montage, and merge it down...

It was build with over 80 images (most of them are in the background).
The composition for 12x3 outdoor has 5 character on the "old left site".
On the "modern right site" we had heavy party grills, kites, umbellas, beer, and throng of people.
The main idea was to make One-Good-Composition, and than just crop it for a whole variety of formats (according the media plan).
As we go for it, it became more and more clear, that we have to move each object for a 1-5 centimeters, if we want to change our formats. (from 12x3 to 3x4)
So we decide to make EACH object moveable - and belive me it works... but very, very slow... (my MBP was standing on a 4 bricks, in case of over-heating).

In the middle of this commission, I discover the smart objects. And belive I didn't have time to implement it.
It was the craziest thing I ever did... but I attain really heavy experience.
Thanks KBX!

http://www.retusz.info/2007rok/Kasztelan_2806.jpg

[FoxLightbulb]

This I can understand, I've had to build shots for clients wanting to use the one shot for various uses, different sized billboards, metrolites, A0 posters, A4 magazine ads, landscape and portrait. It's impossible to build something that can be flattened down and cropped for all of those uses, things need to be left layered so they can be moved around according the format.

Having said that, I do find that layers pallet quite ridiculous.

[Steve Payne]

If you're working on something massively major, you should have iterations of the same file at various stages of the retouching process. I know a certain well known and highly regarded retouching studio in London that takes this approach.

When the dust spots and general cleaning of an image is done, then that particular PSD is appropriately named with a coding system that determines what has been done to it and then archived. They then start from the new flattened approved image. Then the colour work is done, name the PSD, file that PSD, work from a new approved flattened image and so on.

This way you can go back to various stages of the process and all the work is safe and manageable. More importantly all your hard work and effort isn't contained on one PSD. What would you do if that file became corrupt for some reason?

[stopa]

Grate workflow Stive, thanks. (bdw, I did backup each day)
Also, I did retouch before composition, those 222layers was made to reach the photorealistic effect... I mean ambient light, shadows, specular, abberations, blurs, atmospheric, ect.

Now I know that content excess essence- but what the hell! We are learning on our mistakes!

[Markzebra]

In response to you Steve, yes thats generally the best way to work, not great if you have one hard drive though. Another option is to have a server setup that creates the archives over a two week period - I've great hopes for the new Time Machine feature in Leopard, with a large enough spare drive, you could effectively do the whole thing without any manual effort.

[stopa]

I use superDuper for backup. It is grate software. (SuperDuper automatic duplicate my RAID0 matrix to another physical disc 4-5 times per day)

[synthetamine]

yeh, no. get more memory and come back later.

Also, alot of people, pro's alike, need lessons in workflow. I used layer-whore and feel super ambitious solely because I had many layers. Alot things I did turned out not to need so many layers to do.

and also, I NEVER FLATTEN, my entire workflow is based around nondestructive editing, I dont even need the "history" window because I never really edit anything. If I erase something, it was probably a layer mask.

[stopa]

Synthetamine, it is better to think before you write.
Me "pro's alike" - send this file as a anecdote.
And tell me - how to put more memory than 2G to MBP from 2006y?