Scratch Sizes, Ram, and Efficiency

[jeaniesa]

Kathleen & Ed,

Photoshop definitely creates temp files on PCs - and they get VERY big!! Sometimes (I think when my computer crashes), they don't get cleaned up and I have to manually delete them. On my PC they're located in: Windows/Temp. You can't miss them if you sort the files by file size.

Jeanie

[Ed_L]

Thanks for all the replies. I wasn't aware that there more posts here. For some reason, I seem to be missing some of the new posts.

Chris,
I don't know how long it really takes, as I just do defrag overnight too.

Jeanie,
Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out my temp files there.

Doug,
I really never look at the efficiency. I guess that's why it bothered me when I saw it. Like you, I think the file size is more meaningful. Thanks for the lesson.

Ed

[Roger Roberts]

Ed, I think if you copy (and paste) a large file, it stays in the clipboard until you copy something else or quit PS therefore taking up that much ram that you can't use. You can gain that ram back by selecting a small area and copying,therefore pushing the large file out of the clipboard (thats what I read somewhere a long time ago and wish I could remember it when I'm working ).

[Ed_L]

Roger,

I knew that something copied would stay on the clipboard, but I thought that after you pasted it, it would be cleared. Thanks for straightening me out on that. I'll try to remember that one.

Ed

[DJ Dubovsky]

Ed
Go into your edit options (same place you assigned your avatar) and look for the thread options and choose show all threads. That will help so you don't miss them.
DJ

[Ed_L]

Debbie,

I did that a long time ago. There are times when I get on the site, and have quite a few threads with new posts, only to have to get off for a while before reading all of them. When I do that, history is history. However, there are other times when I'm sure that all the new posts didn't show up. I've also had e-mail notices sent to me for all the threads, but it became more than I wanted to deal with. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Ed

[chris h]

Ed,

I was told by my friend who works a lot with Photoshop that deselecting the options

Export Clipboard

Include composited Image


both found in preferences will save on memory and file space. The second creates files so the image can be used with older versions of the program.

[CJ Swartz]

While working on a big image, I regain some of my RAM back by using Edit > Purge. Per the instruction book (see below), making snapshots or creating patterns uses RAM. I frequently practice on images that I've pasted into Photoshop from the web, and need to clear the clipboard.

C.J.

******************************************
Here's Photoshop's Help file on the Purge command:

The images and selections you cut or copy to the Clipboard or that you define as patterns or snapshots are stored in RAM. Keeping large amounts of data in RAM can significantly degrade Adobe Photoshop’s performance.

To clear cut and copied data from RAM:

Choose Edit > Purge and then choose an option from the submenu:

• Undo to remove from RAM a copy of the image before the last-performed operation.
• Clipboard to remove from RAM any data copied or cut from an image.
• Pattern to remove from RAM any defined patterns.

Note: To avoid filling the Clipboard with data, use the program’s drag-and-drop capability to drag elements (images, selections, channels, layers, and paths) from one file to another or from the Layers, Channels, or Paths palette to another file.

• Histories to delete all saved history information from all open documents. (You can also choose Clear History from the History palette menu to clear the history for the current document.)
• All to purge all of the items listed in the Purge menu.

[Ed_L]

CJ and Chris,

Thanks much for the tips. That helps.

Ed