Using the Extract command

When you run the Extract command (Filter > Extract) on a computer that has low RAM or disk space, Photoshop responds slowly or not at all. The Extract command can require more than the recommended minimum amount of RAM and disk space for Photoshop--if Photoshop responds slowly when you use the Extract command, increase the percentage of memory used by Photoshop, or free additional hard-disk space.

To increase the percentage of memory used by Photoshop:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Performance.
2. In the Memory Usage section, increase the Let Photoshop Use amount, and click OK.
   
   Note: Don't set the percentage to more than 75%.
3. Restart Photoshop.

16-bit and 32-bit functionality

Photoshop CS3 significantly increases the number of features that can be performed on 16-bit images and allows numerous operations to be performed on 32-bit images. However, if your resources are low, reducing your images to 8-bit can improve performance. Note that this reduction will permanently delete the extra bit data from your image.

Adjusted Refresh plug-in

This plug-in is not necessary for Photoshop CS3, because the new maximum tile size in Photoshop CS3 is 132 KB. The amount of space set aside for and displayed in the Scratch Sizes indicator in Photoshop CS was much larger than in earlier versions because the tile sizes were larger. The Adjusted Refresh plug-in reduced the initial scratch disk usage when you started Photoshop and also reduced the size of the Photoshop image tiles from the default size of 1 MB per tile to 64 KB per tile. The smaller tiles allow the display to redraw in smaller pieces, reducing the time needed to preview some filter updates.

Bigger Tiles plug-in

The Bigger Tiles plug-in, which is located in the Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Plug-Ins\\Extensions\Bigger Tiles folder, is disabled by default. When you enable it by removing the tilde (~) from the file name, you increase the image tile size in Photoshop. You should only enable the plug-in if you have more than 1 GB of RAM installed.

If you enable the plug-in, then Photoshop redraws more data at a time because each tile is larger, and each tile is drawn, complete, at one time. Photoshop takes less time to redraw fewer tiles that are larger than it takes to redraw more tiles that are smaller. Because Photoshop redraws more data at one time, each tile it takes longer to be redrawn; so bigger tiles can look like they are redrawing more slowly, but they are actually redrawing faster than if the image had more smaller tiles.

Keywords : Tutorials, Mezzoforce Tutorials, Optimize performance, Photoshop CS3, Windows XP, Vista, guide

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