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Stephan388097765sls
Participant
September 28, 2026

Extreme delay caused by the “Light” settings tab

  • September 28, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 23 views

Hi everyone. The new “Light” adjustment layer added in version 27.10.0 causes extreme lag when I work on that layer (using Dodge & Burn, for example)—once I hide that layer, everything runs smoothly again (Mac Studio M1 MAX, 64GB, OS 26.6.2, German). THX for feedback …

    4 replies

    Anshul_Saini
    Community Manager
    Anshul_SainiCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    September 28, 2026

    Hi @Stephan388097765sls,

    Thanks for reporting this, and thanks @davescm for the additional context.

    The Highlights and Shadows controls in the Light Adjustment Layer require more extensive image recalculation when the content beneath the adjustment changes, so there may be some performance impact.

    However, I’d like to better understand the amount of slowdown you’re seeing rather than assume the degree of lag is expected.

    Could you confirm two things for me?

    1. Is the document you’re seeing this with 8-bit or 16-bit?

    2. Does the lag occur only after changing the Highlights and/or Shadows controls in the Light Adjustment Layer, or does it also happen when those two controls remain at their defaults?

    If possible, a short screen recording and a sample PSD/PSB that reproduces the slowdown would also be very helpful.

    Best,

    Anshul Saini

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 28, 2026

    That is not a bug, it is expected behaviour if working on the layer(s) below that Light adjustment layer, or working on the layer mask, and if the Highlight/Shadows sliders have been altered. It is due to the way the highlight and shadow adjustments read the entire image.

    The best explanation I have seen for it is in the video linked below:



    Dave

    Stephan388097765slsAuthor
    Participant
    September 28, 2026

    Hi Dave… Thanks for your quick response… I’m not familiar with that video and will watch it (unfortunately not until tomorrow). My further research has shown that this is a “feature” and not a bug.  Well… when I’m working non-destructively, I’d actually like to see the results “on the fly” rather than with a delay. For example, if after making corrections using the adjustment layers I want to bring out a little more detail using DoFGe & Born (since that layer applies globally to the entire image)—and unfortunately I can’t do that right now because even with the Wacom tablet, the results are displayed in a choppy manner. So, unfortunately, I have to use this layer as the final layer at the very end of the editing process—as a sort of finishing touch… 

    davescm
    Community Expert
    davescmCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 28, 2026

    It is only the shadow and highlight sliders that lead to the delay. The video explains why, but in short the calculation behind those sliders reads the entire image, rather than a simple pixel by pixel calculation. So every time you change the image, those two adjustments need to be recalculated for the entire image. If you leave those two adjustments until the end, that would avoid delays.

    Dave

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