Photoshop Beta requires 100GB scratch disk?

[LauraMacky]

I opened PS Beta after updating it and noticed my current computer which is a 2023 Macbook Pro with 64GB memory is not enough for PS Beta?  This is worrisome.  I can't buy a new computer every two years.  Will I have problems?

[davescm]

Don't get confused between scratch disk space which temporary storage on disk, and random access memory (RAM) space which is computer working memory. The 64GB memory figure on your MacBook Pro refers to RAM. I have 512GB RAM here (bought for 3D simulation not for Photoshop) and Photoshop will still always create a scratch file and use that scratch space for swapping working memory and temporary memory (even when my RAM space is not used up). It is not unusual for me to see the scratch disk file using 200-500GB when compositing large multi-layered files.

So to your question, 64GB RAM should be enough RAM, the scratch disk space on disk is separate to that and I would normally recommend a fast NVMe or SSD drive with 100-500GB free space depending on the files you work on.

Dave

[LauraMacky]

For those of us who are dense when it comes to all the hardware and space issues, I am not sure how to get more scratch disk space then.  I googled it of course but it is so confusing to me.   I'm 66 and kind of tryin to keep up with all this stuff!

[davescm]

Space for scratch disk is simply space on a storage drive. In Photoshop, if you go to Preferences > Scratch disks it should report which disk(s) you are using to store the scratch disk file(s) and the amount of free space on that disk. If you are short of space the first step is to clear out any temporary files that have been stored on the drive, by applications, both Adobe and other.
Unfortunately, I am a Windows PC user, not a Mac user, so I cannot advise you where exactly to look on disk or which tools might be useful in doing so, but I'm sure a Mac user will be along here soon to help.

Dave

[LauraMacky]

I think I've figured it out that I should get an external SSD to use as a scratch disk and I would change that in PS preferences.  I deleted the tmp files and am still  having that issue after relaunching.  Seems odd that I have 1TB on this computer and have this issue.   I'm thinking i may be able to divide the computer into different sections but I am clueless on how to do that.  I think having a separate drive might be the answer but I'll wait till I get more input from a Mac user.   Thanks again!      ADDED:  ODDLY THIS ONLY HAPPENS WITH PS BETA!  I JUST NOTICED IT.

[Conrad_C]

I think having a separate drive might be the answer but I'll wait till I get more input from a Mac user.

By @LauraMacky

A separate drive can be a totally realistic answer, especially for Macs because it costs so much to upgrade Mac internal storage. Just to reassure you, I’ve used Photoshop on Mac laptops for many years and the first time I used an external scratch disk was probably 20 years ago. So it’s a completely acceptable solution, and it works a lot better today because external SSDs are so much faster now (a scratch disk should be as fast as possible).

A couple of other notes though, especially if you’re puzzled because you’ve never had to worry about scratch disks before:

The size of the temporary scratch file that Photoshop makes depends a lot on the size of the document being edited. If I’m editing a small web graphic, Photoshop creates a small scratch file that easily fits in the free space on my MacBook Pro; no problem. But if I then open a very large panorama of merged images, and it has a lot of layers, Photoshop might want to create a scratch file that’s hundreds of GB, and my laptop’s internal storage doesn’t have enough room. That is when I plug in an external SSD that I only use for large temporary cache/scratch files and make sure Photoshop is set to use that as the primary scratch disk.

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@LauraMacky wrote:

 ADDED:  ODDLY THIS ONLY HAPPENS WITH PS BETA!  I JUST NOTICED IT.

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If you’re working with documents that don’t normally cause Photoshop scratch file warnings but you are seeing the warnings when you open them in the Photoshop beta, then it’s possible it’s only a problem in the Photoshop beta. Because a beta version of an application is out for testing and not finished, it may have bugs or less efficient behavior compared to the normal non-beta release.

[CShubert · Accepted solution]

Hi @LauraMacky this is a new messaage that was added to Ps Beta on Monday's release.  Here is the post that you can reference as well as links to learn more about scratch disks and how to manage them:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-beta-discussions/scratch-disk-monitoring/td-p/15560576

Thanks,

Cory - Photoshop Product Manager