P: Photoshop hangs when using smart objects

[Andreas Resch]

Unfortunately with the recent updates Photoshop becomes slower and more buggy. Expecially when using smart objects. Sometimes when I drag a smart object from one canvas to another, Photoshop hangs for several seconds. This has never happened before. It also sometimes hangs when I just move smart objects around. Sometimes Photoshop won't response any more at all and I have to kill the task. Weirdly enough the GPU usage is as about 70% for Photoshop all the time in those situations. So something is going on. Again - something that only started to happen recently.

Any ideas what's going on here? I don't want to have to revert to an older version again. 

[digglescreative]

I found this thread while looking for a solution to two similar issues that just started happening in the last week or so. I have Adobe CC set to update automatically so I do not know for sure what version I was on when this started happening. Currently I am on Photoshop 24.1 // Mac OS Montery 12.6 // Macbook Pro M1 Max. 

ISSUE 1: When saving a smart object after editing it, I get an "Updating Smart Object" progress bar that does not advance. I have to force quite Photoshop. It does not happen all the time, but frequently enough that it is a major inconvenience and disrupts my workday.

ISSUE 2: If I've already applied Camera Raw filter settings to a smart object and try to open Camera Raw filter again to make adjustments Photoshop/Camera Raw freezes and I can't use either one and have to force quit.

I tried the following suggestions in this thread and another related thread– reset my preferences, uncheck performance settings, check the box for Photoshop in Full Disk Access. None of these worked.

My Photoshop files are housed on a removeable SanDisk 4TB hard drive. I decided to try moving a file that was giving me issues to the desktop. Moving the file to my desktop and opening it from there fixed both issues.

This is great, but there is still an issue somewhere.  I've been working with my files housed on a removable drive for years and never had this issue. Is there a Photoshop or MAC OS preference reason that these issues would arise now?

[Andreas Resch]

I can't share the exact file as it's yet unreleased work. But I shouldn't have to. For one, there's nothing special about that file. About 5000px by 10000px, five layers (at the time) and one little smart object (maybe 500px in width/height). And then it won't help, as the issue is not reproducable on command. It happens then and now - on different files as well. My guess is that it is performance related. Not beacuse I have a weak PC, which I doen't. But because Photoshop seems to do a lot of (unnecessary) calculations related to smart objects, smart filters and layer styles. So at some point, those calculations might have some processes crash which either brings Photoshop to a halt or crashes it all together. There are several threads that I've created over the last few weeks related to smart objects/smart filters and their performance issues. It's probably time to revisit them - it's been a few years.

[Andreas Resch]

Another probably smart object related issue. When I drag a layer into a file with several smart objects in it, the canvas doesn't update any more for a whole. Even after the time I had to wait for all the layers going through whatever they go through when I drop the layer. When I zoom for example, the percentage value in the tab bar is actually updating, but the canvas isn't. The scroll bars are adjusting as well.

As soon as I create a new file, the canvas catches up and refreshes. This has happened before - even in the last release of Photoshop. So it's not related to a specific file, driver, etc.

[Andreas Resch]

Aaaand once again Photoshop freezes while duplicating smart objects by ALT-dragging them. And again the crashpad handler process was launched but no crash log window appears which means, no chance to get my work back. Thanks Adobe for wasting another 20 minutes of my work time that I have to reproduce now.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

@Andreas Resch I don't think a solution was posted or update to the software resolving this has been released so why would you risk doing the same thing you already know causes the issue?

[TheDigitalDog]

And then there's this splintering off of this all over again:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/v24-1-photoshop-hangs-endlessly-when-duplica...

A clean install of the OS and a test of PS?

[Andreas Resch]

I have to do my work, don't I?

[TheDigitalDog]

I have to do my work, don't I?

If you wish to roll back to an older version, use the Creative Cloud application, click on the three dots (...) and select “Other Versions”.

Also, look up Einsteins' definition of insanity.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Yes, but you can do workarounds to avoid this situation until a solution is available.

[Andreas Resch]

I'd appreciate it, if you wouldn't reply to my threads any more. Cheers.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Who?

[Andreas Resch]

Sometimes it works for hours, maybe even days. So a workaround would cost quite a bit of time in the end and is also more straining on the hands. And then there's muscle memory which is not easy to overcome. The best option is to save my work every minute when I'm duplicating a lot and stay with the quick procedure. 

[Andreas Resch]

Thedigitaldog. Unfortunately when I click "Answer" next to the thread entry, it somehow is added to the end of the thread. Not sure why. It worked at some point before.

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

I would agree, if you're going to take a risk your best option is to save first then make a sacrifice to the software gods. Sorry it's been a struggle. On a positive note, having the engineers able to replicate the issue definitely helps move things forward towards a solution.

[Andreas Resch]

This might not be the related to the issue that I also had with smart filters being recalculated too often. That one was reproduced. This one, I don't know. It might just be because of the massive performance drop when using layer effects. I have no smart filters in the file that causes the freeze. It's just that Photoshop becomes so laggy at some point that it might no gain back control from doing all the layer effect calculations in the background. That's clearly visible in the Task Manager where the file thread is constantly using CPU and GPU power even with Photoshop being frozen. It seems to loop through the same processes again and again which is reflected in the percentage output.

Here's a screenshot of the Task Manager at the moment when Photoshop was frozen. As you can see the GPU performance reaches 30% sometimes.

[TheDigitalDog]

"Thedigitaldog. Unfortunately when I click "Answer" next to the thread entry, it somehow is added to the end of the thread. Not sure why. It worked at some point before".

That seems to be how the forums organize the posts if the "Topic" is Bugs but not Discussions. There isn't any way to alter that AFAIK. Also, the reply and quotes differ (it always automatically sets the original, first post, not the one you might wish to reply to). 

[Andreas Resch]

Any news on that? It wasn't adressed in the recent two updates. 

[CShubert]

@Andreas Resch the team is still trying to reproduce this issue as you listed and at this time we do not have any other updates.

Thank you,

Cory

[Andreas Resch]

Well. @J453 succesfully reproduced the issue already. So it's no restricted to my PC and setup.

[CShubert]

Applogies @Andreas Resch, we should have said they are not able to reproduce in a way that allows them to find a solution. We will circle around with the team to see if there is any additional info they need.

Thank you,

Cory

[Andreas Resch]

As the issue is still pending and wasn't fixed in the recent update, I've adjusted the test files and uploaded them again. With those it should not be hard to debug the issue.

Test Files 

Just open the two files and CTRL-drag the camel from "Kamel.psd" into the other file with all the squares in it. Get yourself a coffee while Photoshop remains unresponsive. And this is a small file. Depending on the complexity of the smart filter and the size of the canvas, this can take way longer.

And please consider making "Clear Smart Filters" available when multiple layers are selected. Right now it's grayed out. 

[tailuxon]

@Andreas Resch I was able to reproduce the delay and spinning beach ball when dragging the "Camel 1" layer from Kamel.psd into the other document with all the smart objects with smart filters, using the example files you previously supplied. Thank you for those, they were immensely helpful! I made a change which I believe addresses the issue. It will be part of the next update, so please try that out when available and let me know if it resolves the issue for you. Thanks.

[Mohit Goyal]

Hi all,

We're happy to announce the release of Photoshop 24.6. This update includes the fix for this issue. To see the list of all fixed issues, click here

To update Photoshop to 24.6, click "Update" in the Creative Cloud desktop app next to Photoshop. More detailed instructions for updating

Let us know if the update resolves the problem for those affected, and share your feedback.

Thanks,

Mohit

[Andreas Resch]

It seems to work as expected now. Thanks for the fix.

[Jan Smetana]

Hi Andreas,

just wondering if you are experiencing these lags since your last post? Moving two layers (text and rectangle) no problem. The same two layers in smart object - lag. I would appreciate if you have some new insight on this. 

Jan