P: Version 23 has introduced file compression on large files which slows down saves

[davescm]

Version 23 has introduced file compression on large files - even when file compression is disabled in preferences. This is slowing down save times compared to previous versions.

As an example, on my current PC a psb file on disk at 8.2GB now saves at 5.4GB but with a lengthened save time. The PC is Windows 10, i9-10920X, save to NVMe drives

The same file on an older PC shows the same issue.i7-3930K, save to SSD drive

In all other versions, disabling file compression resulted in a larger file but a much faster save. The new version is not as slow as enabling compression, but clearly some undocumented partial compression has been introduced. There are many of us who invest in large high speed solid state drives for the fastest save and load times, and purposely disable compression in favour of speed. This change negates some of that speed gain.

Dave

Note : This bug report came out of a discussion on speed in this thread : https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/slow-saving-16bit-images-m1-max/td-p/...  but as it has not yet been proven on Mac I've raised this bug report separately.

[D Fosse]

I can confirm. Here are my numbers:

Save times for the "uncompressed" version, which to me is the important part:

version 22   23 seconds

version 23   34 seconds

[davescm]

I also checked opening times and they are also slower than the file saved at the original size - again suggesting that additional compression is being used and needs corresponding decompression.

Dave

[CShubert]

Thanks @davescm / @D Fosse, team is working on this and a JIRA created.

[davescm]

Thanks @CShubert let me know if you need further info or testing carried out.

Dave

[CShubert]

Hi all, couple questions from the team:

In addition to the state of the “Disable Compression of PSD and PSB Files” preference, please answer from the individual tests:

1. Bit depth of the document’s image, specifically if it’s 16-bits or 32-bits.
2. The state of the “Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility” preference.

These all affect the compression used for both PSD and PSB files.

Thank you,

[D Fosse]

16 bit, max compatibility on in all instances.

[davescm]

16 bit for the tests. Maximise Compatibility on 'Always'

Dave

[davescm]

I checked those file handling preference settings were also the same in all the versions tested, so the difference seen in v23 was not a settings issue.

[D Fosse]

Ditto. Double checked that those preferences were the same.

I'd also like to emphasize that all instances, in both versions, started out with the very same file, which was stored elsewhere on a different disk. I didn't reopen and resave anything, all of them went back to the same original.

EDIT - and yes, the max comp setting is "always", not "ask".

[CShubert]

Would either of you, or both, care to share your test files with the team so they can run the same settings on our machines to see what might be happening?  You can send them to me directly: shubert@adobe.com.

Thank you,

[jane-e]

@CShubert 

Dag and Dave are on Windows, so I tested on my Mac and get the same results. To create a large file, I added 23 raw files as embedded images, then created a Smart Object out of all 23. I duplicated the larger SO 22 times.

16 bits

Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility: Always

Jane

[D Fosse]

I'll get it over by tomorrow. I assume I can share through CC documents? (never done it, but I'll figure it out 😉 )

[davescm]

@CShubert 

I'll upload the 8GB file to Cloud storage and send you a link via email. It might be a while though as the upload speed is not fast 😞

Dave

[D Fosse]

PSB not supported, it says.

How on earth am I going to send 9.5 GB? Wetransfer has a 2 GB limit...

[D Fosse]

...but it should be easy enough to recreate. Here's the recipe:

• Base document 26756 x 17962 pixels, flat, 16 bit.
• Duplicate background and do some pixel tweaks.
• Add 5 adjustment layers, three of them with random masks.
• Add another pixel element with a clipped adjustment layer.

Here's the Layers panel:

All adjustment layers are active with "normal" adjustments (nothing extreme).

[davescm]

@CoryShubert   Link sent by email

@D Fosse  All I did was use Windows File Explorer to manually copy a file to the Creative Cloud folder on my PC. It took a long time to sync (I went to bed and looked again this morning) and it doesn't show a preview but it appears to be there on the web (under Your Files -Synced Files)  and I was able to right click and get a share link.

Dave

[D Fosse]

OK. If this is going to take all night and a half, it'll have to wait a while.

(I'm usually able to max the wetransfer quota and send in 5 minutes or so, so 9 GB should travel on the internet in 20 minutes max. If the CC is this slow, I'm even less keen on it...)

[davescm]

I'm not sure how long it took. I don't have a fast upload speed at home. It was late last night and when syncing it did not show progress - just a syncing message. So I just left it to finish and sent the link this morning. 

Dave

[D Fosse]

Until I get this file on its way, one more data point:

I did some more tests, and this is apparently specific to layer compression. I tried a different file, big pixel size, but flat, so it just came under the 2GB limit and I could save it as both PSD and PSB. Both PS versions were identical, to the last bit.

Then I added some layers, pushing it over the 2GB limit - but this time, there was the now familiar difference between version 22 and version 23:

[davescm]

I just checked the newly released 23.4.2 the same issue remains

Dave

[davescm]

This morning, I downloaded v23.5. I can't yet see a published list of fixed issues contained in the release, but I have just tried the file save using the original document from the first post and with compression disabled as per the original conditions.

This time the document saved in 5.5s at the full size of 8,258.642 KB so it looks as if the issue raised in this thread has been addressed in this release.

Thank you Adobe 🙂 .

Dave

[CShubert]

Thanks @davescm for the update and sharing your results.

[vcx]

Hello Adobe Dev Team,

After installing Adobe Photoshop version 23.5, I noticed the size of my uncompressed 16bit PSB\PSD files were almost 100% bigger than version 23.4.2.  Could you please look into this and fix.

Create uncompressed 16bit PSD\PSB in both versions (v23.5 and v23.4.2) and observe file size difference.

Preferences > Files Handling,  Disable Compression of PSD and PSB files is flagged (active)

Version of the App – Adobe Photoshop 23.5

Platform and OS version – Windows 11 64bit Pro 22000.856 - CPU - i9-12900K - 64GB Memory

[PECourtejoie]

Thank you @CShubert for the followup on this issue, and @davescm for the detective work!

And 23.5 is even faster than prior versions, according to your data!

[davescm]

The result was slightly faster than my original test, although I do see a second or so difference anyway depending on what else the PC is doing. I am happy that it is back to faster saving with no compresssion.

Dave