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A
aurora111
Participant
June 10, 2023
Answered

4kb image converted to a smart object adding 30mb to psd file?

  • June 10, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 432 views

Hello,

 

I have a small 128 x 128px image that takes up 3.79kb on my hard drive. When I add it to my PSD file and convert it to a smart object (so that I can resize it non-destructively) it adds 30mb to the PSD filesize.

 

I actually added the same image to the PSD a couple weeks ago, converted to smart object, resized it, and it only added 1mb to the PSD filesize. So I'm doing the exact same thing I was before, but somehow an extra ~29mb are getting added.

 

Is there a recent Photoshop update that could be causing the issue? Or did I accidentally misclick somewhere and change a setting that impacts how images or smart objects are saved in a PSD file?

 

If anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate it!

 

Thanks in advance for you help!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer D Fosse

    You say you "add it to a file", so it's not a fresh new document? Has this other file been used as a template, so that it has a very long history of copy/pastes? In that case it can be "DocumentAncestors" metadata, which in some cases can grow to extreme sizes.

     

    Smart objects do have a lot of overhead, but about 1 MB seems about right here.

    2 replies

    T
    Test Screen Name
    Legend
    June 13, 2023

    What is the exact size in pixels of the PSD (as you are editing, not the original file)?

    A
    aurora111Author
    Participant
    June 14, 2023

    The PSD has one artboard that is 1600 x 2244 pixels and has about 134 layers. Most of the layers are text and shapes.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    June 10, 2023

    You say you "add it to a file", so it's not a fresh new document? Has this other file been used as a template, so that it has a very long history of copy/pastes? In that case it can be "DocumentAncestors" metadata, which in some cases can grow to extreme sizes.

     

    Smart objects do have a lot of overhead, but about 1 MB seems about right here.

      A
      aurora111Author
      Participant
      June 14, 2023

      Looks like you were right about the metadata! I found a script to remove it in this thread: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/one-of-the-weirdest-bugs-glitches-i-ve-ever-seen-jpg-file-size/m-p/10853072. And not only did it bring my psd filesize down but the image smart object now adds 1mb to the overall filesize instead of 30mb.

       

      I have one final question: do you happen to know if there are any downsides to deleting the metadata? I assume it's there for a reason, so I'm wondering what else I'm losing besides mb when I remove it.

       

      Thanks so much for your help!

      D Fosse
      Community Expert
      D FosseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 14, 2023
      quote

      do you happen to know if there are any downsides to deleting the metadata? I assume it's there for a reason


      By @aurora111

       

      Metadata is just information about the image, so it can always be deleted with no harm as such. You just lose that particular piece of information. Export and Save For Web routinely strip all metadata because keeping the file light is more important.

       

      As for DocumentAncestors, it's supposedly for data forensic purposes, as a record of image history.

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