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greg.biro
Participant
July 16, 2020
Answered

Metadata Bloat - Abnormally large PSD files when I save them

  • July 16, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 4600 views

Hi, I updated to the latest version of PS last week, and ever since my PSD files have been huge when saved. Files that have been around 7-10 mb are now a 100. It's really annoying, and for some reason the scripts event manager is not helping me so I have to manually do this with every file before saving.

File Info dialog is slow to open, freezes, or cannot display raw metadata

 

This never happened to me before, but it's definitely not fixed..

 

I'm working on Mac OS 10.15.5 with the 21.2.0 release of Photoshop 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer JJMack

See if this script helps.

function deleteDocumentAncestorsMetadata() {  
    whatApp = String(app.name);//String version of the app name  
    if(whatApp.search("Photoshop") > 0)  { //Check for photoshop specifically, or this will cause errors  
        //Function Scrubs Document Ancestors from Files  
        if(!documents.length) {  
        alert("There are no open documents. Please open a file to run this script.")  
        return;   
        }  
        if (ExternalObject.AdobeXMPScript == undefined) ExternalObject.AdobeXMPScript = new ExternalObject("lib:AdobeXMPScript");   
        var xmp = new XMPMeta( activeDocument.xmpMetadata.rawData);   
        // Begone foul Document Ancestors!  
            xmp.deleteProperty(XMPConst.NS_PHOTOSHOP, "DocumentAncestors");  
            app.activeDocument.xmpMetadata.rawData = xmp.serialize();  
         }  
}  
//Now run the function to remove the document ancestors  
deleteDocumentAncestorsMetadata();

3 replies

K
katielady1
Inspiring
January 31, 2023

I also just wanted to chime in to stay that I had this exact same issue. In my case it was happening with some transparent png files. I was exporting low-res pdfs from InDesign with the placed pngs and my files were huge! I was able to fix it by just copy and pasting into a new file in photoshop. Resaved the new file (as png or as psd, both worked) and updated the InDesign links and all is good again. My low-res exported pdf page went from like 9MB to 126kb!

C
ChristianPers
Participating Frequently
October 2, 2023

I'm just recently having the same issue, but unfortunatley Copy&Paste doesn't bypass the issue; even if I copy a 10x10pixel square from the bloated file (itself just a white canvas!), the new file won't save at anything less that 60MB

Running a script on existing files seems like an overly laborious 'fix', rather than an ongoing solution

    Stephen Marsh
    Community Expert
    Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 2, 2023

    I'm unfamilair with scripts, as you can probably tell! So I can add this script and leave it forever more?
    The YouTube clip suggests deleting the script once the errant file is fixed, butI want to avoid the problem arising again in future...
    Is it your script? The name is similar - if so, thanks! Can I add it to only apply to saving jpegs or is it a case of once enabled it will apply to all files?


    @ChristianPers 


    Photoshop has many scripts installed by default, many use them without even realising that they are using a script.

     

    Custom scripts are of course different and may appear confusing at first.

     

    I didn't write the scripts, I have just compiled and curated them.

     

    I am not familiar with the video you mentioned.

     

     I previously posted the link to my blog, where I mention the use of such metadata scripts with a feature called the "Script Events Manager".

     

    https://prepression.blogspot.com/2021/10/photoshop-script-events-manager.html

     

    https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/01/photoshop-custom-action-file-backup.html

     

      Stephen Marsh
      Community Expert
      Stephen MarshCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 16, 2020

      More here:

       

      Metadata Bloat – photoshop:DocumentAncestors

      JJMack
      Community Expert
      JJMackCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      July 16, 2020

      See if this script helps.

      function deleteDocumentAncestorsMetadata() {  
    whatApp = String(app.name);//String version of the app name  
    if(whatApp.search("Photoshop") > 0)  { //Check for photoshop specifically, or this will cause errors  
        //Function Scrubs Document Ancestors from Files  
        if(!documents.length) {  
        alert("There are no open documents. Please open a file to run this script.")  
        return;   
        }  
        if (ExternalObject.AdobeXMPScript == undefined) ExternalObject.AdobeXMPScript = new ExternalObject("lib:AdobeXMPScript");   
        var xmp = new XMPMeta( activeDocument.xmpMetadata.rawData);   
        // Begone foul Document Ancestors!  
            xmp.deleteProperty(XMPConst.NS_PHOTOSHOP, "DocumentAncestors");  
            app.activeDocument.xmpMetadata.rawData = xmp.serialize();  
         }  
}  
//Now run the function to remove the document ancestors  
deleteDocumentAncestorsMetadata();
      JJMack
        G
        greg.biroAuthor
        Participant
        July 16, 2020

        Thanks, I managed to integrate this one with the event manager.

         

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