Photoshop 2021 slow and laggy [LOCKED]

[adamt18510785]

This thread is now locked by a moderator and you are welcome to continue a civil discussion in a new thread or add to the bug report that goes to the product developers. See the link in the answer marked "Correct".

Here are the forum guidelines:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/using-the-community-discussions/adobe-support-community-guidelines/td...

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I'm going to start this new thread for the new version of photoshop. 
There are hundreds of comments about 2020 being slow and laggy and not a single adobe rep has even acknowledged it. I was hoping the upgrade would solve everyone's issues but alas that isn't the case. 

So this thread is for all you old and newcomers with new and old machines where photoshop runs like crap to complain about. Maybe their newest software might be seen for them to do something.  

I'll go first: 
Ryzen 9, 64 gigs of 3200 ram, 1080 ti gfx, 1nvme 3200mb.s ssd for programs, 1 tb sata sdd cache drive, 2 tb WD black for files. 

Photoshop takes almost 3 seconds to do simple things like changing to a shape pen tool to make shapes. 
Lags on anything pen tool, and type tool
Played with every setting in the performance and went through their pages on optimizing. 
I even went through the Nvidia setting but only gained a slight boost in performance. 

[SebKaine]

Photo wise you should try capture one. No app come close to this in term of raw processing. Dxo is good , but lack in UI. i have ditche lightroom since 5 years now for capture one. It's expensive, but it 's great so recommanded for pro.

[Tinman1028]

How did your swtich to Affinity go when cosnidering working with others, agenices, and people who are still using Adobe? Are there compatability issues? What happens when an agency provides you with their (assumng you work with agencies) files that are all done in PSD? Can they be opened? I am \cosndiering this but am extremely nervous of comptability. Not to mention I have TB of files of work in Adbove files. 

Thanks, 

[adamt18510785]

you can open psd's and export psd's in affinity

[cjgarrison]

Exactly, and we’ve assisted in over 1,500 transitions to Affinity this year alone. Most are not looking back.

[vitorsantosHerz]

How can it be possible for anyone to look at these problems.

Working with some materials now, there were simple actions that took more than 4 seconds to unlock.

More than 3 years ago I paid the Adobe subscription but I'm already testing with the Affinity package.

Having a machine like that and not being able to work is frustrating.

[Tinman1028]

Yes, yes and yes. I just shelled out 5k for a new rig and a switch to AMD -top of the line- naively hoping it would solve some of my slow workflow in PSD and AI (that used to be lightning fast with a still extremely fast PC). Sadly, I think I am going to be dissapointed and the same problems will persist. 

Seeing many of you consider the Affinity package is giving me hope. I wish we had more choices that were a more serious competitor to AI, PSD and INDD. Working with agencies that rely on the industry standard (Adobe CC) makes it a chalenge to switch to anything else.

I would be curious to hear about other's experieicne in ditching this once amazing software. 

Goodluck, 

[leds2097726]

Everywhere I look in Photoshop now there are glitches, rendering issues and buggy UI elements.

Layer mask icons can render as being pixellated/noisy and don't represent the layer mask itself

Zooming with layer effects enabled causes rendering problems where only part of the layer effect is visible

Flickering/glitchy cursor/text insertion tool

Jumpy/glitchy transformation tools with the object you're attempting to transform glitching across the canvas

Laggy brush tools that we've been reporting for TEN YEARS but Adobe still blame Apple/Wacom for

There are TONS more of these that we run into on a daily basis. Photoshop feels like a pre-alpha build now. Just doing basic operations is a rmiserable, buggy mess.

An absolute disgrace that Adobe has yet to address any of these issues which should never have escaped beta testing in the first place.

Disgusting.

[davescm]

@leds2097726 You are undoubtably suffering issues whilst using the software, but I also use Photoshop on a daily basis and can't see, or replicate any of those you list. If developers are to fix the issues you are seeing then they must be able to replicate them, so please ensure you give your system info and steps to replicate when reporting.

My working system for comparison: Photoshop 22.5.1  Intel 10920X; NVidia RTX3090 (Studio driver 471.41), 128GB RAM,  Scratch disk on NVMe 2TB drive with over 1TB free space, Windows 10 v21H1.  Images stored on several 2TB SSD drives all local, 2 Eizo CS monitors each 2560x1440

Second system - also working without those issues Intel 3920K : NVidia RTX2080ti (Studio driver 471.41) , 64GB RAM, SSD drive for OS, Scratch and images on several spinning drives (scratch 1TB free)

Hopefully, comparing systems with and without the issues may help locate the problems

Dave

[vitorsantosHerz]

Davescm,

It's not the first time I've seen him say that it runs without problems, I even agree, but in this post you are in the minority because you have everything working. But the hardware comparison can be useful (I'm even considering buying an Intel device to see if this issue happens).

I opened a call to Adobe support over the phone and I'm going to see if the issue is resolved.

Looking at the problem of other users, it is a more common problem with AMD processors.

[davescm]

I agree I'm in the minority in this thread, but I am also aware of several others who use the software without issues. Of course very few of those come to a forum to post that their system is working 🙂

We really need more to post system info on both systems experiencing issues, and those who do not, so that the developers can compare what might be common in those with issues and hopefully lead to both the replication, then resolution of those issues.

Another working system (not mine) used daily, but not as heavily as mine  :Gigabyte Aero 17-XC laptop, i7-10870H, 32GB RAM, NVidia RTX3070 processor , 1TB NVMe drive

Dave

[CUIDan]

I've worked on 3 separate computers with various specs (including one I had my IT setup specifically to photoshop's listed recommended specs, just so I could show that the program itself was crap), and all have suffered in the last few years.

Furthermore, all of these systems have higher specs than my laptop back in 2008, that somehow managed to not lag everytime I tried to save a 1000x1000 file w/ a single layer.

I understand it might not be unbearable for some or even most, but there has been a degradation across the board with Adobe and their software. I shouldn't need a $1500 graphics card and 32gb of ram to not have photoshop fail to even initiate itself every 10th-ish opening, or lock up for 30-60s when I duplicate a layer because it has a "smart filter" on it. These little things used to function on computers with specs nearly half the power of what you're currently using.

[leds2097726]

@ davescm, I appreciate that you're trying to help, but I've been reporting problems to Adobe for the last ten years when the infamous - and still not fixed - brush tool lag started.

Every single Mac I've used and owned since High Sierra has been the same story with photoshop. Lag, glitches, slowdown, unpredictability. Take your pick of any Mac and OS combo and Photoshop has been misrerable on it.

There has been a cycle of Adobe blaming Wacom, Adobe blaming Apple, and nothing being resolved.

Photoshop's performance is worse than ever even on high-end hardware.

I don't know what the common link is. We've tried to figure it out for nearly a decade. Right now photoshop is near unusable for professional work for a large percentage of its userbase. And Adobe won't listen to us or help us.

[Tinman1028]

I would have fought this comment as little as two-three years back siding that for the main part the products are wold class. But the severeal years things have been goind down hill not up. So unfortuantely I 100% agree with this comment. It's also glarding because this is not a single program issue, this is a suite problem. The performance for AI, PSD, INDD has all gone down on both Mac and PC (two PC's, one Intel i7-6700K CPU4.00GHz and one AMD Ryzen 5950) which I use.

I work with people in the idnsutry, at an agency and with agencies. I have heard and seen more people with these issues than not. 

[CUIDan]

I'm not keen on listing out my machine specs for the world to see, nor to Adobe for the umpteenth time. I've done it, over and over these past 3+ years or so. Something I never had to do in the first 15 years of using their product and never have to do with any other software publisher. The result is usually slight unresolved or gets resolved in place for something else to pop up in its place. Their product is slipping. They need to recognize and fix it. I'm glad you haven't been burdened by the same issues, but it's endlessly annoying giving away what feels like personal information to Adobe with little resolve. Plus, as I mentioned, on of my machines is tuned specifically to the lisited recommendations for photoshop. 

I have talked to Adobe directly for multiple years about their accumulating problems. Once, even directly with the Illustrator lead. Some problems resolve, others require ludicrous fixes (Things I generally only have to do when I'm actively trying to "hack" any other program), one time they told me to get rid of two out of my three monitors (which I ironically ended up doing for WFH, but resolved nothing), and others just accumulate, waxing and waning in their severity, or popping in and out of existence, update by update.

Look, at the end of the day, I can do my work, I can. But it is becoming more and more tedious to do so. Sometimes freezing up my whole machine for minutes at a time. This has been a building problem for years.

I've begged Adobe reps to stop with all the stupid bells & whistles additions and just for one year focus on optimizing and streamlining all of their products and nothing else. They somehow have a bunch of time to add a bunch of features like video tooltips, cloud saving (who was asking for this?), an obnoxious opening screen (that somehow feels like I'm getting advertised to when I just want to start a document), and I could go on... but the bugs, they keep piling up or morphing and it gets a point where I get tired of constantly have to work around their problems that didn't used to exist when I actually owned the program.

[stunamii]

I totally agree but to answer who asked for cloud saving. iPad Pro users who want to sync their work to their desktops.

[davescm]

Three answers since I posted and only one has partial system information.

As an Adobe user myself, I really do sympathise with those having issues, but sympathy changes nothing. The fact is that not all users are experiencing the same problems. Those that can change the software i.e. Adobe developers, are only going to change it if they are either also experiencing those same issues, or they have clear information with which to replicate those issues.

Good luck

Dave

[vitorsantosHerz]

So what information do you think is necessary for people to have more information about the problem?

[davescm]

@vitorsantosHerz Good question - I would include:

Photoshop version

CPU
GPU and driver
RAM

Scratch disk space
Operating System version

Photoshop Version

Monitor size (in pixels)

(If specifically related to using pen and tablet - then details and driver version)

+ any specific details that help a developer replicate the issues, e.g."lag always occurs after saving" , or "lag occurs after zooming".....etc

There is a guide  linked below on how to write a bug report : https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/how-do-i-write-a-bug-report/idi-p/12373403

Dave

[vitorsantosHerz]

Well, let's go:
Photoshop version v22.5.1 but I'm testing version 21.2.12 and the problem remains.
CPU - AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
GPU - RTX 2080 Super
GPU Driver - Nvidia Studio 472.12

Windows version 10, version 21H1 with all updates.
I have two 27" monitors, both Full HD (1920x1080) 144HZ.

Delays always occur when zooming in on the material I'm working on, slowness when opening boxes like Blending Options, applying styles and changing fonts.

Opening the Photoshop preferences box takes 2 seconds to open and it always happens.

I believe I was clear about my pc information.

[davescm · Accepted solution]

@vitorsantosHerz 

I've linked the bug thread you started below so that others can vote and add their own system info:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-bugs/slowness-and-lag-in-photoshop/idi-p/12403870

Dave

[Loyenfox]

this is a laughable, but ok...

Latest version available.

3970 Threadripper

Geforce RTX 3090 24GB

128GB

500GB scratch on an SSD

Win 10 pro

27" benQ, not that it matters

[leds2097726]

Complete waste of time listing your specs. The people not experiencing these issues aren't heavy/serious/pro users who have used Photoshop since the early days. Anyone who has used Photoshop professonally since version 3.0 and is used to zipping around the program with shortcuts and under deadline pressure is aware of the massive decline in performance regardless of platform. The amateurs and hobbyists on here haven't got enough experience to step in.

I've installed Photoshop on every config of Mac you can think of in major design/publishing/prepress houses with clean nuke/pave installs, modern versions of Photoshop still run like you're swimming through bricks. On the same computers, CS6 runs like an absolute dream.

This is an Adobe problem.

[davescm]

@leds2097726   said "The people not experiencing these issues aren't heavy/serious/pro users who have used Photoshop since the early days."

What a stupid, condescending, and incorrect statement. Personally, I have used Photoshop since v7.0, use Photoshop day in day out, do use shortcuts and do work to deadlines . Others who also have no lag issues, have used it day in day out for much longer.

"This is an Adobe problem" - It may well be , but without some additional information as to where it is failing and where it isn't then this thread will continue to be a long rant with little, if any action.

Following your insulting comments, I'm out of this one.

Dave

[leds2097726]

No offence menat Dave, but 18,818 posts on here says that you're not exactly up against tight professional deadlines.

[davescm]

You have no idea what I have on my plate. I choose to spend some personal time helping others here as I have done over many years.

So yes, your comments are, and continue to be, offensive.

Dave