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Pattie-F
Brainiac
November 25, 2021
Question

🔎 Quick Tip: How to Optimize Ps preferences for performance

  • November 25, 2021
  • 4 replies
  • 10607 views

 

 

Improve performance by optimizing Preferences


Did you know you can make a few changes to Photoshop preferences to see better performance? Follow these steps and watch the video to see how to optimize your settings.

 

 

 Backup your preferences in case you want to restore them later

  • Quit Photoshop
  • Copy the entire Adobe Photoshop [Version] Settings folder and save it on your computer or backup storage. You can find the folder here :
    macOS: Users/[user name]/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
    Windows 10: Users/[user name]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop [version]/Adobe Photoshop [version] Settings
    (If you need to restore them later, see: Preferences)

 

Go to the performance settings in Photoshop Preferences

  • macOS: Photoshop > Preferences > Performance
  • Windows: Edit > Preferences > Performance
 

 

Optimize the settings for performance:

  • Increase the Memory allocation: Increase the Memory allocated to Photoshop to a value between 75-85%

  • Reduce history states: Reduce history states to 25 or less.

  • Change the cache level: The default level is 4. Increase the cache level if you work on large files and want to improve Photoshop’s responsiveness while you work. Try a number like 6.

  • Adjust cache tile size- Tile size determines the amount of data that Photoshop operates on at any one time.
    Increase tile size to speed up complex operations. Try 1028.

  • Set the drawing mode- If you have enabled the option Use Graphics Processor, then click on Advanced Settings and ensure that you have set the drawing mode to Basic.

 

Close Photoshop

  • Once you close Photoshop and restart it, the changes will take effect.

 

 

Follow along with this video to see how to make the changes. Visit Optimize Preferences for more details and to see additional changes you can make.
 

 

 

 

Related links:

Optimize Photoshop performance

Preferences

Photoshop User Guide

Check out other Photoshop Quick Tips 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

New Participant
January 4, 2023

감사합니다

Walter_H
Brainiac
June 26, 2022

My Graphics Processor Advanced Settings window does not have a Drawing Mode selection. I have PS v23.4.1. Do I have something set wrong?

--Walter in Davie, FL
New Participant
December 13, 2021

Thank you!

Mohammad.Harb
Community Expert
December 10, 2021

a better way is using pre-defined buttons below insteaad of changing the values manually .

sacb0y
Known Participant
January 10, 2022

This really needs a "painting" setting, as the needs for drawing are different than general image manipulation.

Participating Frequently
March 13, 2023

Digital artists have been kindly requesting a drawing or painting optimization setting in the desktop version of PS for over a decade now at this point(as well as other small QoL changes that make sense for most modern media workflows). We haven't gotten a definitive 'no' from Adobe but their attitude seems to be that PS is for primarily working with photos and we should be using Fresco if we want to paint with purpose built Adobe software.