Saving to PNG Painfully SLOW

[serendigity]

Anyone else experiencing very very slow times to save PNG with the latest Photoshop version?

I can save PNG using Apple Mac with the simple Preview app in a fraction of the time Adobe Lightroom takes. Is it just a bug in my version, or does everyone else experience this as well?

[emmanuelc51313331]

I thought it is an issue with Windows version. Tried on my macbook, ouch! Took about the same time!

[Neilp23]

in Edit>Preferences>Export Tick Use Legacy "Export As" 

Then go to File  > Export As and choose PNG. It's a lot faster in this windows than it is in "Save for Web"

[Gohar250408885nqt]

Try this to save png:

1. Open the File menu.
2. Click Export > Quick Export as a PNG.

[Multifun5]

Thanks for the suggestion. What version does that work on? Doesn't exist in 20.0.1

[ジョルダーノ]

Tested with Photoshop 2023 and saving png with "Smallest file size" it's insanely slow, almost 2 minutes for a 5000x5000 file. I use the Image Processor Pro script to save multiple versions of the same file, but the same happens with "Save a Copy as". 

"Export as" doesn't take more than a second to save the same file.

So why not using the same code to export png files???

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

Tested with Photoshop 2023 and saving png with "Smallest file size" it's insanely slow, almost 2 minutes for a 5000x5000 file. I use the Image Processor Pro script to save multiple versions of the same file, but the same happens with "Save a Copy as". 

"Export as" doesn't take more than a second to save the same file.

So why not using the same code to export png files???

By @ジョルダーノ

The "Export As" engine does not yet support actions or scripting, so you are stuck with Save As or Export > Save for Web code in Image Processor Pro. Have you compared the Save for Web option in Image Processor Pro?

[Earth Oliver]

yes, 7+ years apparently isn't yet enough for Adobe to finally implement this basic and core functionality. And still no presets either... just sad.

[thorn-neverwake]

Let's upvote again, just for the sake of "it's still slow in 2023."

1024x1024 image, NO transparency, save to web as PNG.

And please everyone else, don't suggest I use the "quick export" function instead. It's not the same procedure. It's like suggesting I use the pencil tool instead of the brush.

Would be nice if the QA crew would spend a few moments fixing this, instead of adding yet another cloud storage/share feature that I'm going to have to disable the next time there's a version update.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

@thorn-neverwake 

1024x1024 RGB 8BPC?

Layered or Flattened?

Any alpha channels? 

What is the save time?

Is this saving to a local SSD drive or over a network?

[thorn-neverwake]

1000x500 pix. RGB, PNG 24. 1 layer. Alpha.

From the moment I choose "save for web", it is approx 2 seconds before the export window pops up and the "waiting cursor" disppears.
Saving to SSD. I have 3 SSD drives, and it doesn't matter which volume I choose.

Intel i7 13700, 64G ram, 3 TB storage, nVidea 3060ti.

[Stephen_A_Marsh]

1000x500 pix. RGB, PNG 24. 1 layer. Alpha.

From the moment I choose "save for web", it is approx 2 seconds before the export window pops up and the "waiting cursor" disppears.
Saving to SSD. I have 3 SSD drives, and it doesn't matter which volume I choose.

Intel i7 13700, 64G ram, 3 TB storage, nVidea 3060ti.

By @thorn-neverwake

I created a new 8bpc RGB 1000x500px, 1 layer (raster spectrum linear gradient), 1 alpha (copy of green channel).

~1-2 seconds for the Save for Web (Legacy) window to open. ~1-2 seconds to save once the save button is pressed.

Export As takes about the same time.

As does Save As.

So no problem here saving to local SSD on a 2019 MacBook Pro, Intel Chip, Monterey OS.

[joeri.kassenaar]

A new version update?
Take a day off, you're going to need to tick away a ton of pop-ups.

[MicahGanske]

I recently discovered that right-clicking on a layer and doing a "quick export as png" is the fastest way to save transparent pngs from photoshop. 

With that said, I feel your pain as I curse photoshop on a daily basis for things that just don't work as well as they did 10 years ago. Simple things like just backing up settings and hotkeys has become incredibly annoying and broken. Adobe doesn't listen as they're too busy adding toy features to Photoshop to convince casual users to pay for a subscription.

[joeri.kassenaar]

It's worse.
As a paying customer I constantly need to prove to Adobe it's really me.
They only care about money, not about usablility.

[Lynx_TWO]

So, I doubt this is a bug: Photoshop uses extremely brute-force settings to save your PNG file if you use the Smallest Filesize settings. It basically tries a ton of different combinations and methods one at a time and compares the resultant filesize to find the compression and optimization settings that result in the smallest file size. This can take a very long time with large dimensions.  What will likely work better for you is to save a file as a PNG with the quickest settings, then use a batch program like Caesium Image Compressor (free) to batch-compress the large PNG files since Caesium is optimized for multiple threads.  Worst case scenario, with a lot of large files you just let it run overnight.

Hope this helps! Link is here: https://saerasoft.com/

[Martin32279432sa1y]

I have long since accepted that the quickest way around this is to convert PNG collections to TF (I use Irfanview, very quick), and then convert back. Annoyingly, TIF is unusable for many other parts of the procedure (such as online colorization), so I have to plan this out. But Photoshop saves TIF files very, very quickly. Usually instantaneously.