Size of layer in mb

[henry22453428ow9z]

I would like to know the size of a layer. My file sizes are blowing out and I was wanting to know which layers were doing it.

The bottom left-hand corner and pushing f8 for info do not seem to be correct. 

Does anyone know how to find out this info?

Thank you very much.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

"The bottom left-hand corner and pushing f8 for info do not seem to be correct"

These sizes are final uncompressed image sizes and have nothing to do with how many layers you have and what's on them. Layers don't really have defineable sizes, per se. Yes, having several working layers will add to the overall size of a PSD file, but it has nothing to do with the final flattened image size. Rather, the size of your image is based on the number of pixels multiplied by the bit-depth, and what you would expect if your file was exported as flattened image to a non-compressed format (e.g. TIFF).

As an example,  for an 8" x 10" image at 300ppi in RGB you would be looking at 21.7MB, give or take, oe about 27 MB in CMYK.

Once you save as a compressed format, like JPG, you can reduce these sizes dramatically.

So, I guess it depends on what you are seeing and what you are expecting?

[Stephen Marsh]

---

@henry22453428ow9z wrote:

I would like to know the size of a layer. My file sizes are blowing out and I was wanting to know which layers were doing it.

Are there smart object layers?

Are there vector layers pasted from say Illustrator?

You can select each layer and CMD/CTRL + T to transform and take a look at the bounding box to see if layer content is unexpectedly extending beyond the canvas.

There is also my Active Layer Inspector script:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/could-you-select-all-layers-sequentia...

[henry22453428ow9z]

Hi Stephen, 

nah they are not smart objects.

In my workflow, I have a "template" psd and I just dump all my images into it. Do some simple transformations (bigger/smaller). Then run a script which converts all the layers down to png's. I like to keep a copy of the template file just in case. But the template file is now past 2GB's . A mixture of simple png drawings and some high rez photos. Yeah I know the issue is with the photos but I just wanted to see who the main culprit was. It sounds like from all the other posts in the thread that it is absolutely positively not doable. There does not seem to be anything in the scripting reference. So maybe it is just a dumb idea. I think I will just shorten the workflow a little and dump the template file. Save a bucketload of space as well. Thanks to everyone.

[Stephen Marsh]

@henry22453428ow9z – Sounds suspiciously like your template is suffering metadata bloat:

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/06/metadata-bloat-photoshopdocumentancestors.html

[Mylenium]

I was wanting to know which layers were doing it.

The interactions of the various layers, layer styles, masks, channels and whatnot can be infinitely complex and in order to find out which contributes the most data you'd essentially have to re-create the whole of Photoshop as a plug-in that analyzes those interactions on a pixel-by-pixel basis. That would be insane and nigh on impossible. Even just pasting in an image at full size does not simply increase the file size by the amount of the original (uncompressed and decoded) source file... As the others said, all you're ever gonna get is the current overall memory usage and an estimate of what the file will be on disk when saving in native PSD format, but that's as good as it gets. The rest is just experience.

Mylenium

[John Waller]

My file sizes are blowing out

Got any stats? One person's blowing out is another person's fully editable archival master full of useful layers and Smart Objects.

Do you mean for storing them locally or for sending them to clients or elsewhere?

If it's just a local storage issue, I would keep the files as they are and invest in bigger TB SSD drives.

If your question is really how to optimize your files, try any of the blogs which offer tips:

For example: https://creativemarket.com/blog/the-best-tricks-to-reduce-photoshop-file-size

Keep in mind that some tips (such as rasterizing Smart Objects), while useful for portability, are irreversible and not in the best interests of archiving files. You never know if you'll need to edit the Smart Object in future.

[henry22453428ow9z]

chuckle chuckle chuckle. Over 2GB file and I start to go into a frenzied rant like Doc Brown over 1.21 gigawatts.

I think I might have issues with the way that I bring in my high res pics. I might have to put a step in the workflow to reduce the quality of the pics before I import them into my template. Or dump the template after use. 

I do have a question on this though. It might be a little bit cringy but here goes. If you take a jpg picture and save it as a jpg reduce the image quality, what actually happens (besides the file being smaller) ? Does it reduce the size of the picture dimensions? Always wanted to ask and it seems like an appropriate time to ask. I will check out the optimize files link. Thanks for that.

[davescm]

Hi

If you save a jpeg then lossy compression is used which means that some of the data in the original image is not recoverable. That happens at every jpeg save, so even on high quality settings you would not want to repeatedly save as jpeg, open , edit, save again ......etc.  Lower quality settings use more aggresive compression. Jpeg compression is very effective at making a smaller file on disk but is best avoided for a master file.

Use a format with lossless compression for master files (e.g. TIFF, PSD, PSB) and keep jpeg for exporting copies.

Dave

[John Waller]

What @davescm said.

In layman's terms, I think of saving JPGs as a photocopy of an original - OK for the current purpose but something is always lost in the process since JPG compression is lossy.

Some data from the original - deemed insignificant by the JPG algorithm - is always discarded. No change in image dimensions unless the script or JPG function also resizes as you're saving.

A single photocopy might be OK. But repeatedly saving the same JPG again and again (a copy of a copy of a copy) soon becomes unacceptable. 

[Test Screen Name]

If they aren't smart objects the basic size of a layer is the raw image size (width x height x colours x bytes per component) as shown in Image > Image Size. There may be extra info like a mask. It doesn't matter what they started as, the layers have been converted to the design size. So you haven't got "A mixture of simple png drawings and some high rez photos." - every layer is the same, at the design size.

[didiermazier]

You can select all your layers and then go to the menu layer > new artoboard from layers IT will enclose all elements event those out of sight.

[henry22453428ow9z]

Thank you all for your input. I think what I will do is run the process again. Adding each graphic, transforming and saving it. Seeing how much the psd grows and see if I can find the issue there. If I find anything interesting, I will definitely report back to the forum.