SSD vs HDD for active Photoshop Files

It can depend on the typical file sizes you work with. For example, if you mostly do web graphics that are maybe 5 to 10MB each, those will save so quickly you probably won’t notice a difference putting them on faster storage. But if you edit high megapixel images at 16 bits per pixel with many layers and masks, which could create a file size of hundreds of MB, you might notice faster saving on an SSD.

I have some large files that take a while every time I hit Save. But while I am editing, the long file save times don’t concern me, because Photoshop saves in the background…I can keep working while it’s doing the last save.

Important: The speed of the storage containing the open file only matters when you open and save that file. If you are really asking about how an SSD might speed up actual editing in Photoshop, what matters there is the speed of the storage where your Photoshop scratch file is located (which you set in Photoshop Preferences > Scratch Disks). That’s because the Photoshop scratch file is like a cache, especially when a document requires more RAM than is available on your computer. When Photoshop needs to use its scratch file, the closer the speed of the scratch storage is to the speed of RAM (whch is always faster than storage), the less you should have a slowdown. Because SSDs are much closer to the speed of RAM than hard drives are, the designated Photoshop scratch volume should be an SSD.

By default, the Photoshop scratch file is on the volume containing the system you start up in. If that is a hard drive, or if that is getting full, Photoshop editing can slow down. So if you want to make sure the speed of your storage isn’t holding back editing speed in Photoshop, configure your primary scratch volume to be on an SSD that is fast and has several hundred GB of free space available. If that describes your system volume, then you might not need to change anything. The SSD can be internal or exterrnal, but if external it must be connected by a fast interface — at least USB 3, definitely not USB 2 or slower.

I think it just depends on your patience level. Having your working files on a fast SSD will result in opening and saving files faster. Your scratch disk should definitely be on the fastest drive you have. Of course, the scratch disk needs to have plenty of space to expand.