Photoshop CS3 Question - DPChallenge Forums

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 01:52:46 PM · #1

I need advice on what to do.

1. When I click on my desktop Photoshop icon it takes 2 to 10 seconds to load my main
[thumb]729111[/thumb]

2. But when I open an new or existing document it takes a minimum of 25 seconds and while it's loading I can't click on anything (freezes) and this is what I see.
[thumb]729111[/thumb] (same picture because it shows the same thing)

3. Then when I'm working on a photograph sometimes all my menus, left and right, along with some icons at top will white out. You will be able to see the box but no icons, layer, etc will be visible. It will stay this way until I minimize the window and then maximize it again. Sometimes it takes me doing this twice before all boxes and icons can be seen again.

I have set Photoshop back to its default workflow and optimized its setting but I don't know what else to do. All other programs work fine even Bridge that takes a lot of memory to run. Gaming works fine so I don't feel it an issue with my V-card or memory. But I may be wrong.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,
Scott

littlegett

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/07/2008 01:54:10 PM · #2

check your memory usage as well as your scratch disks. could be that one or both of these is causing the issues.

memory both ram and what cs3 allocates.

p.s. oh yeah, depending on your plugins and or number of fonts, it will take extra time to load. The main area loads quickly but the functions of stuff take a bit longer. Mine always takes a bit of extra time loading... though I am still on cs2.

Message edited by author 2008-10-07 13:56:23.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 01:56:04 PM · #3

Originally posted by littlegett:

check your memory usage as well as your scratch disks. could be that one or both of these is causing the issues.

memory both ram and what cs3 allocates.

This may sound dump but in what way do I check the memory usage and where to find the scratch disk

littlegett

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

10/07/2008 01:58:45 PM · #4

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by littlegett:
check your memory usage as well as your scratch disks. could be that one or both of these is causing the issues.

memory both ram and what cs3 allocates.

This may sound dump but in what way do I check the memory usage and where to find the scratch disk

for me, 'Edit-Preferences' and there is an option there stating, memory, and scratch disk. but like I said that is cs2, not sure if it changed in cs3 but I would guess it was the same.

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/07/2008 02:10:09 PM · #5

edit--> preferences-->performance
in cs3
there you can set what scratch disk to use, how much ram you have available and what percentage of that ram should be used for photoshop (i have 1.3gig available and have set the usage at about 75%)

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 02:22:41 PM · #6

Originally posted by SDW:

#3ADDED THIS SCREEN SHOT FOR CLARIFICATION: [thumb]729125[/thumb]

Here is a screen print of my memory/scratch disk.
[thumb]729128[/thumb]

Phil

Canon EOS-7D

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

10/07/2008 02:23:02 PM · #7

Originally posted by SDW:

That doesn't sound dump at all.

Sorry, had to do it.

10/07/2008 02:25:28 PM · #8

The 30 history states is probably killing your performance.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 02:25:39 PM · #9

Originally posted by Phil:

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by littlegett:
check your memory usage as well as your scratch disks. could be that one or both of these is causing the issues.

memory both ram and what cs3 allocates.

This may sound dump but in what way do I check the memory usage and where to find the scratch disk

That doesn't sound dump at all.

Sorry, had to do it.

LOL...prove my point, it did sound dumb.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 02:26:14 PM · #10

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

The 30 history states is probably killing your performance.

Let me see if changing that helps.

10/07/2008 02:27:55 PM · #11

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
The 30 history states is probably killing your performance.

Let me see if changing that helps.

It may not help the initial load but as you work on an image it will start to slow down. Just keep enough history states that allow you to back up if you need to redo something or just use layers that you can turn off and on.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 02:29:25 PM · #12

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
The 30 history states is probably killing your performance.

Let me see if changing that helps.

Changed the history states to 10 and cache levels to 4. Still takes 22 sec. to load workpage. ???????

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

10/07/2008 02:36:40 PM · #13

What else is running on your computer? Anti-virus software?

If Anti-Virus software, is there a setting to scan files when they change? If so, are your PS files excluded?

Moose408

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

10/07/2008 02:39:11 PM · #14

You might try restoring Photoshop to it's default factory settings by holding CTRL+SHIFT+ALT when clicking on the Photoshop icon to load PS. When it asks if you want to delete the settings file reply yes.

It really sounds like a memory problem to me. I had a machine that had similar problems, the machine at 2Gb of RAM but when I went a looked at the computer stats it said it only had 1Gb, one of the SIMMs had gone bad.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 02:49:41 PM · #15

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

What else is running on your computer? Anti-virus software?

If Anti-Virus software, is there a setting to scan files when they change? If so, are your PS files excluded?

I just recently installed AVG (free) on my computer. I will check that out.

Originally posted by Moose408:

I checked that in two places. Both show my system having 2.0 GB Ram.
I will try the CTRL+SHIFT+ALT and see if that helps.

10/07/2008 03:40:32 PM · #16

How full is your scratch disk?

How full is your hard drive?
Do you need to defragment your hard drive?

Message edited by author 2008-10-07 15:41:22.

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 03:49:13 PM · #17

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

How full is your scratch disk?

How full is your hard drive?
Do you need to defragment your hard drive?

I don't know how to tell how full my scratch disk is.
I have 216.46GB free space on my HD
I defrag every month. Just did a defrag about a week ago.

NOTE: One thing I just noticed when it does these things in PS if I click on CTR+ALT+DEL and view Application it says that Photoshop is "not responding" then when the screen does pop up after about 22 sec. it changes to "responding". Anyone know what may cause that?

Message edited by author 2008-10-07 15:50:21.

Mephisto

Nikon Coolpix A

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm F2.5 ASPH

10/07/2008 04:15:05 PM · #18

sounds pretty strange to me. i only have about 800mb usage for cs3, i also have avg running and my scratch disk is almost full, still my files open in not more than 2 seconds.
what kinda files are you trying to open? raw's? how big are these files?

10/07/2008 04:19:27 PM · #19

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
How full is your scratch disk?

How full is your hard drive?
Do you need to defragment your hard drive?

I don't know how to tell how full my scratch disk is.
I have 216.46GB free space on my HD
I defrag every month. Just did a defrag about a week ago.

NOTE: One thing I just noticed when it does these things in PS if I click on CTR+ALT+DEL and view Application it says that Photoshop is "not responding" then when the screen does pop up after about 22 sec. it changes to "responding". Anyone know what may cause that?

What have you set your scratch disk to in the PS preferences? How much space is left in the location set as the scratch disk?

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/07/2008 04:30:20 PM · #20

Originally posted by cpanaioti:

Originally posted by SDW:

Originally posted by cpanaioti:
How full is your scratch disk?

How full is your hard drive?
Do you need to defragment your hard drive?

I don't know how to tell how full my scratch disk is.
I have 216.46GB free space on my HD
I defrag every month. Just did a defrag about a week ago.

NOTE: One thing I just noticed when it does these things in PS if I click on CTR+ALT+DEL and view Application it says that Photoshop is "not responding" then when the screen does pop up after about 22 sec. it changes to "responding". Anyone know what may cause that?

What have you set your scratch disk to in the PS preferences? How much space is left in the location set as the scratch disk?

I can be opening a new file with no information. set at 800x800 @72dpi and it still takes over 20 seconds to load. During such time my computer tells me that Photoshop is not responding but when it loads it says responding.

Here is a screen shot of my preferences in photoshop. I have changed the history to 10 and cash to 4 to try to speed up PS.
[thumb]729128[/thumb]

No matter the size of the image or if its a new project or an existing photograph (RAW, sRAW, JPG, PNG, or photoshop file) it takes the same amount of time. Something is happening within photoshop.

I may have to uninstall and reinstall PS.

Message edited by author 2008-10-07 16:31:38.

10/07/2008 04:33:37 PM · #21

PS is indicating an ideal range for memory usage. Try dropping the memory usage to within that range. Currently it's set above the upper limit.

From what I've read, it's not a good idea to have your scratch disk the same as the disk the program is installed on. From the screen shot it looks like your scratch disk is C:\.

Message edited by author 2008-10-07 16:34:25.