Huge photoshop file size.

tynew

With game art shifting to larger texture sizes and 4096 being close to the norm how do you guys deal with large file size?

Normally I work on all my maps at the same time, diffuse, normal, specular, gloss. One of my PSD files was 3gb and only had 115 layers at 4096x4096. Saving times are slow and huge there is huge memory usage. Can't even have Max+marmo+photoshop open with 8gb ram.

EarthQuake

SSD, large photoshop document format.

Futzy

Using smart objects may help, you can import whole .PSDs (just drag and drop the file to your canvas) as flat layers so that you can view them in context but only open the actual .PSD when you need to. When you make changes to the source PSDs you'll have to right click its smart object, select replace contents and reselect the file.

nyx702

I read somewhere that if you save your PSD with a filled white layer on top of your stack that it reduces the file size. Not sure if this is practical or the savings amount to anything worthwhile. Just thought it was interesting.

Racer445

throw more computing power at it. at least 16gb ram, ssd, large document format, make sure you have 64 bit photoshop etc. you can also try selecting the canvas and cropping, which keeps the file the same dimensions but gets rid of all data outside the canvas.

the future is multiple 4096s. enjoy!

MM

8gb is far too low for working on high spec game art.

1. get more ram, minimum 32gb.

2. get a dedicated ~50gb SSD for windows page file AND photoshop scratch disk and make sure to assign that scratch disk in photoshop preference instead of C drive.

3. use PSB format (PS with prompt you if you cross the limit so you will be forced to use that format anyways).

16gb is bare minimum now days, if you really wanna prepare yourself for next couple years, get at least 32gb and if you can afford get 64gb.

btw, dont use too many smart objects. it can drastically lower performance in PS. if you have too many layer masks, you can try applying some of the masks so that there are less pixel in the layers. i have optimized files this way before, but any optimization is destructive.