Mark – that’s correct. Photoshop uses memory up to the limit you set in preferences, and then stops. But it doesn’t free memory.
And what are you doing that gets an insufficient RAM message?
Photoshop normally reuses the RAM is has allocated and doesn’t just run out…. But there are some plugin filters that are a bit greedy about their RAM usage.
And if there are PS scratchfiles left after quitting, it means that you crashed previously (leaving the files on disk) and for some reason Photoshop couldn’t clean up the files when you next launched.
Thanks Chris,
I could be doing anything…when it hits the magic number it quits. I have a dual head video card and watch the ram/cpu usage of all running apps/processes on a second monitor while I’m working- til I get thru this..
Whatever I do in PS- it adds to the RAM committment. A little for a text edit, a little for a save, a little to make a new layer, a lot to open a big file, etc. It just keeps climbing but never backs down.
I use PSCS2 on a university network computer as well. It only has a half gig or RAM and is a much older AMD but I never have a problem there doing the same work on the same files…this personal system at home should breeze thru the work but…
-Mark.
Photoshop shouldn’t quit, and it doesn’t just run out of RAM.
You have to be doing something specific even to get that kind of message.
Yes, as I already said: Photoshop does go up to the limit set in preferences, and does not release memory back to the OS — that’s perfectly normal.
But quitting or "out of RAM" messages are not normal.
Maybe you should (after exiting Photoshop) delete all of those Photoshop scratch/paging files and delete your preference file for good measure. See if the problem persists.
and what’s your ram percentage set to in photoshop? 1.7 gig is your app hitting or getting close to the 2 gig max / application barrier, that’s why things slow or stop around there.
set mem usage in photoshop to around 55% if you’ve currently got it cranked up.
Thanks Dave.
The problem is that accumulated RAM useage is not recycled. By the time it hits the wall, I may only have a very small file open and be doing nothing major to it.
There is a RAM charge associated with every action, i.e. 10 megs for a save and so on. Once committed- it is gone for PS and all other apps.
-Mark.
You might want to try setting just one Photoshop paging file on a second physical drive and definately eliminate that page file on C. I think if you page to the same disk that has your Windows swap file, you will only see a decrease in performance.
What are your Windows virtual memory settings? In addition to the above, try simply setting virtual memory at min 4096, max 4096 on your C:. Keep it simple and see what happens. I thought I had read a recommendation that Windows needs to have at least one swap file on C:, Also, XP pro can only address 4 gig of memory so exceeding the 4096 is useless.
If you haven’t done so, in Photoshop, reduce your History States to 10 and lower your Cache to 4
I’m using the same board that you are with a 4000 San Diego and 4 gig of Corsair Xtreme and I’m not seeing what your seeing.
Thanks Paul.
I read about the history states last nite and discovered that each state saves a complete image file- which I didn’t know and naturally had it maxed out. I reset last nite.
I’ll take the C: scratch disk out. Windows VM is set for 4096 min/max. I’ll lower the cache as well and see what happens today.
-Mark.
The problem is that accumulated RAM useage is not recycled. By the time it hits the wall, I may only have a very small file open and be doing nothing major to it.
that’s not a problem, it’s by design. ps will use up to the max you allocate. it doesn’t release until you close the app. this has the effect of making hte program run faster as it has contiguous memory and isn’t constantly allocating/deallocating memory.
again, what’s the ram allocation in ps’s prefrences? have you tried lowering it to around 55% as i suggested? lowering the ram allocation for ps may allow some plugins that have to work inside the 2 gig app boundry to complete without crashing your system or photoshop.
Mark,
Windows VM is set for 4096 min/max.<<
That suggests your machine has 2 gids of RAM installed – which, if so, means you have Photoshop’s Memory Allocation set to 100%.
That WILL cause you problems, from poor performance to lock-ups! BACK IT OFF TO 55%!
Hi Dave,
I’ve lowered the RAM to 55%, cut history states to 10, cut cache to 4, used the two internals other than C: for scratch disks, allocated 4096-4096 for virtual memory and I’m hoping for the best when I get into my PS work today.
Is there a setting that I’m missing?
With 2 gigs of physical RAM, is there any need to set the xp 3gb switch to allow more use of VM or is the switch purely for the hard ram?
-Mark.
No you don’t set the 3 gig switch. All that does is allow an application to access 3 gig and you only have two which really is optimal for Win XP pro 32.
The memory IS recycled inside Photoshop.
But once Photoshop has allocated the memory, it won’t let it go – it just keeps reusing it.
Also, history states do not save files, and do not save the whole document – just whatever bits changed between history states.
