CS2 problem–every PSD file is *gigantic* when saved

SN
Posted By
stephen_nordink
Oct 23, 2007
Views
599
Replies
11
Status
Closed
When I save PSD files in CS2, they are gigantic, 40MB minimum.

Even small docs, with few layers. I’ve been using Photoshop long enough to know that these files should be 2MB at most.

I don’t know how to fix this problem, or why it’s happening.

(I also don’t know if this is relevant, but a few weeks ago I think CS2 somehow ‘reset’ itself. Upon opening it, everything had gone back to factory defaults. My custom actions, brushes, etc., were gone, and I had to go back and re-load them.)

Working with these unnaturally huge files takes up a huge amount of my memory, making for slow, slow working conditions.

Please help with any thoughts! Thanks.
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JO
Jim_Oblak
Oct 23, 2007
‘Gigantic’ is purely a subjective term. A 40 MB file may be small for some of us.

What are your pixel dimensions?

Did you accidentally switch to 16 bit editing or add extra channels?
C
chrisjbirchall
Oct 23, 2007
What are the pixel dimensions of these files? I saw this problem once where the user was inadvertently setting the resolution to 300 pixels per centemeter instead of inch!
SN
stephen_nordink
Oct 23, 2007
Thank you for your follow-up questions.

My pixel dimensions are 1600×2400, 72dpi. (I had checked the centimeter issue before posting.)

My file is 4 layers–a photo background layer and 3 simple text layers.

The photo is from a jpg file, which is 2.2MB.

When I save the photo and text layers as a PSD, it becomes 39+ MB!

Also, this is just one specific instance. I’ve been suffering this problem for the past 3 weeks or so!

(I also checked, and I haven’t accidentally added a channel or switched over to 16 bit editing. Both good suggestions, though.)

Thank you again.
H
Ho
Oct 23, 2007
Have you checked Maximize PSD File Compatibility in Preferences>File Handling?
JJ
John_Joslin
Oct 23, 2007
Don’t forget, if you look at your JPEG in Windows Explorer it may show as 2.2MB compressed on disk, but if you open it in Photoshop you will see its uncompressed size, which will be a lot more. If you then add your text and save it as a PSD it will be a lot bigger still. If you were to flatten it and save as a JPEG it should go back to nearer the original size.
C
chrisjbirchall
Oct 23, 2007
For comparison, I’ve just created a 1600×2400 image, photo BG layer plus three text layers and saved as follows.

* Flattened Jpeg (max quality) 1.3MB
* Uncompressed TIFF – 16MB
* PSD – 19.5MB

The PSD is set to Maximize Compatibility. Not to do so would result in Bridge taking longer to render the previews on PSDs.

Even so this is still only half the size on disk of your 40MB monsters!
SN
stephen_nordink
Oct 23, 2007
Everything you guys are saying is making sense. It is a strange problem, undoubtedly

I am saving with maximum compatibility on, so I could try turning that setting off, I suppose.

The one thing I haven’t tried, and that I’ve been avoiding, I suppose, is re-loading the software.

Thanks again, everyone, for your theories.
J
Jim
Oct 23, 2007
wrote in message
Thank you for your follow-up questions.

My pixel dimensions are 1600×2400, 72dpi. (I had checked the centimeter issue before posting.)

My file is 4 layers–a photo background layer and 3 simple text layers.
The photo is from a jpg file, which is 2.2MB.

When I save the photo and text layers as a PSD, it becomes 39+ MB!
Also, this is just one specific instance. I’ve been suffering this problem for the past 3 weeks or so!

(I also checked, and I haven’t accidentally added a channel or switched over to 16 bit editing. Both good suggestions, though.)

Thank you again.

The size of the jpg and the dpi are not relevant.

Assuming 24 bit images:

1600*2400 = 3840000 pixels

At 3 bytes per pixel, then the image size will be at least 3840000 *3 = 11520000 bytes (11.52 mb)
There is some extra items stored in the PSD file which accounts for using more than the above value.

PSDs aren’t compressed. Hence the images will be quite large.

As every layer is the same size as the background, your reported size of the PSD is not out of line.

Jim
H
Ho
Oct 24, 2007
Have any alpha channels?
SN
stephen_nordink
Oct 24, 2007
No, good idea, but no alpha channels.
S
stevent
Oct 24, 2007
Is it RGB or CMYK?

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