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Last updated on
Oct 6, 2026
Learn how to adjust interface elements, file settings, and loaded resources to reduce processing overhead and improve responsiveness in Adobe Photoshop.
Adjusting Photoshop features improves application responsiveness. Improving display elements, file format options, and loaded resources reduces processing overhead for common tasks like painting, transforming layers, and saving documents.
These adjustments work alongside system-level performance settings, such as memory allocation and scratch disks. Apply them after you configure your Performance preferences. For guidance on memory and cache settings, use Improve Photoshop speed and stability with Performance preferences.
Apply these performance improvements for faster, more responsive editing.
Turn off rulers and overlays
Visible rulers, grids, slices, and smart guides require constant screen updates during painting, transforming, or dragging.
Deselect Rulers.
Select View > Show > None to turn off all overlay elements at once, or turn off individual items like Grid, Guides, or Smart Guides through View > Show.
Minimize panel preview thumbnails
Photoshop updates thumbnail previews in the Layers and Channels panels every time you modify your document. Many visible thumbnails can slow responsiveness during rapid operations.
Click the panel menu icon in the Layers or Channels panel.
Select Panel Options from the menu.
Select a smaller thumbnail size or select None to turn off previews completely.
Select OK to apply the change.
Adjust file compatibility settings
If you don't need backward compatibility with older Photoshop versions or applications that don't support layers, adjusting these settings speeds up document saving.
Select Photoshop > Preferences > File Handling (macOS) or Edit > Preferences > File Handling (Windows).
Select Disable Compression of PSD and PSB Files for 16-bit and 32-bit documents.
From the Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility menu, select Ask or Never.
Select OK to save your preferences.
Note
Selecting Never reduces file size and saves time, but prevents older applications from opening your files.
Convert to 8-bit image mode
Sixteen-bit and 32-bit images require significantly more memory, scratch space, and processing time than 8-bit images. If your workflow doesn't require extended bit depth, converting to 8-bit mode improves performance.
Select Image > Mode > 8 Bits/Channel.
Alert
Converting to 8 bits per channel permanently deletes data from your image. Save a copy of the original 16-bit or 32-bit file before converting, in case you need the extended bit depth later.
Turn off font preview
Displaying font previews in the Type menu requires additional processing when working with text.
Select Type > Font Preview Size > None.
Reduce the resolution of the screen display
Higher resolution increases memory usage, scratch disk space requirements, and processing time. For images presented onscreen, think in terms of total pixel dimensions rather than DPI.
Select Image > Image Size.
Verify that Resample is selected.
Enter new values for Width or Height in pixels.
Select OK to apply the changes.
Reduce resolution for print output
For printed images, increasing resolution beyond about 360 DPI typically provides minimal improvement in quality for most print workflows.
Select Image > Image Size.
Select Resample.
Enter values for Width and Height that match your physical print size.
Decrease the Resolution value to approximately 300-360 DPI.
Select OK to apply the changes.
Tip
If you need to increase image resolution for printing, perform this as one of your last steps before printing so you don't have to process the extra information in earlier workflow steps.
Free memory and clipboard data
During extended editing sessions, Photoshop accumulates data in memory for undo operations, the clipboard, and other temporary operations. Purging this data makes it available to the system and can improve responsiveness.
Select Edit > Purge > All to clear all cached data at once, or select Undo, Clipboard, Histories, or Video Cache individually.
Note
The Purge command cannot be undone. You can also hold Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and select About Photoshop to view current memory usage.
Transfer layers between documents
When combining content from multiple documents, dragging layers uses less memory than copying and pasting because it bypasses the system clipboard.
Open both the source and destination documents.
Select the layer you want to transfer in the source document's Layers panel.
Drag the layer from the Layers panel onto the destination document canvas.
Turn off export clipboard
The Export Clipboard preference copies layer data to the system clipboard when you switch applications. Turning off this feature reduces memory overhead.
Select Photoshop > Preferences > General (macOS) or Edit > Preferences > General (Windows).
Deselect Export Clipboard.
Select OK.
Turn off Generator
The generator automatically exports layer-based image assets as you work. If you are not using this feature, disabling it reduces background processing.
Select Edit > Preferences > Plug-Ins.
Deselect Enable Generator.
Select OK.
Close the Assets panel
The Assets panel (Creative Cloud Libraries) synchronizes content with Creative Cloud, which requires processing and network resources.
Click the panel menu icon in the Assets panel.
Select Close from the menu.
Restart Photoshop for the change to take full effect.
Reduce loaded presets
Patterns, brushes, shapes, and other presets consume memory and scratch disk space even when not actively in use.
Open the panel for the preset type you want to manage (Brushes, Swatches, Patterns, etc.).
Click the panel menu icon and select Export Selected Presets to save the presets you want to remove temporarily.
Select the presets you want to remove and select Delete from the panel menu.
When you need the presets again, use Import Presets from the panel menu to reload them.
Monitor your performance improvements using the Efficiency indicator at the bottom of the document window. Values below 90% indicate that Photoshop is using the scratch disk instead of RAM, suggesting that additional adjustments or more system memory may be beneficial.
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