Bloated PSD File Sizes?

Our 18MB 14-bit Canon camera produces RAW images (converted to uncompressed DNG) that are about 22MB. On a Win7-64bit CS6 workstation, the PSD file that is created from the DNGs has the following sizes (single layer, no masks/paths, maximum compatibility):
16 bit, DNG as smart object: 207MB (10x of the DNG)
16 bit, DNG as rasterized layer: 187MB (8.5x of the DNG)
8-bit (less information than the DNG), DNG as smart object: 115MB (5.2x of DNG)
8-bit (less information than the DNG), DNG as rasterized layer: 95MB (4.3x of DNG)
Just for kicks, a blank 8-bit image with a white background layer saves as 818KB, adding a few scribbles with the brush tool saves the file at about 30MB.
Am I missing something? Is this normal? I know that storage is cheap these days, but sheesh! Does anyone know of a more efficient workflow?
thanks!
JP

Guess you need a primer on the differences tween raw files and rendered files. Raw files that have not been demosiaced are indeed small bcause the raw data hasn't been turned into RGB pixels yet. Once a raw file is rendered into RGB pixels, you get a much larger file, 8-bit is actually more like 3x the raw file (although that changes based on compression options when saving and whether you have backwards compatibility turned on or off). A 16-bit file will be 2x the size of an 8-bit file–again, depending on compression options. Saving a raw file in a Smart Object makes the file sizes swell considerably because it has to save the a copy of the raw file inside the rendered file plus any layers plush a composite preview.
So, what you've discovered is, it's useful to keep a raw file raw until you need a rendered file. When rendered, you'll have to expect the file sizes to be much larger...

Similar Messages

.psd file size does not make any sense to me

I am hoping someone can explain the huge .psd file sizes I am seeing.
I have a Canon 7D and shoot raw. I have a raw file that is 24.6 Mbytes and is a 3456 x 5184 pixel image. I then open with ACR and do nothing but save it as a 16-bit .psd file with the same image (pixel) resolution. The .psd file is 102.5 Mbytes.
By my calcs a 3456 x 5184 x 2 bytes (16 bit depth) is 35.8 Mbytes uncompressed. Yet the .psd is nearly 3 times this size before it is ever opened in Photoshop.
Can anyone explain why? My 256 GByte disk has been eaten up like a bunch of breath mints...

Your assumptions are wrong.
"16 bit" RGB data has 3 colors per pixel x 16 bits per color. Thus, 3456 x 5184 x 6 bytes = 107 megabytes and change.
The raw file has, as I recall, 14 bits per photosite of measurement data that has not been debayered. Only one color range of light is measured per photosite.
Both the Canon CR2 raw format and the Photoshop PSD format include lossless compression as well.
I hope this helps clear things up.
-Noel

PSD Files Size, how big is to big

We are creating some scrolls using PSDs and adding motion to them. We have one scroll that is 720X20,016 pixels and it keeps crashing FCP. Our PSD Files that ar 720X10,000 work fine. Any way to get a big scroll (20,000 pixels long) to work?

For the pure research possibilities,
Take your 720x10,000 file that already has text etc and create a series of new files from it in 100 pixel increments using rescale or expand canvas.
You should have files that start at 720x10,100 and go up in 100 pixel increments 10,200/ 10,300 etc
Test them one by one until the system crashes.
Results?
x

Weird Photoshop PSD files sizes..

I'm using CS6 in Mountain Lion (so don't know if this affects other versions / platforms OS's) and have noticed something odd saving a file.
I have a document that is 2048 x 1536 with two layers in it, one is a bitmap, the other a vector shape with 7 points (a circle with a play sumbol in it).
Saving it creates a PSD of 18.3mb.
Deleting the shape layer and saving it gives me a file of 9.2mb.
So by my maths, that's 9.1 for a vector shape with 7 points.
How is that even possible?
Delete the bitmap layer and save with just the vector shape and the file is 249k.
What's going on?
Rob.

If you have set the Maximize Compatibility setting in preferences, not only is the shape layer saved as metadata, but there is a flattened composite image created and saved with the PSD as well. It could be that it's not able to compress that flattened composite particularly well.
If you don't have other applications or older versions of Photoshop needing to read the PSD files in your work environment, you may experience a significant savings if you set Maximize Compatibility to Ask or Never and save without maximum compatibility.
Just to be clear, older versions of Photoshop WILL read files saved without maximum compatibility if they don't contain features only available in the later (saving) version of Photoshop. When the "compatibility" process is invoked, the older version (or external app) will revert to reading the flattened composite, which isn't always useful anyway.
-Noel

Is there a way to prevent LR from reducing size (pixels) of files transfered to Photoshop as a psd file for editing?

The subject line says it all. I have discovered that LR reduces the size of files transferred to Photoshop for further editing when compared to the same RAW file processed in ACR in Photoshop. For example, a psd file created by LR from a 36 MB RAW file will typically result in a 100 MB psd file. The same RAW file processed similarly in Photoshop will result in a file around 300 MB. This makes a huge difference when the files are converted to JPEGs for printing. The smaller LR psd files result in JPEGs typically under 500 KB where the Photoshop JPEGs are typically around 1.5 MB.

Whew! I didn't think this would turn into such a long discussion!. OK - my error, spatial data not color. But that is loosing focus on my question. My objective is to get the best print possible from the final JPEG file used for printing.. As previously noted, for a given RAW file w/similar adjustments but with one processed in LR and the other in PS , a print made from the larger of two resulting JPEG files, the larger JPEG file resulting from only PS ACR processing (i.e., no LR) will result in a better print. Elie-d appears to have answered my basic question. If LR will always pass a 103 MB file then I assume there is no way to change this size. In case anyone is interested here is some additional info for consideration. Both LR & PS using 8 bit mode and 240 ppi.. Procedure in LR: 1) download RAW files from camera CD; 2) make adjustments to photo; 3) using Edit in External Processor, photo transferred to PS in PSD format, 8 bit. 4) file size around 100 MB (103 MB per elie-d). Procedure in PS: 1) download RAW file to hard drive with Nikon View2; 2) open file in PS - auto opens in ACR; 3) apply essentially the same adjustments (e.g., exposure, highlight, shadow, etc) ) as applied in LR; 4) file opened in PS editor; 5) resulting PSD file size with no further processing (i.e., no layers, etc.) is 310 MB). The resulting JPEG file created from the LR PSD is typically less than 200 KB whereas the JPEG from the PS PSD will generally be around 1.5 MB. As an academic question it would still be interesting to know why one gets different size PSD files from LR and PS and what, if any, affect this has on print quality. As for now I will not use LR to process RAW files. I prefer the larger PSD & JPEG files I get using just PS

ACR PSD files - larger file size and max compatible

When using ACR > Save As to save a bunch of PSD files from raw files the resulting PSD file sizes are larger.
for example:
if I output and save from ACR directly to a folder as a PSD, I'm seeing the file size at 63.1 MB
If I open the raw file to PS and save it within Photoshop to a PSD file the file size is 56.1 MB ( this is true whether the Max Compatible is turned on or off... probably because it's a flat PSD file)
why the difference? same output settings from ACR, bit depth etc.
Also,
The file saved out of ACR appears to be "tagged" as a Maximum compatible file even though it is flat, so subsequent saves, even if the PS pref is set to Never for maximum compatibility are disregarded. Whereas the same file that was opened into PS from ACR and then saved with the Never PS pref behaves correctly.
Is there a preference setting within ACR to not save the PSD's as Maximum compatible?
thanks
j
ACR 6.4
PS 12.0.4
10.6.7

Hi Noel
I may not have been clear in my post. It's not about PSD v. Raw file size, just comparing PSD files.
Starting with a raw file ( in this case a 5DmII CR2)
Using the same settings (mid-bottom of ACR window) when saving a file using the "save image" within ACR or opening the file into PS and then saving. This is where I'm seeing the file size difference.
The second part of the problem is that PSD files that are saved directly out of ACR using the "save image" (bottom left of ACR window) are all set as Maximum Compatibility. As a result opening these files will always be have the extra data and saving time that files with Maximum Compatibility enabled have. The only way to get around this is to have your PS prefs set to Never or Ask and the "Save As" to overwrite the file.
I just reprocessed a folder of PSD's that were saved out of ACR by overwriting as above and the 36 files (with layers, retouching etc) went from 6.9GB to 5.6GB, and the save time is also faster.
This isn't intended to be a discussion about the benefits or disadvantages of the Maximum Compatibiliy "feature", but just a question as to whether it can be turned off in PSDs saved from ACR.
thanks
j

Linking Questions cs5: Linking within the Same file, Sharing links, file size bloat

I have to make print cards for my job. Print cards being a 1 page version of the Larger package layout that the place I work manufactures. On this print card is a section for customer info on top, and the print representation on the bottom. What I've been doing is using two files. The first file is the full-scale art on one artboard, and the customer info on the second artboard, but both within one file.
On the second file, I combine the two. I still use two artboard because it's a front and back print-off. The front page (1st art board, 2nd file), is the customer info at the top (linked from the 2 art board, 1st file) and the full art shrunk to fit below (also linked). the back page (2nd art board, 2nd file) is the individual elements of the artwork, zoomed in for easier viewing. For the second page, I use masked links from the fullsize art, sized appropriately. The reason it's important that they all use links, is so if I update the art, it will update the print cards as well.
I've been trying to stream-line this process. This works ok, but the numerous links bloat the file size, and I have to email these to customers. I've started using "Flatten Transparency" on all my Print cards (2nd file) and saving it as a separate .pdf. This cuts out the links, but then all of my masked images are hiding the whole original file behind their mask. So then I started manually cropping each individual masked area, which helps, but once I've gone through this whole process, I don't think I've saved any of the time my template was supposed to save.
file://localhost/Users/troubleinthemaking/Desktop/PRINT%20MINI%20EXAMPLE.pdf
My questions are these:
Is there any way to link to elements within the same file? Like from a different artboard?
I've successfully 'Placed' an artboard from the same file, back into that file (but a different artboard), but this creates a never-ending Save/Update loop. I'd like a better way to do this.
Is there a way to have all instances of a linked file, draw from the same place? i.e. When you update a single link, all instances of that Link would update. plus this would, in theory, cut down on the file size.
Is there any way to automatically have every masked link crop itself after using the flatten transparency command?
Even if I had to select them first. I haven't had any luck selecting them all and then using the pathfinder crop tool. I've had to do each one individually.
I know this last one can't really be answered without seeing everything on my machine. I don't even know what info I'd need to give...
WHY MY FILE SIZE SO BIG!
Thanks ahead of time.
-Jefferson

Jefferson:
There's a few things you can do to make your files smaller, such as using the Action "Delete All Unused Panel Items" which will removed all unused Symbols, Graphic Styles, Brushes and Swatches from your Illustrator files. Those little items add up to bloating a file.
You also need to examine the images that you place into your Illustrator file. Any unnecessary layers or channels? Can the files be flattened before being placed in Illustrator? You can always keep a "working" Photoshop file of all that extra goobledeegook and then flatten the file and do a "Save As" and place that in the Illustrator file. And that could be a Photoshop EPS saved with a TIFF Preview and JPEG Encoding (Maximum Quality), which will save some MBs.
But, you should never sacrifice file size for quality. If these files are going to print, you should be using an FTP program to transfer the files and not email them. Email should not be used for files over 5 MB. If all you want to do is send the customer a Low Resolution PDF Proof for approval via Email, that's fine and dandy, but send the final large size files to the Printer via FTP.

Saved PSD files show up as small thumbnails oinly in Bridge

Ive been working on some photos in ACR/CS2 and a strange thing happened. After working on raw files I save them in a separate working folder as psd files. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, my PSD files are showing up in Bridge as tiny thumbnails. This just started happening in the middle of working on a folder of raw files. The first few were fine and then the saved files began showing up as thumbnails.
Moving the slider to make them bigger doesnt do anything. I can make all the files smaller by moving the slider to the left, but moving to the right only makes the files thumbnail size. Very weird. This problem seems limited to Bridge. In PS they look fine. Ive even checked their file size and that looks fine. Ive closed and reopened Bridge, but that had no affect.
I cleared ACR preferences and purged the folder; that brought back some files but then others became small. Also when working on new files, the first few were again OK and then again files became thumbnail size in Bridge. I can open the files, save them to another folder and then copy them to the original folder, over writing the old, thumbnail size folder. I suspect all this has to do with cache and some setting, but I can't figure out the random nature of all this.

Actually I found the problem... under Bridge preferences, check to see if the "do not process files larger than ____MB" is less than the PSD file size.... i.e. my psd file was 229.24mb and my limit was set at 200mb... then once you change this go to cache settings and purge, it will reset the thumbnails and clear the small view issue.

PSD file error. All my saved layers disappeared. Shows only one locked black layer.

Hi ! I have a problem with the PSD file, size 228 MB. When electricity turned off, my computer shut down then I turned on it and opened the PSD again but there was only one locked layer filled in black and no other layers. I can not see other layers that was saved before. and here is red line on the top. How can I return my works back? Could you help me?

This forum is only for discussions about the forums themselves. The Photoshop forum is here:
http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop

File Size for Rasterized vs. Smart Object Images

Hello,
I am scaling smaller images up to the full canvas size for a project (around 200% of original size). I have tried scaling images up as both a smart object, and also converting it to a rasterized layer, then scaling it up. I noticed that almost every time I leave the image a smart object and then scale the image up and save it for web, it is a smaller filesize than if I would convert it to a rasterized layer and then save it for web (sometimes up to 5% smaller). Does anyone know why this happens, or if it is changing the quality of the image by leaving it as a smart object?
Note: I am using very large images, with an original filesize of 1-3 MB.
Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Just to clarify, I am talking about the JPEG image file size being smaller, not the PSD file size
I do have maximum compatibiliy set for my PSD.
I am saving out all my images for this experiment out as a JPEG at 50% quality. I attached a screenshot of my save for web settings.
I also attached the rasterized image and the smart object image. I also attached the scaled down version of the image, which is what I am scaling up to create the rasterized and smart object images. Let me know if this is what you need to fully examine, and thank you for the help!
Here is the rasterized image:
Here is the smart object image:
Here is the scaled down verison of the image:
My Save for Web settings:

Project Bloating and Repair in Premiere Pro CS6; Max Project File Size? Adobe Coders Welcome...

Greetings.
After a few browsing sessions, I haven't found direction for a specific problem within a project bloat. First and foremost; we're always backed up. I have a restoration copy of the project that I will reference herein. Check that off the list.
Numerous people have posted here and around Creative Cow with problems regarding an expanding file size using CS6; watching files go from 300mb to 2.8gb. The unfortunate problem is when the project crosses a magical line that results in an inablity to open, import, export, or access sequences contained therein. Has anyone addressed a solution to repairing Premiere CS6 save files? Reducing file bloat? I haven't seen anything (recall the FCP7 repair days... solutions existed because problems were frequent; thankfully not so bad with Adobe).
Does anyone inside the code size know the maximum project file size that Premiere can read? I created a monster... Over 200 sequences utilizing 4.5TB of footage, stretching from Red codecs to EXCam to MPEG4 and H264. And for some time, the project size was manageable. Then, it inflated. And one day, randomly stopped opening. None of the auto-saves open.
Just curious. Files aren't the problem, but the 2.8GB save file is. Machine specs // etc. are openly available if required; no bad ram, no problems with all projects (just this one beast).
Cheers,
Jon Michael Ryan

REALLY_ Mac has a history of being more stable than PC with Premier ...
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Re: Project Bloating and Repair in Premiere Pro CS6; Max Project File
Size? Adobe Coders Welcome...
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How can I reduce the file size when saving a psd as a pdf

I have a psd with graphics and text, it is 8.5 x 11, 300 ppi
I flatten the image and go to save as .pdf I un-check all of the options in general.
In compression, I have tried a dozen different combinations and the way I've found to get a document that is not pixelated or blurry is to use jpeg 2000 > lossless or jpeg > maximum.
So I have a high quality document but the file sizes are around 900 kb.
I have downloaded other people's documents of the exact same type and size (8.5 x 11, 300 ppi) that I am making and viewed them in Photoshop, they are not pixelated or blurry and their file sizes are 300 kb or even less than 200 kb
How are they doing this?!

Delete all unused, invisible layers.
Sometimes zip compression is better than jpg compression (in the pdf output settings). Zip is lossless, and works better with non gradient colour or no images.
Flattening the image before you save it to pdf can reduce the file size if you are using jpg compression.
Post a preview of your pdf and we can comment further on how to reduce the file size.

PSD files sent over FTP given 1kb file size, archived, and have .bin appended to extension

I'm trying to deliver PSD files to someone over our server's FTP. If the FTP shared folder is accessed via a browser (like safari which is the main thing I've been testing on), the files in are listed as being only 1kb in size when each is approximately 60MB and all have had .bin appended to the .psd file extension. When the file is downloaded it's still 1kb and when opened it is associated with the archive utility which attempts to unarchive it and produces and identically named and extensioned file of 4kb size which cannot be opened by preview or text edit or photoshop.
Changing the extension does not help as suggested here http://forums.appleinsider.com/archive/index.php/t-25119.html . Also if the file is downloaded via 3rd party FTP software like cyber duck, though the file size is listed as 1kb, the correct size file is downloaded though still has the .bin extension. When this full sized .bin file is opened, archive utility instead of unarchiving attempts to archive it and produces a file roughly half the size which too cannot be opened. Speaking with apple care resulted in the suggestion that I use terminal command line to force the client to use binary mode when downloading the file which also downloads a file of correct size but with the .bin extension and that can not be opened.
Is this a known issue with PSD files? I've not come accross this before, the server is configured correctly and different file types are successfully downloading with no changes to size or extension and then opening as they should upon receipt at the client side.

Hi and thanks,
that was my next port of call but I stumbled across a more permanent fix. Mac OSX server automatically converts files sent over FTP to something called MacBinary on the fly and it seems this process doesn't agree with PSD files. Someone else encountered this problem back in 2003 and found this solution
http://forums.appleinsider.com/archive/index.php/t-25119.html
speaking to apple care they also sent a link for the official mac instructions for achieving the same thing here
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20996
and here
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20645?viewlocale=en_US
in the second explanation it's important to note for anyone attempting to follow this that if you're fixing the problem on MacOsX server rather than just MacOSX it isn't necessary to enable the root account as it is automatically enabled by default. Simply log out and log back in as root and use the same password as the first administrator account you set up when the server was first configured.

Project file size bloats (Captivate 3)

Does anyone know what causes a project file to become disproportionately bloated? I was working on a file that was approx 200 MB, then imported some objects onto one slide from another project, and suddenly it jumped to over 300 MB (I even deleted all items in the library that weren't being used elsewhere).
I've noticed this phenomenon on more than one occassion. It seems to occur most frequently when importing objects or slides from one project to another.

Hi there
The only way that I've ever seen a file size reduction in Captivate 3 was by performing the following steps:
Open a second instance of Captivate.
Create a new blank project sized identically to the other instance.
Switching between instances, copy slides from the bloated one and paste into the fresh one.
Save the new one and the file size is reduced.
Discard the old one.
Note that you will likely need to re-establish any links you had.
Just a special note here about one of the things you tried. You said you exported to XML. I don't believe you are able to export to XML, then import from XML back into a new project. I believe the XML export works in a very similar manner to the Microsoft Word export. Only the project that exported it will be able to successfully re-import it. As I understand it, the XML export is especially designed for Captivate developers that need to localize (translate) their projects.
Cheers... Rick
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File size Tiff vs Psd

Does anyone know exactly why .psd files save out in a smaller size than a .tiff
In other words, if I create a tif then duplicate that same file and save it as a .psd, the .psd
is significantly smaller than the identical tiff. This seems to hold true for flat files and layered files.
anyone?

This is only true if you save the PSD without the backwards compatibility option...that's the differences in sizes. TIFF can actually use Zip compression with is more efficient than PSD's RLE compression.

Bloated PSD File Sizes?

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