Photoshop is too slow

[TonyK]

I have used PS for OS X for years with no issues. Then again, my images were not hosted in the cloud but stored locally.

Also PS does not use Flash for its UI.

I've been mostly quiet but feel there are multiple issues for this user. If I remember I will try on my 2015 MBP with 16GB of memory. My images are now stored on a NAS in our house. Just need to reconfigure PS CS 6 for a scratch disk because it migrated from a desktop system.

I also have 7D images in CR2 format so that should help. I do not have or use PS CC and that could be a telling difference.

My MBP is the 2.8 Mhz MBP 15.4" with 1TB SSD running macOS 10.12. My test will be done over WiFi connecting to Apple TimeCapsules using the fastest protocol they support (802.11 a/c I believe).

I won't get "precise" timings but will give feedback based on user experience and expectations (I'm a developer type, that is sometimes how we look at things).

 

[TonyK]

Just completed my test using a CR2 image from a Canon 7D. Used Camera Raw to open it and then cropped the image and zoomed in and out without any speed issues.

The scratch space was not active in Adobe PS CS 6 preferences (it is now) and PS CS 6 is using 70% of the 16GB of memory.

In other words, did not experience any issues with NAS connected image manipulation.

It could be the network connection to the cloud based images.

 

[macosboy]

Problem hasn't been fixed still, so I am gonna be using it like it is. Or use windows to run photoshop, gosh...
[doublepost=1500070815][/doublepost]Thanks guys for attempts)

 

[organicCPU]

To test differences with internal and dedicated graphics card or simply see what is used:
https://gfx.io

Do you zoom like this?
- select zoom tool (press z)
- left click and hold, then immediately move mouse left or right

Scrolling wheel zoom, (Alt)-click and hold, or Command +/- are a little less smooth.

 

[macosboy]

To test differences with internal and dedicated graphics card or simply see what is used:
https://gfx.io

Do you zoom like this?
- select zoom tool (press z)
- left click and hold, then immediately move mouse left or right

Scrolling wheel zoom, (Alt)-click and hold, or Command +/- are a little less smooth.

OOOOMG, I tried to take zoom tool and zoomed. It was smoothly.. But I used to zoom by a trackpad and it was toooo slow.. Lol what is the difference between this two methods?.. Ok, zoom is smooth, tell me why brush is painting to slowly? And refine edge tool works slowly too.. I got 20mp pics in raw, so maybe it's causing

 

[TonyK]

On my systems zooming in usually happens with ctrl+ and it was fast with the test image from a Canon 7D.

My MBP has the integrated graphics adapter. Did not pay for a discrete card.

 

[organicCPU]

But I used to zoom by a trackpad and it was toooo slow.. Lol what is the difference between this two methods?

The method described in my last post is a continuously zoom feature called 'Scrubby Zoom'. If the zoom tool is selected, Scrubby Zoom can be (un)checked in the Options Bar at the top. Scrubby Zoom utilizes OpenGL, maybe other zooming methods don't. Using my internal Trackpad I can use scrubby zoom without issues, too. To fast access scrubby zoom without changing the current tool while drawing, etc., you can press Space and afterwards Command.

Zooming with Trackpad Gestures, Alt / scrolling wheel or Command +/- all seem to use some kind of increments for the zoom level in contrast to continuously zoom. You can also watch the magnification level display at the bottom left changing while zooming, not so while using OpenGL's Animated Zoom or Scrubby Zoom. I guess, the resolution of the input device, e.g. scroll wheel, mouse or trackpad and their corresponding settings are also slightly influencing zooming behavior.
More hints on zooming here:
http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/2017/05/zooming-and-panning-documents-in-photoshop-cc.html
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/viewing-images.html

Ok, zoom is smooth, tell me why brush is painting to slowly? And refine edge tool works slowly too.. I got 20mp pics in raw, so maybe it's causing

Great that zooming works.

As soon as I launch Photoshop, gfxCardStatus is reporting switching to dedicated graphics card. On a test file with 4500 x 4500 px (20,2 MP) and 4 layers I'm able to draw fluent, even in 32 bit / channel or 16 bit / channel and cmyk. If drawing really fast in a scribble style it might feel like having a very small latency but still almost not noticeable. Drawing on 9000 x 9000 px (81 MP) the latency slightly increases and feels more unnatural, but drawing still stays usable, but that's just my opinion. With 15 000 x 15 000 px (225 MP) drawing feels slow to me, but that doesn't surprise me...

As you said the Mac is new, nothing should disturb drawing, I'm a little out of ideas. If it weren't new, I'd suggest:
- The optimizing Photoshop performance link I already posted
- Update to respectively lastest version(s) of Photoshop
- Press Shift while starting Photoshop to disable optional and third-party plug-ins
- Press Shift while booting the Mac to start in safe mode and to disable everything unneeded
- Maybe follow https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/troubleshoot-gpu-graphics-card.html (especially Help > System Info could give you or us more ideas)

 

[upandown]

I've been helping a friend with photoshop on his high spec 5k iMac for awhile and I've come to the conclusion Adobe's optimizations for Mac is ****. Every year when he updates to the latest version of photoshop it's so laggy it becomes unusable. EVERY YEAR. Very frustrating. It's so strange some people don't have problems but if you search Adobe's forums you will find there's more people with the issue than not.

 

[macosboy]

Great that zooming works.

THANk, I turned off gestures zooming mode)

On a test file with 4500 x 4500 px (20,2 MP) and 4 layers I'm able to draw fluent

Wait I wanna send you the video process of this)
[doublepost=1500392058][/doublepost]

I've been helping a friend with photoshop on his high spec 5k iMac for awhile and I've come to the conclusion Adobe's optimizations for Mac is ****. Every year when he updates to the latest version of photoshop it's so laggy it becomes unusable. EVERY YEAR. Very frustrating. It's so strange some people don't have problems but if you search Adobe's forums you will find there's more people with the issue than not.

After switching from windows I'M being in a not so little SHOCK)
[doublepost=1500395315][/doublepost]

As soon as I launch Photoshop, gfxCardStatus is reporting switching to dedicated graphics card. On a test file with 4500 x 4500 px (20,2 MP) and 4 layers I'm able to draw fluent

look on it https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzc2F3LXNy6zWlkxSWotQlQ4WkU/view?usp=sharing

 

[organicCPU]

I was able to reproduce the latency that you showed in your last video to a certain point, especially by using an artistic brush of 300 px size. Dedicated graphics card is somewhat faster than just built-in.

Here some thoughts:
- In Preferences > Performance > History States -> try to set it to 20 or even lower
- The brush you use seems to be very performance intensive. A 'normal' brush with a hard or soft edge should perform much better. I know, that's not a real solution, if you really depend on such fast scribbling with artistic brushes. Personally, for me and my day to day use cases of photo retouching a 'conventional brush' used at a reposeful speed is somehow more beneficial anyways.
- At the beginning of the video, one can see some applications open. I recommend to close them all for best performance. Especially Activity Monitor App is computing intensive, as can be Team Viewer App, too.
- There are 3 more Adobe updates to install
- Try to disable internet connection completely, just to test
- The use of a mouse or a trackpad could make a bit difference

After switching from windows I'M being in a not so little SHOCK)

Sad but true. There must be given reasons, why everyone is playing state of the art fast graphics games on Windows and not on a Mac... just kidding, there are many powerful workstations used for serious work, not only running on Windows, but also Linux and others.
We all know that Mac hardware is always a few steps behind bleeding edge, but regardless we like using a Mac (if it makes sense). When I started to use Photoshop 3.0, I had to make layouts with at least half the final resolution to get things done in time, then repeat each step with final resolution and waited a bunch of time the computer needed to compute, render, rasterize, transform, etc. As you can imagine, every new Mac was a real speed improvement for me, like this 2015 MBP. Sure that's no comfort to anyone that is used to more speedy hardware and software that is probably better optimized for his familiar powerful platform. I hope there will be some real sense at some time in the future for you to have been making the switch after the SHOCK...

 

[jeffffeith]

>>> Affinity Photo is much better than Pixelmator.

I'm not so sure about that yet. I find Pixelmator to be a very good Photoshop replacement the past few months and toggle between the two applications on my iMac. I also use Pixelmator on the iPad Pro and everything syncs perfectly to iCloud allowing me to work on the train or at home and open the file at work on my iMac. Basically, I can work more efficiently using Pixelmator. I purchased Affinity Photo and think it looks amazing but will have to spend time learning where everything is. One disappointing shortcoming with Affinity Photo (iOS) is that I can't import a photo from Photos once a file is open. I have to open a new file and cut/paste into the other file. Seems like a very basic thing it should be able to do.