 Irene Troy |
Photoshop Help Needed I need some help from all you Photoshop gurus out there – you know who you are! :>) Question #1: for some reason my crop tool has changed form and I have no idea how to reset it. When I draw crop lines the little drag boxes that are supposed to be in the middle of each line (NOT the corner boxes) no longer appear which makes it impossible for me to drag a side without dragging the corner – it is thus impossible to resize without making the crop either taller or wider than I want. I know that tools change shape or function when the caps lock is either on or off or when the tab key is used; but in this case, I have already checked that these are not responsible. I have tried to reset all tools, but this also does not help. So, how do I get those nice little drag boxes back? Question # 2: Just how much RAM does Photoshop really need to operate efficiently? I am using PS –CS2. My system has gotten very slow, but I am not sure PS is at fault. The folks at Microsoft keep saying that I need more RAM, but I already have 1GB and, as I said, I am not sure PS is the culprit. Most of the slowdown occurred when I installed the Windows XP-Pro Service Pack 2 and I really think that this is the problem, but since I am not really a computer geek I don’t know how to tell. If you run PS CS2 how much RAM do you have on your system and does PS run well for you? Thanks for any and all help. Irene
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Uyen |
Hi Irene, This is a possible solution to your problem...You may know this already but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case. when you click on the crop tool, the crop tool-bar should appear somewhere on the screen. On this toolbar, there should be an option to set the height and width dimensions of your final photo after the crop (e.g. 4 x 6, or 10 x 8). If you have these height and width fields filled out, then the crop will not have these additional "drag boxes" you're talking about, because the crop will stay conformed to the height-width ratio you specified. As for your system getting slow, I have that problem too when PS-CS has been running open for a while. It's not terrible, but annoying enough to make me reboot periodically. I have 1gb of RAM also.
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Terry R. Hatfield |
Photoshop Uses 50% Of Your Memory When Opened By Default,If You Have 1Gig Of Memory Alot Some More To Ps, I Use Ps Cs With A Laptop That Is Running 512mb And It Performs Just Fine. Its Best Not To Run With Multiple Windows Opened When Ps Is Open Scan Your Computer For Spyware And Check To See How Many Unnecessary Start Menu Items You Have:-) As For The Crop Tool Problem I Think Uyen Has Probally Found Your Problem Irene!
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Irene Troy |
Thanks Terry and Uyen! Actually I found the solution to my crop tool problem - just use the fly out menu under crop size and select "reset tool". One of those logical, if hidden, solutions. As to the memory/slow down issue, I really think that the problem is not PS, but the Windows update that I installed. I'm going to uninstall it and see what happens. Thanks again! Irene
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Justin G. |
Another thing that slows your computer down is having your files and program running on the same drive. here's what I did and highly recommend. I run with 512MB of ram and I operate fine, even when I get up to the 200MB .PSD files. Of course big filters slow down a tad, but what do you expect. Anyways get a seperate hard drive for your computer and storage. I have a 200MB serial ata hard drive that is my K: drive and my normal drive is my C: drive. Anyways I run PS on the C: drive and save everything to the K: drive. I'll write more later, at work and now I gotta work ... boo hoo!
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Justin G. |
Ok I'm back that was quick. Anyways you can get a permanent drive which is what I did, it was $200 (yes not cheap I know but worthy) and it is 200GB and a completely seperate drive. This one is internally installed. You can find an external harddrive lets say about 120GB (which is substantial for the average Joe, or Joan! politically correct) for around $180 or so. Most are USB 2.0 cable, extremely fast and easy to use, plug and play they call it. Anyways, the good thing about these is that you can pull it off your desktop and plug it right up to your laptop, especially if you're on a trip, this is useful. Also! this is a + (plus!)...If I were to get a virus, the virus will tear up my working harddrive, the C:, and it won't be able to get my K: so my stuff is relatively safe, but this is no absolute, anybody can do anything on anyones computer if you have the know how. Best bet is to get an extra hard drive to speed up your computer and then backup everything on CD-R or DVD-R. Good luck. Justin
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Irene Troy |
Hi Justin, and thanks for the info. Everything that I am reading confirms my suspicions that something is wrong here and it is not too little RAM! I actually have 2 external hard-drives – one is 300 G.B. and the other is 200. Yes, I am paranoid and back up everything twice and three times on important stuff. I am a writer (hoping to add photographer to that title) and I also do graphic work for local non-profits. I am always afraid I will lose the work I am doing so I back up to the external and also to a DVD. Therefore, space is not an issue that is slowing down my computer. Even if PS-CS2 uses 50% of my RAM there is very little else running on my system other than MS WORD and Coral. All of the slow down issues started around time that I installed the Windows XP Service Pack 2 and I am convinced that this pack is fundamentally flawed. If you go to the MS forum you will find many posts on problems with that update. I’m considering uninstalling it, but, according to the MS site this is not as easy as simply using Add/Remove programs, so I may wait until my current project is completed and I can deal with the system being down for a day. Anyway, thanks for your input! Irene
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Justin G. |
You know what Irene try this. Go to your control panel and then go to "Add/Remove programs" Find every program in there that you have never heard of and doesn't look important and uninstall it. Now go through and find the programs that you know what they are and you never use them and uninstall them. You're just clearing up clustered space. Now here's a big on that slows my computer down. Spyware and adware. If you have a spyware/adware program, run a SUPER DUPER COMPLETE scan and it will get everything out of there. If you don't have one, go to microsoft.com and download the Spyware program they have, its free. Alright now that's done, go to your virus scanner program and do the SUPER DUPER COMPLETE scan that should take a long long time. Mine took two hours the other night and it scanned like 300,000 files. If if detects anything bad, delete it, along with your spyware/adware program. Now go into your Start button, Programs, Accessories, and System Tools and run both of the following. Run the Disk Cleanup, basically an extended version of what you just did manually uninstalling the programs you don't use, except this will give you a wizard to help you through. Next would be the Disk Defragmenter, but I forgot something first. Go through the majority of the folders on your main (probably C:) drive and find personal files and MOVE them (not copy) the your external drives. (Still clearing up space). Ok back to the Disk Defragmenter. It's been a while but basically open it up and run a scan and following the wizard it gives you to help you. Once you've completed all of this, and Photoshop is still running slow. Try this....backup all your plugins and things and actions you've downloaded and try reinstalling Photoshop. If it still lags super slow then you have a problem much deeper that will require some technical support. Other than that I really don't know too much more. I just basically recommend SUPER DUPER CLEANING up your computer and see how that goes. Good luck. .justin. If something doesn't look right and it looks eary when it comes to deleting something, best off to NOT do it.
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Irene Troy |
Justin - thank you so much for taking the time to try to help me with this! I will follow your suggestions and see if it makes a difference. Its time that I do the defrag thing again anyway and the rest can only help. Thanks again! Irene
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brigitte stahre |
i dumped the windows xp service pack in a hurry.. it kept crashing my system and I had to open in safemode to get rid of it.. when I contacted microsoft they did sorta admit that there had been some problems with that and I should uninstall and re install.. did NOT re install.. I find that ps runs much faster if I disconnect and shut down my anti virus..
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