June 23rd, 2010
Here is something I discovered while poking around in Lightroom 3: the cache for Adobe Camera RAW 6 (the engine behind Lightroom 3) is independent of the cache for LR3. Why is this significant? Because you can move this cache to somewhere rippin fast, and see a huge increase in the LR3 response time.
Now, this is not for everyone because it involves spending some money on a very fast SSD drive, installing it and formatting it. But any working photographer will appreciate the speed enough to easily see the value.
So, like I mentioned, LR3 uses ACR6, and the cache for ACR6 is independent of the cache for LR3. And from what I can tell, the ACR6 cache is the one that now creates the preview files, which are the ones LR3 uses to show you the effect of your adjustments. And loading the previews is one of the bottlenecks as you switch between images in LightRoom.
So the tip is simple: buy a smallish SSD drive, and put the ACR6 cache on it. I use a 40GB Intel SSD for this, and the difference is dramatic. The 40GB Intel I got cost about $140, to give a frame of reference.
Once you get your SSD installed and formatted (no I’m not going to describe how to do that), open LightRoom and go to Preferences, File Handling, Camera Raw Cache Settings, and set the path to a folder on your new SSD. Set the cache limit to 35GB, and restart LR.
Presto: huge speed increase.
…Mike
This is a General Tip post \ 3 Comments »
May 10th, 2010
There is a feature in Adobe Bridge that allows you to see a preview of the selected image by hitting the spacebar. The problem is that the previews always look blurry, or soft, when previewing if you use the default settings that Bridge ships with.
The fix for this is simple, but you have to know where to look. Here’s where:
- Start Bridge, and open the Preferences.
- Go to the “Advanced” section and turn on “Generate Monitor-Size Previews”
- Click “OK’ to save
Now the drag about this is you have to re-create your entire cache. So first, purge it:
- Open the Preferences again
- Go to the “Cache” section and click “Purge Cache”
- Click “OK’ to save
If you want to bulk-create thumbnails and previews, do this:
- In Bridge, select the folder
- In the menu, select “Tools, Cache, Build and export cache”
- Make sure to leave both options un-checked, and click OK
This will scan all subfolders to create the cache for the files found.
I hope this helps!
…Mike
This is a General Tip post \ 1 Comment »
May 3rd, 2010
I have a highly customized Photoshop configuration, including a lot of custom actions, tool presets and workspaces to streamline getting my work done, not to mention a special workspace that facilitates programming and debugging. And so the thought of migrating all that to CS5 was not a pleasant one.
Happily, it’s pretty easy 
The key is that all the custom settings for Photoshop are stored in individual files, in a special folder. The trick is to copy these special files from the CS4 folder to the CS5 folder. The exact steps are as follows:
- Shut down Photoshop
- Locate the CS4 preferences folder. In OS X, this folder is <your home folder>/Library/Preferences/Adobe Photoshop CS4 Settings. On a PC, I can’t keep track since it seems to vary with what version of Windows you are running. So search for “Actions Palette.psp” and you’ll find it.
- Select the files you want to copy:
- to migrate actions, copy “Actions Palette.psp”
- to migrate tool presets, copy “ToolPresets.psp”
- to migrate your workspaces, copy the contents of “Workspaces”
- to migrate your keyboard shortcuts, copy “Keyboard Shortcuts.psp”
- etc. the files are named in a straightforward way
- The target is the CS5 configuration folder. The CS5 folder is next to the CS4 folder, so there should be no problem finding it if you found the CS4 folder. Simply copy the settings files from the CS4 folder to the CS5 folder, and you’re all done. Note: I always rename the file that is already there by adding “stock” to the end, so make sure I can go back to the original version if I need to.
Start up Photoshop CS5, and behold: your actions, presets and workspaces are ready and waiting.
…Mike
This is a General Tip and How-To post \ 2 Comments »
May 3rd, 2010
All scripts have been updated to work and install with the new Photoshop CS5. A few notes:
- CS3 users: if you are going to move to CS4 or CS5 at some point in the future, download it now and save yourself the hassle of asking me to send it to you when you do. You don’t have to install it into CS3 if you don’t want to though: there is nothing new in the program itself.
- CS4 and CS5 users: use the installation package. There is one for the Photoshop part, and one for the Bridge part; it’s the same file for both. Double-clicking them should do the right thing, but if it doesn’t, open Adobe Extension Manager CS5, and use the “Install” button.
- CS4 and CS5 users: these new packages should automatically replace your current version as displayed in the Extension Manager. If you see a warning about an older version, simply delete the old version, then install the new one. Your preferences will not be affected.
- Windows 7 users may run into troubles with Extension manager giving you attitude about permissions. If this is the case for you, right-click the Extension Manager icon, click Properties, select the Compatibility tab, and check the “Run this program as an administrator.” Or see this post for a demo.
Note that this update adds no new functionality; it is a simple compatibility update.
Thanks for your patience
…Mike
This is a AutoLoader and News and ProofMaker and Sloppy Borders post \ 1 Comment »
April 5th, 2010
This is just to reassure you all that an update to make AutoLoader, Proofmaker et al work in CS5 will appear once I get my hands on CS5. They may work already, I don’t know…I’m not on the Adobe beta team. But if they don’t, an update will appear to ensure that everything works smoothly. I expect that this update will be free, since the changes in the Adobe scripting API haven’t changed much in the last two versions of CS.
In any case, if updates are needed, all users will be informed. Thanks for your patience as I sort it all out
…Mike
This is a AutoLoader and News and ProofMaker and Sloppy Borders post \ 1 Comment »
