CS4 vs PSE 7: Speed and Memory Comparison

[baycruisers]

I recently embarked on a huge photo scanning/restoration project for my wife. I'm scanning in old (some over 90 years) photos, repairing and improving, for eventual sharing with relatives on the web and photobooks.

I have found PSE 7 to be a better choice for scanning because I can scan multiple photos and have them automatically divided for individual editing. I had preferred CS4 for the editing because I have a bit more control over the process and more options. What I noticed, however, was that after using the healing and clone stamp tools for several hours the program noticeably slowed down, eventually to a crawl. Shutting down and restarting CS4 solved the problem. (I have Vista and 3 GB memory and have never had noticeable speed problems before).

However, PSE 7 performs healing operations much faster and just as well, so I'm seriously considering just working in PSE 7 unless I run into a thorny editing problem.

Has anyone else noticed that PSE 7 is much faster? Is it because there are fewer features and therefore less memory is being used?

[Wendy]

Hi Mario ..

I suspect its not just CS4 that acts this way ... I have found that if I am using very large files then Elements can also do the same thing. Closing down Elements or CS4 probably clears out some of the temporary files that are created and that may let it speed up again ...

Wendy :)

[baycruisers]

That makes sense. I hadn't considered temporary files. It's not a big deal but it had me wondering if CS4 doesn't manage memory very efficiently. Since it's easily fixed, I may keep on in CS4, but it is not as friendly for this kind of project, in my opinion.

[Daviskw]

In CS4 try Edit>Purge>All...be aware your history will be gone...but better than a restart.

CS4 is a lot more demanding on your resources...but of course it can do so much more. If it works assign it a handy shortcut or include it in a new or convenient menu.

Butch

[BobWarren]

Not related to the resource problem, but if you scan in the pictures one at a time you should be able to get a much better scan than you do when you scan multiple images. With individual scans, on most scanners you can adjust the histogram boundaries for the individual channels, giving you much greater effective tonal ranges in the final scan. Ctein has a great book on restoration that has a chapter on scanning -- very useful.

[baycruisers]

Not related to the resource problem, but if you scan in the pictures one at a time you should be able to get a much better scan than you do when you scan multiple images. With individual scans, on most scanners you can adjust the histogram boundaries for the individual channels, giving you much greater effective tonal ranges in the final scan. Ctein has a great book on restoration that has a chapter on scanning -- very useful.

Good point. I hadn't considered that. On the other hand, it will take me FOREVER to scan all of them unless I can talk my wife into downsizing this project, which is probably inevitable anyway.

Do you have the title of the book on restoration you mentioned?

Thanks.

[Ellen]

I'm not Bob but I have the book he mentioned. 'Digital Restoration From Start To Finish' from Focal Press. Tons of good information , he uses a variety of software and techniques. Don't ignore Katrin Eisman's books. 'Restoration and Retouching' and 'Masking and Compositing' are both fabulous.

[baycruisers]

I'm not Bob but I have the book he mentioned. 'Digital Restoration From Start To Finish' from Focal Press. Tons of good information , he uses a variety of software and techniques. Don't ignore Katrin Eisman's books. 'Restoration and Retouching' and 'Masking and Compositing' are both fabulous.

Thanks! As it happens, I got a 15% coupon from Barnes & Noble this morning in my email. Guess what I'm going to look for this weekend!

[BobWarren]

I second the recommendation of Katrin Eismann's books -- excellent resources. Her restoration book is in at least the second edition by now, so check to make sure you get the latest version.