How to Reset a Scratch Disk in Photoshop

Photoshop uses spare hard drive capacity for scratch disks

Adobe Photoshop is an advanced graphics and photo editing system that is popular with digital photographers. It supports many detailed methods of improving and image, and, as digital photos get larger as cameras improve, the program needs an increasing amount of disk space to hold temporary files as the images are processed. This disk space is known as the scratch disk, and for best results, the chosen drive(s) should be local (not network) and not contain the Photoshop program itself (normally the C: Drive).

Instructions

1. Select "Edit>Preferences>Performance" in Photoshop. The Preferences panel contains many of the settings of Photoshop, and the dialog box will automatically populate with the available hard drives connected to the computer.

2. Deselect the C: Drive if checked in the Scratch Disks panel. Click in the "Active?" column next to the drive or drives that are directly connected to your computer as internal or USB drives.

3. Click OK to register your new choices of scratch disk for the program. Save any open files and close Photoshop. The next time the program is used, it will automatically use the new scratch disks for temporary files.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the chosen scratch disks have at least four gigabytes of free space

• Check your scratch drives from time to time and delete any stranded Photoshop temporary files (ending in .tmp).

References

• Adobe Photoshop: Memory and Performance
• BenardCometh:Set up Photoshop Scratch Disks