Hello, Currently I'm doing research that requires me to generate HUGE image files. Letme define huge, on a conservative scale I am working with JPEG files that are in excess of 15 megabytes. The problem: Once I generate these image files I need to anaylze them, EG. zoom in and out, pan, etc. I've tried photoshop and gimp so far and they just can't seem to handle these HUGE image files effectivley. The question: Does anyone know of any techniques/methods/software for dealing with such huge image files effectivley?

15MB JPEG? Unless you are using really high compression (lossy) values, that's big, but not terribly big. Maybe you could give some useful size information - the approximate width and height of the images you are working with so that someone would know what the actual memory footprint is. Also, if Photoshop is not handling images of this size, what kind of machine are you using (I'm not looking for the brand like Dell or HP, it's the specifications, mainly how much RAM it has but also CPU and harddrive speed)

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Original post by Michalson 15MB JPEG? Unless you are using really high compression (lossy) values, that's big, but not terribly big. Maybe you could give some useful size information - the approximate width and height of the images you are working with so that someone would know what the actual memory footprint is. Also, if Photoshop is not handling images of this size, what kind of machine are you using (I'm not looking for the brand like Dell or HP, it's the specifications, mainly how much RAM it has but also CPU and harddrive speed)

15MB .jpg is pretty huge, depending on how well the algorithm compresses his particular image.

Often, this size of image is made using vector graphics, so that they are easier to deal with (they take a fraction of the memory).

What resolution is this image in? Use that number to calculate (at 32 bits per pixel) how much memory it will require. If you can't get "that much" RAM in your system, can the image be edited in chunks? You could possibly build a tool that splits the image into smaller pieces, you edit those pieces, and then run the tool again to put them back together.

There may be a large-image bitmap editor out there, but a quick google search didn't turn up much.

The only real solution to the problem is more RAM and a hard drive dedicated to swap space, at least from my days doing print design. I would agree with Michalson,though, that a 15mb jpeg (even greatly compressed) is still not that huge when it is open in Photoshop. Definitely not too huge for Photoshop. I often work on layered Photoshop files for textures that are well over 100mb uncompressed -- and my computer is no powerhouse. I know I've seen retouched photographs for posters that are easily over 500mb and, although working with them can be slow, it is mostly a matter of how much power you have under the hood.

I remember the days when Macromedia had a program called XRes that allowed you to retouch a low-res version of your image and then you would let it "render" the steps on the high-res version over night.

Scott

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Original post by entropy_metric I've tried photoshop and gimp so far and they just can't seem to handle these HUGE image files effectivley.

Besides your system specs, what exactly do you mean PS can't handle it? Does it crash? Throw an error? What is it telling you? I routinely work with ~100mb PSD files without any problems besides the occassional slug.

My current estimates are my smallest files are 15 megs for a compressed JPEG file. Really complex graphs can go as high as 50 megs.

My current research involves graphing social networks from data mined data.


The resolutions for these jpegs are insanley huge.


My current CPU is a dual core 3.2 ghz. Ram is 512 megs.


I'm starting to think I might have to code custom software for viewing these files. I need to be able to anaylze these social networks in totality so splitting them into chunks is not a very good option. Anymore ideas?

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Original post by Salsa Quote: Original post by entropy_metric I've tried photoshop and gimp so far and they just can't seem to handle these HUGE image files effectivley. Besides your system specs, what exactly do you mean PS can't handle it? Does it crash? Throw an error? What is it telling you? I routinely work with ~100mb PSD files without any problems besides the occassional slug.

In windows my computer would give me an error "VIRUTAL MEMORY EXHAUSTED" the computer would crash then reboot.


In linux the computer becomes 90% unusable until I kill the proccess.

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Original post by entropy_metric Ram is 512 megs.

That is probably your problem. Photoshop keeps a number of levels of undo and needs lots of memory to work with large files. If it runs out it will start looking for scratch disk space. With that 512mb, Windows is using a lot of it, Photoshop itself is using some, each program open is using some, and then what's left over goes to the image.

Scott

Virtual memory is your computer trying to use space on your hard drive as pretend RAM. You will need real RAM (the more the better really) to make it run effectively or, from what it sounds like, at all. By the computer saying it is exhausted, this might mean you've actually run out of space on your HD to store this virtual memory.

Scott

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The resolutions for these jpegs are insanley huge.

Insanely huge is a very vague quantity. Do you have numbers?

The suggestion about virtual memory is also a good one. Make sure you have lots of hard drive space open when working with Photoshop.