One of the most frustrating things for any computer user is having to wait. This frustration only increases when the thing you’re waiting on shouldn’t have any wait associated with it to begin with. Photoshop, for many, is one of the most demanding applications on the computer. Capable of bringing the most powerful of computers to their knees, waiting is one thing many associate with it. There are however, a few tips and tricks that you can implement to speed up the monster application.

Unplug the Plugins - The first thing you should realize is that Photoshop itself is a relatively small program. It takes up, in it’s simplest form, little more space then does Adobe reader. The simplest form however, is not how this program installs and runs. Instead, opening up Photoshop opens along with it an entire library of plugins, frameworks, and supporting macros. If you pay close attention while the splash screen (the “Photoshop” screen that appears at program startup) you will actually be able to see all of the various items loading.

Although scattered in a million different places, the general category of Plugins constitutes the bulk of the Photoshop program. Everything from filters, to various effects, automatons, 3D engines, are all considered Plugins to Photoshop. Removing the Plugins you don’t actively use, you can take Photoshop from 0 to 60 in no time flat. I have installments of Photoshop, that due to their sheer lack of Plugins, will load in under 1 second. Read more