Cache and Scratch levels in Photoshop

Cache level

Performance of redraw screen and histogram speed is controlled by the use of cache level settings. Screen Redraw in an image refers to the duration that is taken by the image to reappear over the screen when the adjustments are done. If you are performing activities with high resolution images and redraw level gets slower, the redraw speed can be adjusted by raising the cache levels. The cache levels can be increased up to 8 from 6(default setting) in accordance with the required speed. The only drawback of lowering the level of setting is the lesser accuracy of the redraw over the screen images which are not 100% displayed.

Scratch Level

Photoshop needs ample amount of empty hard drive memory in spite of the use of RAM. This is for the ‘scratch disk’ embedded within. Scratch dist is the secondary resource of memory in Photoshop. In order to avoid problems aligned with the memory in Photoshop, better avoid the loss of last gigabytes of the space in the hard drive. If you notice dwindling of the space, take it as a signal for taking back up of whatever you are working on in order or free the additional capacity of the hard drive.

Installation of another hard drive is recommended or you can choose external hard drive too as scratch disk. In case you have 2nd hard drive already installed or accessibility of external drive is needed, then select Preferences> Plug-ins and ‘Scratch Disk’. This way you’ll reach your second scratch disk.