Compress Psd Files

Yesterday I received a psd-file from a designer ( in general, I often have to deal with “psdshkami” - I’m working with them ). But, yesterday, the matter was not quite normal :) The non-standard nature of the situation was in accepting file compression — all layers were turned off in it.

Honestly, I first met just such a way to reduce the size of psd-files, although it was mentioned at Habré. Earlier, I knew some other psd compression techniques that I want to tell you about today.

1) Removal of excess layers

One of the most effective ways to reduce the size of a psd file is to remove all the extra layers in it.

Advantages of this method:

• reduces file size;
• improves the performance of Photoshop with this document;

Cons method:

• Sometimes customers are asked to return the original version, as it once was, and this “once” is often in a hidden layer, which we managed to safely remove :)

')

2) Crop Document

Designers love to use large images when working. Often, these pictures in their dimensions exceed the size of the layout itself, and part of the image remains beyond its visible limits. If we select the document at the edges and apply the "Crop Tool", then everything that is outside of it will be cut off - this will save considerable space.

Advantages of this method:

• reduces file size;
• improves the performance of Photoshop with this document;

Cons method:

• sometimes customers are asked to move the image (Levey \ right \ above \ below), but unfortunately, it will already be cropped;
• It happens that designers apply to the layer styles that depend on the size of the image, for example Gradient Overlay. Crop Tool can lead to a change in the appearance of the layer and as a result of the entire layout. Therefore, it is desirable that the designer himself performed Crop. If the designer is out of reach and you have to apply Crop yourself, then you need to carefully check the resulting layout with the original for differences.

You can prevent style shifting by "rasterizing" it. To do this, you need to combine the “stylized layer” with a blank layer (Merge Layers or Cntrl + E), in which case it will be impossible to edit the layer style.

3) Fill the document with a uniform color

Each time we save a psd document, the layout’s preview layer is automatically created. This is done so that you can quickly view the psd file without opening all its data and applying filters in real time. Of course, this "preview" takes place and our task is to reduce it.

Most often, the top layer is created for this and is filled with a uniform color (usually white), there are still cases when all the layers are turned off, as I wrote above :)

Not everyone knows that the choice of fill color affects the result. I already wrote that most often they fill in with white color, however if we use black instead of white, then we will get a smaller file as a result.

Advantages of this method:

• reduces file size

Cons method:

• we lose the preview of the document, to view the contents of the file you have to open the document and hide the top layer;
• create an extra (masking) layer.

4) Merge layers.

It often happens that a document contains an excessive amount of layers that can be safely merged into one; the most vivid example of this is to merge all background images into one. However, this can not stop - for sure there are a dozen elements in the layout, which consist of several layers, the combination of which will even improve the "usability" and reduce the size of the psd.

Advantages of this method:

• reduces file size

Cons method:

• limit ourselves to the convenience of editing merged layers

5) Compression archiver.

Archive compression is perhaps the most frequently used method for reducing the size of a psd. This is a simple and effective way to reduce the size and number of files, which is important when sending documents.
There are many archivers, most often you have to work with three:

• zip
• rar
• 7z (7-zip)

Zip:
the format I use most often. The reason is simple - it is common, many programs can view the contents of archives, most operating systems have native zip support. It is in this format that I submit the results of my work. Archives of old projects are also stored in zip, due to the fact that searching by content does not cause any problems.

Rar:
quite common in the former Soviet Union, in the west is rarely used. Therefore, if you work with a foreign client, it is better to forget about rar.

7zip:
This format is good because it is free, but distributed mainly among developers, it is better than everyone else from this trio. I use it rarely and most often in office correspondence with colleagues who have it installed. I would not send clients to 7zip - there is a high probability that the recipient will not have a tool to work with the archive.

Ps. 1-3 methods can be easily automated by means of Action in Photoshop.
Pps. These methods are convenient to use when sending PSD to clients / web designers and so on.