# How to speed up ZOOM & Fullscreen rendering?



## Bluebamboo (May 30, 2016)

When I zoom into a raw file, or even just viewing images fullscreen it takes 5 seconds to generate the 1:1 preview or fullscreen view. That's a RAF RAW file from a 16MB Fuji DSLR Camera. I have LR 6 on a Windows 10 64bit i5 2500-3.30Ghz / 16GB RAM / AMD Radeon HD 5450 1GB/ SSD OS drive and a normal hard drive for the image files.

How can I speed up  ZOOM & Fullscreen rendering?

My graphics card is entry level and that could be the bottle neck but basic Macbooks I have used before seem to zoom just fine with Intel onboard grfx?

I tested putting the RAW image files on the SSD and the speed to generate the 1:1 preview dropped from 5sec to 4 sec, so that doesn't seem to be the bottleneck, I'd ideally like instant zoom preview/fullscreen rendering.


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## Bluebamboo (May 30, 2016)

Found this just now hunting the web - "Lightroom’s primary need/bottleneck is clock speed, hence faster clock speed = faster Lightroom."
Is that the CPU clock speed they would be referring to there?


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## clee01l (May 30, 2016)

Yes, this is correct it is CPU clock speed.    Something else to consider.  Do you have a virus scanner interceding between LR and the files that LR needs to open?   Try turning off your virus scanner and see if there is an improvement.   Make sure that you are nit running  Windows Defender and a third party Virus Scanner together.  If you do find the rendering to be faster with the virus scanner off, then exclude LR, previews and all images files for your virus scanner before turning it back on.


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## Replytoken (May 30, 2016)

Yes, CPU speed is one of the top factors, along with HD speed and enough RAM (usually 8-16GB minimum depending on your configuration).  The type of preview you select at import will also make a difference, but it is somewhat trading the delay from use to import. A 1:1 import (as opposed to Standard) will create the preview that you need, but it does take more time to create it.  At some point, however, you do have to accept that you are running a second generation Core processor (which I am as well on my laptop)  and Intel is currently in the middle of their sixth generation.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## Bluebamboo (May 31, 2016)

Thanks for the advice appreciated.



clee01l said:


> Yes, this is correct it is CPU clock speed.    Something else to consider.  Do you have a virus scanner interceding between LR and the files that LR needs to open?   Try turning off your virus scanner and see if there is an improvement.   Make sure that you are nit running  Windows Defender and a third party Virus Scanner together.  If you do find the rendering to be faster with the virus scanner off, then exclude LR, previews and all images files for your virus scanner before turning it back on.



Tried this and it definitely seems to have helped, zoom and fullscreen is lag free on all but the more complex images.
Seems best practise for editing machines is to uninstall the AV(I have avast) and rely on the built-in Windows defender in Windows 10?
I can't remember last I used the AV or had a virus alert or issue at all, literally been years, the advent of Windows 7 seemed to nip viruses in the bud.

Seeing my GPU is so entry level should I disable the GPU acceleration, Camera RAW "Use Graphics Processor" in LR settings?
It definitely does seem to hinder rather than help speedwise.


Replytoken said:


> Yes, CPU speed is one of the top factors, along with HD speed and enough RAM (usually 8-16GB minimum depending on your configuration).  The type of preview you select at import will also make a difference, but it is somewhat trading the delay from use to import. A 1:1 import (as opposed to Standard) will create the preview that you need, but it does take more time to create it.  At some point, however, you do have to accept that you are running a second generation Core processor (which I am as well on my laptop)  and Intel is currently in the middle of their sixth generation.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> --Ken



I do select 1:1 Previews on import but from what I understand zooming requires the RAW file to be read?
But wait 1:1 previews implies just that, being able to zoom to 1:1 with the preview, which should imply almost zero lag on zoom?


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## clee01l (May 31, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> ...Seems best practise for editing machines is to uninstall the AV(I have avast) and rely on the built-in Windows defender in Windows 10?
> I can't remember last I used the AV or had a virus alert or issue at all, literally been years, the advent of Windows 7 seemed to nip viruses in the bud.


 You only need to be running one Virus Scanning app with er Avast or Windows Defender but not BOTH.   Avast is good and since Windows 10 I'll have to say the Windows Defender is more than sufficient since Microsoft got serious  about protecting against malware.   Which ever app you decide to use, make sure that you exclude  all of the LR and Image file folders from the virus scanning app.  When you import new image files the camera card will still be scanned by the app so than no infected files are copied to your hard drive.


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## PhilBurton (May 31, 2016)

clee01l said:


> You only need to be running one Virus Scanning app with er Avast or Windows Defender but not BOTH.   Avast is good and since Windows 10 I'll have to say the Windows Defender is more than sufficient since Microsoft got serious  about protecting against malware.   Which ever app you decide to use, make sure that you exclude  all of the LR and Image file folders from the virus scanning app.  When you import new image files the camera card will still be scanned by the app so than no infected files are copied to your hard drive.


Cletus is mostly right.  If you have more than one AV scanner, they might end up "fighting" for control of your system.  You don't want that.  Let me modify what Cletus said about scanning LR or image folders just a bit.  You don't need to scan files that you import directly from you camera.  I think we can all assume that your camera has not been affected by a virus (unless it runs Android).  If you get JPG files from someone else, THOSE file should be scanned.  However, other photo formats, notably RAW format and PSD are safe.  I have never heard of any attacks against one of these file types.

By the way, whatever you do not do not do, always scan all incoming PDFs. Also MS Office docs with a utility that can detect scripting attacks.  And try to avoid Adobe Flash.  

Victoria, have you heard of any hacker exploits against Lightroom?  I just did a search and I could not find any links.  Of course, I found lots of links for exploits against Flash, Acrobat Reader, etc.  

Phil Burton


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## Bluebamboo (May 31, 2016)

I've only ever used one AV at a time, I'm going to uninstall Avast and try Windows Defender, do I need to also tell it not to scan the LR previews/image files or is that not necessary with Windows Defender?


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## clee01l (May 31, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> ...do I need to also tell it not to scan the LR previews/image files or is that not necessary with Windows Defender?


Absolutely necessary. For every request to open a file to read, the virus scanning app interrupts the open process to scan the file to verify that the file is free of malware.  This interruption is what you are seeing as "slow" file opening.  For RAW files, LR first opens the 1:1 Preview if it exists and is up to date. If it is not unto date, then LR generates a new one from the RGB file stored in ACR Cache (this is another area that needs to be excluded from the virus scan prices BTW).  IF there is no RGB file in ACR cache, LR then calls the ACR process and generates a new RGB file from the RAW data file.  So you can see the potential for delay IF there is not an up to date 1:1 preview file.

On Export or printing, LR always goes back to the original RGB file to generate a new final Preview file before creating the export file or print.


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## Bluebamboo (May 31, 2016)

Does the LR.exe and ACR.exe need to also be excluded from AV scanning?


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## Jim Wilde (May 31, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> I'd ideally like instant zoom preview/fullscreen rendering.


Can we just be clear about which module you are using when 1:1 zooming or full-screen viewing? Library and Develop use different previews for viewing, so it's important to understand where the problem is being seen.

In Develop, a special real-time editable preview is generated during the image loading phase, which could take a few seconds to complete, though you're normally presented with a pre-rendered smaller version first while the full file is rendered in the background. Once that's done, zooming and panning around should be pretty well instant. 

Library is a more complicated affair. You say that you render 1:1 previews during import, in which case you should then see fairly instant screen rendering when zooming to 1:1 or going to full-screen. If that's not happening then there's a serious bottle-neck on your system somewhere. So try that first: do an import, rendering 1:1 previews, when complete immediately start scrolling through the imported images while zoomed into 1:1. Is there any delay? If so, do you see the "loading" indicator on screen?

Assuming that there isn't much of a delay immediately after import, you need to realise that as soon as you start editing an image the existing library preview is discarded. So if you take a newly imported image, for which you've pre-rendered a 1:1 preview, into Develop, then make some changes, then take the image back to Library, a new preview will automatically be generated.....but that will only be a standard-size preview, not a 1:1 preview. So if you then zoom to 1:1 you will experience your 5 or 6 second delay whilst a new 1:1 preview is generated. If you just try to use full-screen mode, i.e. still using Fit or Fill, LR will attempt to use the standard-size preview....but if your standard-size preview setting isn't big enough, it will have to render a 1:1 preview in order to present the full-screen image correctly.....which will again take time.

So we need to clarify what you are seeing....delays after rendering 1:1 previews, but before editing, shouldn't happen and could indicate a problem somewhere on your system. Delays zooming to 1:1 after editing images are entirely expected....but only for the first time after the edits. Subsequent loads of the image at 1:1 without intervening edits should still be very quick.


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## clee01l (May 31, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> Does the LR.exe and ACR.exe need to also be excluded from AV scanning?


It probably does not matter since the LR app is only opened when LR starts up.  For LR there is no ACR executable file, ACR is a process embedded inside the LR app file itself. 

For Photoshop, ACR is also integrated into the executables It might be included in a DLL file now but I am no longer up to date on the inner workings of a Windows version of PS.


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## Victoria Bampton (May 31, 2016)

PhilBurton said:


> Victoria, have you heard of any hacker exploits against Lightroom?  I just did a search and I could not find any links.  Of course, I found lots of links for exploits against Flash, Acrobat Reader, etc.



No, I haven't heard of anything.


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## Bluebamboo (Jun 4, 2016)

Jim Wilde said:


> Can we just be clear about which module you are using when 1:1 zooming or full-screen viewing? Library and Develop use different previews for viewing, so it's important to understand where the problem is being seen.
> 
> In Develop, a special real-time editable preview is generated during the image loading phase, which could take a few seconds to complete, though you're normally presented with a pre-rendered smaller version first while the full file is rendered in the background. Once that's done, zooming and panning around should be pretty well instant.
> 
> ...



Those are some very good points, the slow zooming to 1:1 or viewing full-screen exhibits in both library and develop modules but now that you've explained the behind the scenes operations taking place I can see why in some instances that would take place. I have experienced the delays after editing for the rendering of 1:1 previews and then once that is done when I scroll back to that same image it previews instantly.

On the next import after the 1:1 previews have been built and before any editing I will test zooming/viewing fullscreen in Library mode and report back on the speeds.

If I remember correctly there is a method to force rebuilding of the 1:1 previews of a folder or selection of images, ie I can finish editing, rebuild the previews and then browse them all fullscreen/zoom 1:1 without any delays ?


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## Bluebamboo (Jun 4, 2016)

clee01l said:


> It probably does not matter since the LR app is only opened when LR starts up.  For LR there is no ACR executable file, ACR is a process embedded inside the LR app file itself.
> 
> For Photoshop, ACR is also integrated into the executables It might be included in a DLL file now but I am no longer up to date on the inner workings of a Windows version of PS.


*Just to confirm, I need to exclude the following from being scanned by the AV:*
The lightroom folder that contains the catalog/presets and previews (I store the presets with the catalog)
The folder location of the RAW images themselves

Are there any other locations I should add?


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 4, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> If I remember correctly there is a method to force rebuilding of the 1:1 previews of a folder or selection of images, ie I can finish editing, rebuild the previews and then browse them all fullscreen/zoom 1:1 without any delays ?



Yes....select the ones you want to rebuild, then on the Menu bar use Library>Previews>Build 1:1 Previews.

For the record, I've never bothered to exclude my Lightroom stuff from virus scanning on my Windows system, and performance remains acceptable (i.e. no lag when viewing images for which the appropriate preview exists in the preview cache).


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## Bluebamboo (Jun 4, 2016)

Jim, thank you so much for your feedback about the rendering of the 1:1 previews after editing being the culprit, its spot on!

I tested an import now and once the initial 1:1 previews are built I can view Fullscreen and zoom virtually instantly but anything that changes the image, even in library mode using Quick Develop or pressing V to change to B&W, means the 1:1 preview needs to be rebuilt to be able to view them Fullscreen or at 1:1 zoom.

My system takes 5sec to rebuild the preview for a single 24mb Fuji RAF(from a 16mp X-Pro1 camera), i5 2500-3.30Ghz.

What kind of times are people getting for LR to rebuild the preview for one image?
If you could perhaps mention in your reply the file size/camera/CPU type & speed
I'd be interested to see how the CPU speed affects the rebuild, that's where my system is slowest at the moment, LR is otherwise rather snappy.


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## clee01l (Jun 4, 2016)

I have 36mp NEFs that average about 40-43mb in size.  My dual core 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 laptop with 8 GB of RAM takes less than 3 sec to render a new 1:1 preview.. My quad core 16GB iMac is faster. I run OS X and do not use any 3rd party virus scanner.


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## Jim Wilde (Jun 4, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> My system takes 5sec to rebuild the preview for a single 24mb Fuji RAF(from a 16mp X-Pro1 camera), i5 2500-3.30Ghz.
> 
> What kind of times are people getting for LR to rebuild the preview for one image?
> If you could perhaps mention in your reply the file size/camera/CPU type & speed
> I'd be interested to see how the CPU speed affects the rebuild, that's where my system is slowest at the moment, LR is otherwise rather snappy.



The problem with asking a question like that is to make sure you're comparing apples with apples, not with oranges. It's OK to compare timings for rendering 1:1 previews on newly imported or unedited photos, but once you start introducing develop edits it becomes a whole new ball-game. I have been running timing tests on every major release (and some dot releases) since LR3, trying to use exactly the same images in the same configuration, and doing both 1:1 preview rendering and exporting (because these are things that can be accurately timed). I now run the tests on both of my systems (much newer and therefore faster MacBook Pro, and my venerable 6 years old Windows desktop), and I also run the same tests on two sets of images....one unedited, one edited. The edited set has a simple develop preset applied, with includes auto-tone, medium contrast tone curve, some modest sharpening and NR, and lens corrections. The files are 22mp Raw files from a Canon 5D3.

Taking LR6.4, as the last set of tests, on my MBP it takes 2.17 seconds per image on the unedited files to render 1:1 previews, but it takes 6.6 seconds per image to render 1:1 previews on the edited files. And that's without adding local brush adjustments or clarity or vibrance, which would make things slower still. On my Windows system, the respective per image times are 4.24 seconds and 12.18 seconds. 

So you can see that only a modest set of develop edits can slow the process by a factor of 3, so just be careful trying to analyze the responses that you might get. Also remember that both preview rendering and exporting make very heavy use of the CPU, so the faster the CPU the better.


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## Bluebamboo (Jun 10, 2016)

Just occurred to me, how does the Smart Previews feature factor into all this, I never generate them on import, would there be any speed advantage in some aspect of LR to have the Smart Previews made on import?
Apart from the main benefit Smart Previews give, that of being able to edit your images when the RAW files are offline


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## Johan Elzenga (Jun 10, 2016)

Bluebamboo said:


> Just occurred to me, how does the Smart Previews feature factor into all this, I never generate them on import, would there be any speed advantage in some aspect of LR to have the Smart Previews made on import?
> Apart from the main benefit Smart Previews give, that of being able to edit your images when the RAW files are offline



Smart previews are only for use when the original is offline. Other than that, they have no advantage whatsoever.


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## Henk (Jun 21, 2016)

_
"Smart previews are only for use when the original is offline. Other than that, they have no advantage whatsoever"._

That's not totally true! 
Look at The Performance Benefits in DPReview:http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/52804126

Henk


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jun 22, 2016)

Henk said:


> _"Smart previews are only for use when the original is offline. Other than that, they have no advantage whatsoever"._
> 
> That's not totally true!
> Look at The Performance Benefits in DPReview:Using LR's Smart Previews to dramatically reduce D800/E processing time: Nikon FX SLR (DF, D1-D5, D600-D800) Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review



The technique quoted there has a few drawbacks that (at least to me) offset the speed benefit.  First, the image you are editing and viewing is not the same resolution, so if you are looking at detail, sharpening, noise reduction, clone/heal replacements where you need to see fine detail, you are no longer in a "what you see is what you get" mode.  Secondly, at some point you need to put them back together to render the edits against the real raw.  In the latter if you are personally waiting for them, the process becomes a bit like cutting one end of a rope to tie onto the other to make it longer - the larger file process still needs to get done.  Now in the example cited (using it to produce low res proofs faster) - maybe. 

So I think "not totally true" is accurate.  There's a way to use them, but it's a bit obscure and of questionable general benefit.  It's one reason some of us use third party tools for quick review, culling, etc. LR is a wonderful program but it will tax your patience.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jun 22, 2016)

And furthermore: the technique quoted requires the images to be offline, so I'd say that my remark was totally true.


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## Henk (Jun 22, 2016)

Though it seems then that if Johan and Ferguson are right:
"Speed benefits using Smart Previews  do not outweigh the disadvantages".
Thanks


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## Bluebamboo (May 30, 2016)

When I zoom into a raw file, or even just viewing images fullscreen it takes 5 seconds to generate the 1:1 preview or fullscreen view. That's a RAF RAW file from a 16MB Fuji DSLR Camera. I have LR 6 on a Windows 10 64bit i5 2500-3.30Ghz / 16GB RAM / AMD Radeon HD 5450 1GB/ SSD OS drive and a normal hard drive for the image files.

How can I speed up  ZOOM & Fullscreen rendering?

My graphics card is entry level and that could be the bottle neck but basic Macbooks I have used before seem to zoom just fine with Intel onboard grfx?

I tested putting the RAW image files on the SSD and the speed to generate the 1:1 preview dropped from 5sec to 4 sec, so that doesn't seem to be the bottleneck, I'd ideally like instant zoom preview/fullscreen rendering.


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jun 22, 2016)

JohanElzenga said:


> And furthermore: the technique quoted requires the images to be offline, so I'd say that my remark was totally true.



Well, yes, though "hidden from view" works.  It's the "_no advantage whatsoever"_ that I think is of interest.  I tend to agree with that statement, though the article referenced tries to make a case for when they could be twisted and mangled into being of use.   I was just trying to explain why in the scope of things the perceived advantage gets sucked back with the issues surrounding that twisting.

But it's always good to be aware of how one can twist available tools; no telling when some need might come up.


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## Johan Elzenga (Jun 22, 2016)

Yes, that's why I added a smiley. I think the article describes a creative idea, that may be of use when you are in the field with a relatively slow laptop. Whether it does increase the speed remains to be seen, it's more a method to split the work in two sessions, a faster but not so accurate stage, and then another stage to get things right. I had read it before, but for the reasons you mention (sharpening, noise, dust spots) I've never given it a try, not even on my (indeed not too fast) MacBook Air.


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## Bluebamboo (Jul 2, 2016)

Some feedback, I upgraded to a newer Intel Core i7-4790 3.6-4GHz Quad-Core Processor and compatible motherboard with case, all other parts the same.

Made a noticeable difference, I'm happy with the speeds the upgrade has given me in LR. It's not an enormous difference but a lot less spinning mouse pointer moments.
I would have preferred an unlocked cpu, ie i7 4790K and motherboard that supports overclocking, the intel unlocked cpu's can be safely overclocked to quite a high margin, apparently 4.5GHz is a perfectly stable(no OS glitches or BSOD) speed for an i7 4790K that doesn't require special CPU coolers etc but the price difference to get that was huge.

Does anyone have experience using overclocked CPU's and LR?
An i7 running at 4.5GHz must make LR very snappy.


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## Linwood Ferguson (Jul 3, 2016)

I have an older I7-3770k, and also am curious, especially if overclocking memory helps.  I run mine completely stock, and hesitate to change it as it has been rock solid, not one hiccup since installation despite being on almost 24x7.  I frequently run HyperV's on it with sometimes 2-3 linux servers running inside, and still runs everything else very quickly (other than Lightroom).

That chip is limited to 1600mhz memory stock, and I keep thinking of pushing the button to see if it would run at 2133mhz or so, just to see if LR would be happier.  I'm just not keen on frying something.


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## PhilBurton (Jul 3, 2016)

Ferguson said:


> I have an older I7-3770k, and also am curious, especially if overclocking memory helps.  I run mine completely stock, and hesitate to change it as it has been rock solid, not one hiccup since installation despite being on almost 24x7.  I frequently run HyperV's on it with sometimes 2-3 linux servers running inside, and still runs everything else very quickly (other than Lightroom).
> 
> That chip is limited to 1600mhz memory stock, and I keep thinking of pushing the button to see if it would run at 2133mhz or so, just to see if LR would be happier.  I'm just not keen on frying something.


Ferguson,

If you are not familiar with overclocking, there are numerous guides on the 'net for overclocking.  Many of them are specific to your CPU type and motherboard chipset type, and perhaps even to your motherboard manufacturer.  If you do want to overclock, do it in small increments, following the instructions in one of those guides.

There are lots and lots and lots of forums devoted to overclocking.  One that I like a lot is www.hardforum.com.

Phil


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## Bluebamboo (Jul 3, 2016)

The overclocking of the Cpu speed is the vital part for LR, unlocked Intel cpus are very stable with a conservative overclock, if you have an unlocked i7 you may as well overclock it at least a bit or else the premuim you paid for is going to waste. Does overclocking the Cpu necessitate faster memory?


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