Lightroom memory warning

[Nikonoff]

Hi everyone, I'm trialling Lightroom 5.7.1 and have been getting warnings about insufficient memory when attempting to export the edited file (see first attachment). I've done a bit of research on the InterWeb and found all sorts of solutions, some of which directly contradict one another i.e. one suggestion was to increase the paging file limit and another said to decrease it:confused013. Any help appreciated. PC specs also attached.

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One other question, the LR trial period is about to expire and assuming I can get the memory issue sorted, I'll probably sign up for the month by month program but am unsure if I stick with just LR or get the PS/LR combo? Any thoughts?

[I @ M]

My first thoughts from seeing the screen cap is that 4.00 GB of ram is insufficient to handle large file sizes.
16 GB is more the norm these days.
I am not a lightroom user, I found it to be glacially slow compared to other software.

[tandeejay]

4gb is not much. I've got LR 2017 and 8gb RAM (and a 4gb swap file). Even that is sometimes not quite enough ram. If (when) I upgrade my motherboard, I'll be going for 32gb of memory...

I initially had the windows default setting, and had low memory errors a lot more. Increasing to 4gb helped for me.

I think increasing the page file size for you would help to alleviate the problem for you somewhat, but you will have a performance drop if LR starts to use the page file.

[Nikonoff]

Thanks guys, unfortunately it seems that running a 32bit OS limits the amount of RAM that Windows can utilize to a maximum 4GB. It would seem that a 64bit OS will be the next purchase.
In the mean time can anyone suggest a different editing program that may be less resource dependant?

[ameerat42]

Speaking of "swap files", does LR let you set one or more of your HDDs as a "scratch disk"
like Photoshop does? If you don't have one specified AND you don;t have much RAM, PS
is slow to doesn't work.

[Nikonoff]

Speaking of "swap files", does LR let you set one or more of your HDDs as a "scratch disk"
like Photoshop does? If you don't have one specified AND you don;t have much RAM, PS
is slow to doesn't work.

I gotta be honest ameerat, I don't know, I'll check that out. There is a spare HDD installed on our system for storage which hasn't yet been used. Could be the answer?

[wmphoto]

What file format are you trying to export it in? TIFF, PSD, JPEG, etc. Could be part of the problem if a larger format like TIFF :confused013

[Mark L]

In the mean time can anyone suggest a different editing program that may be less resource dependant?

https://www.gimp.org/ Pretty useful at that price.

[ameerat42]

I don't think this is the solution. Have we identified the problem?
Have a look at : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6s5aV7tLNI
and this: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/984707 (which, even though old, may be relevant to your OS).

The search was on "lightroom not enough memory"...

[I @ M]

What file format are you trying to export it in? TIFF, PSD, JPEG, etc. Could be part of the problem if a larger format like TIFF :confused013

Not raining on the parade but, the original graphic attached shows the file as an NEF,the Nikon proprietary raw file format.

- - - Updated - - -



In the mean time can anyone suggest a different editing program that may be less resource dependant?

The free Nikon conversion / editing program that is available as a download (http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/166/ViewNX_2.html) works quite well apparently.

[NikonNellie]

I used to have problems running PS but then I changed the amount of virtual memory allocated to the program and it fixed the problem - I have since acquired a new computer with much more RAM so it has been a problem for me for a few years now. Something else to try maybe. :confused013

[wmphoto]

Not raining on the parade but, the original graphic attached shows the file as an NEF,the Nikon proprietary raw file format.
Not raining on my parade at all. I know what an NEF file is, but since it was an export error then I assumed it was being exported (as in a different format). IE: import as an NEF then export as a JPEG.

[Cage]

Harry, I'm afraid it is time to upgrade your computer.

As has been said above 4GB of RAM is not nearly enough for image processing. What OS are you using? When I built my last computer I was running W7 with 8GB of RAM and had constant screen freezes. Added another 8GB and haven't had a problem since.

If you are at all handy with a screwdriver it's not a major job to install a new motherboard and RAM. Your CPU and other hardware should be up to the job although you may need to upgrade the GPU.

If you can afford it the CC Lightroom/CS6 combo is what I use at $13.20 per month although you can do about 95% of your processing with Lightroom. Photoshop adds layers, masks and filters etc.

If you need assistance with hardware for an upgrade just yell out. There are some pretty tech savvy members here who are more than happy to assist.

[ameerat42]

I gotta be honest ameerat, I don't know, I'll check that out. There is a spare HDD installed on our system for storage which hasn't yet been used. Could be the answer?

Below are some default settings for my "olde" Photoshop CS2. (Edit - Preferences).
(In the meantime, you can check yours, and the same for LR.)
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PI (Post Image): I forgot to say, if you have spare disks, add a couple more. They can be external HDDs.

Check it out then, and if the problem persists, DON'T see your "qualified health care professional", but maybe
go to a computer store:o

[Nikonoff]

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Update:-

Tried allocating 30GB on the spare HDD for a scratch disk but alas no improvement.
Good pick up I @ M regarding the export format. The export preference is set as JPG so not sure where the NEF reference is being drawn from, need to sort that out too.
I've checked the hardware architecture and I could re-format to 64bit and add extra ram, it's cheaper than a new PC but also a gamble.
The OS is Win10 Home Edition.
The GPU is an Nvidia Quadro FX 1800, basically a mid level 3D drafting GPU.

The truth that I must face is that it's an ageing computer and simply replacing it would fix the issue. Any effort or expense that I put into it now will buy me a bit of time but probably only a year or two.

[Cage]

I've checked the hardware architecture and I could re-format to 64bit and add extra ram, it's cheaper than a new PC but also a gamble.
The OS is Win10 Home Edition.
The GPU is an Nvidia Quadro FX 1800, basically a mid level 3D drafting GPU.
[/LIST]
The truth that I must face is that it's an ageing computer and simply replacing it would fix the issue. Any effort or expense that I put into it now will buy me a bit of time but probably only a year or two.


You're on the mark Harry. Switch to 64bit, update to the Anniversary Edition, add some RAM, I'd suggest 16Gb, and you will not believe the difference. A huge increase in PP power for a minimal outlay.

[Loquah]

While upgrading is probably a good idea in the near future, you may be experiencing something that happened to me recently. On my Windows 10 system, something (probably a software update) had changed the default Windows memory allocation settings to a ridiculously low amount. I followed these instructions (http://windowsreport.com/windows-10-virtual-memory-too-low/) to access the setting, changed it back to letting Windows decide (i.e. selected the "automatically..." check box rather than following the last part of the instructions) and everything is fine. I would check this before rushing to upgrade.

As for LR vs LR/PS, I think PhotoShop is invaluable for the final 'wow factor' that cannot be achieved in LightRoom (particularly if you add the Nik plugins), but you might want to get familiar with LR before delving into PS which can be overwhelming at first.

[arthurking83]

.....
The truth that I must face is that it's an ageing computer and simply replacing it would fix the issue. Any effort or expense that I put into it now will buy me a bit of time but probably only a year or two.

I reckon you'd get enuff satisfaction that you may not even need any update.

Figure out what mainboard you have first before upgrading anything.
(some motherboards are limited as to what they can take!!)

Get yerself another 4G of RAM(about $20-ish) and a cheapie 100 or so Gig SSD.
Use the SSD as a temp/swapfile/scratch drive only(ie. don't put the OS on it!)

You don't need to go crazy and get the fastest SSDs available, they'd probably be wasted if the PC is 'ageing'.
But of course we have no idea on the exact hardware you have, so until more info is made available can only speculate as to what's possible.

And for sure do the 64bit OS install. 32bit is so last century. :p You could do it easily without any disruption as in install over the current OS.

One last thing: Is the current Win 10 installation an update over an older OS? On older PCs they usually are.
That is, I'm assuming that you probably had Win7 previously and upgraded to Win10 when M$ made it available?

If this is so, it's important to note that Win10 creates a Windows.old directory on the root of the HDD.
What could also be happening (and this is another speculative comment) on your current setup is that you may be running low on HDD space if you haven't done a clean up.
This Windows.old directory can be enormous! As in many multiple Gigs(larger than your old Windows installation!) .. I've over 100+ gigs on some of these folders, as they contain everything needed to replace the previous Win installation.
If you know now that you won't/can't go back to pre Win10 OS, then it's safe to delete this Windows.old folder.
If you are getting close to a capacity limited situation as above, then this could help with the original memory error.

Note that 4G of RAM should work fine on almost any PC today. What will happen if you run out of RAM, is that Windows will use your HDD. If your HDD is old/slow/getting full/etc is usually where you can see out of memory errors.

If you have a spare HDD(ie. the reference to the spare where you allocated 30G as a scratch) .. try using it as the Windows swapfile drive.

no need to rewrite what's already written on the topic, so read this how too. (http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-move-page-file-in-windows-10-to-another-disk/)

Basically what they're saying is(if you have multiple drives). Disable it on your C:\ drive and enable it on your other:\ drive instead. Obviously you need to reboot to effect the changes.

Hopefully some of the above may help a bit.

[Nikonoff]

Awesome replies and assistances there. So here's where I'm now at:- Backed all valuable data and reformatted to Win7 x64bit OS, would've stuck with Win 10 but as Arthur surmised the previous Win 10 OS was a composite overlay with it's roots stemming from that abhorrent creation - VISTA and then garnished with a Win 7 upgrade, probably about as nasty as it gets. A complete clean sweep was the only way to completely disinfect our PC. Interestingly the reformatting picked up a bad sector, which probably contributed to the slow performance - not sure if it's a logical or physical one yet but a new bigger drive will be installed just in case. So, new drive, new 64 bit OS and more RAM is the order of the day. I'll post up the results when the job is done. ;)

[Nikonoff]

Alrighty then, old drive actually crashed while the new version of Win x64 was being installed so a new drive was no longer optional but mandatory. Anyway have computer home now with CC Lightroom and Photoshop freshly installed and being used daily (mostly by very talented daughter) and all is well in the world once more.:th3: Many thanks to all for your input.