How to clear my 84GB of Perfect Browser Cache?
So based on a tip I read here I moved my PerfectBrowseCache to the same storage drive as my photos are on. This greatly speeded up ON1 2020.
In doing this I noticed that my PerfecrBrowserCache is 84GB!!!! even though the setting is 5GB. Pressing Empty cache has no effect. Anyone know how I can stop this folder from growing forever & ever!
Thanks.
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Guy Meacham, did you ever hear from anyone about this post? I just discovered that my PerfectBrowseCache is 16GB at the moment. I'm taking my first steps to figure out how I should have ON1 configured (I just accepted defaults when I initially installed the app and didn't do anything more with it). I'm poking around to find some sort of best practices advice as I begin to scour the documentation for configuration howto.
-Brian
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The Preferences > System's > Browse Cache settings section is somewhat confusing. The Cache Size setting has nothing to do with the size of the PerfectBrowseCache. The Cache Size setting controls a RAM cache which holds what gets read from the PBC. If you start running low on memory while editing you can lower the Cache Size to give the editor some more room to work in.
The PerfectBrowseCache will grow to what ever size is needed to hold all the preview images for the Catalogs you create. The only control you have over its size is with the size of the Preview images you tell it to create.
The Empty button clears the RAM cache as far as I know; I haven't tested it.
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Brian Lawson, thank you for your response. I'll see how things change after updating my config / moving what I can off my C:\ drive to my D:\ partition.
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This has been discussed many times before. My PerfectBrowseCache may be used for catalogue preview images but not in my case as I don't use catalogues. For me it grows and never shrinks because whenever I create a mask it creates a tiff file of the mask. Some people report deleting the files in this dir does no harm but I haven't tried myself.
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I don't understand why ON1 is doing it this way. I noticed yesterday that the Perfect Browser Cache was hoarding 40 GB on the 512 GB SSD of my MacBook. In it were large TIFF files.
A 'cache' by definition should be temporary.
Clearing it in ON1 Preferences had no effect, so I deleted the folder. Now I had regained my storage and with no impact to ON1.
Of course ON1 starts anew the disk hoarding process with apparently no size limit, even though Preferences has a size limit of 5 GB.
It is these undocumented features that irks me.
Better if each category had a separate manageable location - catalogs, albums, presets, caches by type etc. and the user manual explains how each can be managed and optimized for performance.
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The PerfectBrowseCache is where the program stashes the preview images. If you use Catalogs the program builds those previews all up front. Folders that are not cataloged will have their contents rendered and the previews generated on the fly as you navigate through your folders. The program retains them so it does not have to continually re-render the same images over and over and over as you navigate through your photos library. It will grow to whatever size is needed to hold those preview images for your library. This is one reason I recommend moving it to an SSD dedicated to just ON1 Scratch space and the PerfectBrowseCache.
The button to Empty the cache and the Cache Size slider do not affect the PerfectBrowseCache. Those controls are for the size of the RAM cache the program uses to hold what it reads from the PBC. That is confusing and it isn't well documented. I had to ask support about it.
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To add to Brians post, you can create catalogs without previews. the catalogs will work the same, but rendering might be slightly slower.
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I understand the discussion. I've moved this PerfectBrowseCache to an external SSD. The purpose of the cache is useful as explained in the Users Guide; however, mine is getting large. Is there a way to find out which of the three options were selected to create the cache, and then is there a way to make a change to a less intensive cache system?
To complete the thought, the buttons in Browse Cache section of Preferences/System do not perform the functions that one logically expects from the labeling and the organization. As I understand it there are two caches represented here RAM and HDD/SSD. As I read above the Cache Size adjustment slider affects the cache on RAM. This needs to be much better explained and designated for the user's understanding.
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I discovered the way to do this: right-click on the cataloged folder and select another option (minimal, medium, or standard).
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Al, some of the details are explained in this article...
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Previews are useful to quickly access photos. However one needs to know where these files are stored so as to be able to manage them.
The most logical place to store previews should be the drive where the associated images are stored, for ease of management.
Currently if I have 5 drives containing images and I connect them to my computer, one at a time, to process and edit, these previews are all cached by default in my computer. And over time the store grows in size. Many users use laptops which are fast with SSDs but have limited capacity.
There is no easy way to manage this.
ON1 should do this:
- Store previews by default in the drive where images are stored and not in the computer processing these images.
- This cache store should be clearly labeled so that the user can delete it, it if required.
- Indicate the reserve space needed for previews as a percentage of the drive space. One can easily manage this.
- A cache limit must be allowed, so that previews can be purged - first in first out.
- Currently previews and albums seem to be stored in the same place. If a cache is deleted, albums need to be recreated.
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[O]ne needs to know where these files are stored so as to be able to manage them. The program does have a mechanism for controlling where the PerfectBrowseCache is saved. It is in Preferences > System tab's Scratch Folder Location & Browse Cache panels. There are buttons to move both the PBC and the Scratch space to any location of your choosing.
I highly recommend adding a fast SSD with a direct connection to the system, not through a hub or daisy chained through other devices, for holding both the Scratch space and the PBC. You'll see an increase in the program's performance and you no longer have to worry about the size of the PBC.
The most logical place to store previews should be the drive where the associated images are stored, for ease of management. Personal opinion but I strongly disagree. My photos are on a drive by themselves similar to your setup. I don't want info that only Photo RAW can use (sidecars don't count) on that drive. By having the previews all stored in one place, the PBC, it is easily managed and easy to get rid of should I decide at some point to stop using Photo RAW. If all those preview images were scattered all over my file structure it would be a nightmare to clean up.
Many users use laptops which are fast with SSDs but have limited capacity. Another reason for having the PBC on its own drive. My previous system was a laptop with a 256GB internal boot drive. Having > 80GB of that space consumed by the PBC is what gave the the idea to move that stuff to the Scratch drive I've always used since my Photoshop days.
- See my comments above.
- The folder is called PerfectBrowseCache. That's pretty clear especially when the program tells you the folder's name in the Preferences.
- And then people would complain when the predictions were off. Please see Catalogs and Caches - ON1 Photo RAW 2020 & ON1 PHOTO RAW 2021 for guides on the amount of space that will be needed.
- Again, it's a personal opinion but I disagree. I don't want the program spending time regenerating previews for folder I haven't looked at in a while the next time I do look at it.
- Yes and no. They are both stored in your user data folder for the program but they are separated within that folder structure. Move the PBC to a different drive and those 2 items will be in separate locations. Whether or not the Albums get deleted when you delete the cache will depend upon how you go about doing it. Resetting the program absolutely will remove both. That's its purpose. Deleting the PBC folder by itself, something you can do at any time you like, the program will simply rebuild it though, will not affect your Albums. They are a logical structure in the program and do not physically store any images, only links to those image locations.
I don't know if you are aware of this but on these forums you are talking to other users. The company does monitor them for things like spam but they do not normally interact with us here. As far as I know the engineers and tech support don't read them at all until directed here by a support request.
Don't let that stop you from posting though, it's good to have these discussions. I just didn't know if you knew that the company won't see your post.
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