Ideal configuration of a laptop for Photoshop
Professional photographers, graphic designers, and digital artistic creators choose Photoshop as their go-to tool for editing, creating, and fine-tuning content (high-resolution video and images).
However, as media files grow in size due to the latest high-resolution technologies, even simple changes like altering the contrast or brightness of an image require manipulating millions of data points.
To meet these demands, Photoshop’s state-of-the-art concurrent processing techniques must be combined with a powerful computing device that supports lightning-fast multi-thread computations.
For effective use of Photoshop, users require the latest multicore processors with super-fast memory capable of handling large volumes of image data quickly. They also need to view, store and transfer their digital creations in the highest possible quality, thereby needing support for connecting the latest ultra-high-resolution monitors, External drives, and devices.
Most creative professionals need to create, co-create, edit, and share on the go, making the need for portability, imperative.
Given these requirements and challenges, let’s draw out the ideal specifications for a laptop that can handle Photoshop effectively:
Laptop Specifications:
Processor
Your laptop’s processor is one of the most important factors to consider. Ideally, you should look for a laptop with a fast processor, such as an Intel Core i7 or i9. These processors are powerful enough to handle the demanding tasks that Photoshop requires, such as rendering and applying filters.
Having said that, The processing speed of Photoshop is limited by the central processing unit (CPU) speed of the computer.
Although having more processor cores generally leads to faster Photoshop performance, some features benefit more from additional cores than others. However, the returns on using multiple cores become less significant as the number of cores increases. As a result, a computer with 16 processor cores does not make Photoshop run four times faster than a computer with four cores. For most users, the performance increase beyond six cores is not worth the added cost.
Multicore Intel® or AMD processor (2 GHz or faster processor with SSE 4.2 or later) with 64-bit support is what you should look for.
RAM
The amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) in your laptop is also crucial for running Photoshop. A minimum of 8GB of RAM is recommended, but if you can afford it, go for 32GB or more. The more RAM you have, the smoother your workflow will be, and you’ll be able to work with large files more easily.
Graphics Card
Photoshop relies heavily on your laptop’s graphics card, so you’ll want to invest in a laptop with a dedicated graphics card. Look for a laptop with an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card with at least 4GB of VRAM. This will ensure that you can work with high-resolution images and apply complex filters without any lag.
GPU
There are many features that require a GPU for acceleration in Photoshop or may not run without a GPU, like Artboard, Blur Gallery, Neural filters, etc.
On Windows, a GPU with DirectX 12 support and 1.5 GB of GPU memory is the minimum graphic processor requirement for Photoshop (4 GB of GPU memory will be required for 4k displays )
Storage
When it comes to storage, you’ll want to look for a laptop with a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs are faster and more reliable than traditional hard drives, which means your laptop will boot up faster, and your files will load more quickly. Look for a laptop with at least 512GB of storage or more, as Photoshop files can take up a lot of space.
Display
Finally, the display on your laptop is also important for working with Photoshop. Look for a laptop with a high-resolution display, preferably 4K or higher. This will ensure that you can see every detail of your work and that colors are accurately represented. Additionally, look for a laptop with an IPS panel, as this will provide wider viewing angles and better color accuracy.
To operate Photoshop, a minimum screen resolution of 1366×768 is required, with 100% user interface scaling. However, as the UI scaling factor increases, the minimum screen resolution must also increase. For instance, an interface scaling of 150% would require a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 for comfortable scaling, while an interface scaling of 200% would require a screen resolution of 2880 x 1800 for comfortable scaling.
For photo editing & graphics designing having more color gamut is helpful in understanding the real tone and shade of different colors. For that, using a display with 86%sRGB color gamut or more is required. On the other hand having a brighter display helps in color and contrast oriented works, so opt for a display with 300 Nits of brightness at least.
In conclusion, if you’re looking for a laptop that can handle Photoshop, you’ll want to invest in a laptop with a fast processor, plenty of RAM, a dedicated graphics card, an SSD, and a high-resolution display. With these components, you’ll be able to work with large files and complex filters without any lag, and you’ll be able to produce high-quality work with ease.
Choosing a laptop for Photoshop and graphic designing, You’ll want to choose the right laptop that will cover all the factors stated above and provide value for money. You can choose a laptop like the HP Firefly 15.6 (39.62cm) G8 Mobile Workstation PC 3z8g9pa, equipped with 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with Nvidia Quadro(4GB VRAM), 32 GB RAM. It has 15.6-inch, FHD(1920 x 1080), IPS, anti-glare display and 1TB SSD.
Compare and view all the best laptops for photoshop.
