Being a sign maker these days almost always means many hours in front of a computer. If you’re directly involved in production and/or graphic design, this is all but assured. How many hours have you wasted staring at progress bars? Software used in our trade requires a lot of RAM, hard drive space and, especially, a fast CPU for best performance. And while it’s still true that sign software can put extreme demands on our computers, we also have come a long way with advances in technology over the years, as well. Not to mention, prices these days have gotten lower than ever for decent computing hardware. Because most RIPs are designed on the windows platform, this month I would like to discuss some ways to change some of your windows settings in order to tease just a bit more performance from your current hardware, and I also would like to give some advice to those considering purchasing new computers.

Optimizing Windows Virtual Memory

If you have ever watched a progress bar on your computer screen suddenly slow down for no apparent reason, it’s a good possibility your computer has run out of available RAM and now is using reserved hard drive space to process your work. When available RAM has been used, Windows utilizes a “virtual memory” trick by using the hard drive to process overflow data, much like the RAM would but at a much slower speed. Virtual memory is noticeably slower than RAM because of the limitations imposed by the physical process of reading and writing data to the hard drive, but it’s better than having everything come to a stop or outright crash. It should be noted that the gap between hard drive and RAM speeds are starting to narrow, and recent developments in solid state drive technology may soon negate the need for RAM altogether.

Microsoft Windows ships with default virtual memory settings preconfigured for the average computer user. However, for sign makers, these settings are simply not good enough. If you’re using Photoshop, CorelDRAW or other similar graphic-intensive applications that include RIPs, there are a couple virtual memory (also known as pagefile) settings you can change in Windows to improve performance.

OK, what is a pagefile? A pagefile is simply the section of your hard drive reserved by virtual memory in the event you run out of RAM, as we have just discussed. Remember, you not only have your RIP and graphic applications using the RAM, virtual memory and temp files, but Windows itself and other background programs and services are all competing for those very same resources simultaneously. Graphic software especially can use huge amounts of RAM and, in some cases, several gigs or more of system RAM just to process a single file, so it’s almost inevitable that virtual memory will get involved sooner or later. Below are a couple of ways to improve pagefile performance.

Changing Your Pagefile Size

Image 1 To change pagefile setting you will need to get to the Virtual Memory menu. But getting there initially is slightly different in Windows XP than it is in Vista. To get there, go to the System Properties menu... • In Windows XP: Open the control panel and then click on System to open this menu. • In Windows Vista: From the control panel (I suggest using classic), click on System, which will open a new menu with an additional option on the left. Look for Advanced System Properties and click that. Once you’re in the System Properties menu (See Image 1), the steps are the same for Windows XP and Vista: In the System Properties menu, click on the Advanced tab, where you then should see the Performance box which will have a Settings button. Click the Settings button, which will take you to the Performance Options menu (See Image 2). Once you’re in the Performance Options menu, click on the Advanced tab and look for the Virtual Memory section, where a Change button should be. Click the Change button to open the virtual memory settings. Once you’re in the Virtual Memory menu, you will uncheck the box that says Automatically Manage Paging File Size for All Drives, which then allows you to both manually set the pagefile size and/or move the pagefile drive as well from a list of available hard drives (See Image 3). To increase the pagefile size, simply change the Maximum size to the new value. (I recommend you set this to at least double the size of your computers RAM, i.e., if you have four gigs of RAM, set the pagefile Maximum size to eight gigs.) To move the pagefile to another hard drive, simply select the appropriate drive letter from a list of available drives, which should be located at the top. Once you’re finished, remember to click the Set button before clicking OK and closing your windows. Image 2 Image 3

First, increase your pagefile size. Try doubling what Windows already has allocated for your pagefile size. For instance, if your pagefile has reserved 512 MB of memory on your hard drive, try increasing that to 1024 MB. Another idea is to simply change the pagefile size to double the amount of RAM you have installed. (For example, if you have four gigs of RAM installed, try increasing the pagefile size to eight gigs.) By doing this, you should see marked improvements in performance, especially on older computers. I have seen benchmarks showing around 10 percent or more increase in performance, just as a result of this change alone. However, it’s important to note that this works differently on different systems with newer systems showing less improvement over older systems.

Another way to improve your pagefile performance is to use more than one hard drive and switch the pagefile to that drive. Many new computers come with two or more hard drives these days, anyway. Nevertheless, even an older computer easily can be upgraded with just a new hard drive. Once this is straightened out, you can then move the pagefile from the primary or operating system hard drive (where windows and who knows what else is accessing that drive, as well) to this other hard drive. By doing this, Windows and other applications can read and write away on the primary hard drive while the pagefile uses another hard drive essentially splitting up the work between drives and speeding things up a bit.

Unlike the first method of increasing your pagefile size, anyone adding an additional drive and moving their pagefile to that drive will see improvement, regardless the system specs. As a side note, I have read that you can use a so-called USB “thumb” drive as a mini pagefile drive. I have not tested it, but it makes sense.

As with both suggestions above, I recommend that you defragment your hard drive before changing your pagefile settings. Remember, too, that these tips are not mutually exclusive, so they can both be used together to improve overall performance; try them both if you can.

A few notes on computer hardware

Is it time to upgrade? How long have you been using your old system? Is it fast and stable enough for your current workflow? Ask yourself these questions but consider this: Computers have come a long way from where they were just a few years ago. Computer processor speeds are now measured in the multi-gigahertz range and come bundled with two, four or even more processors in one system as standard equipment. This means that one CPU can handle design software while another CPU handles the RIP threads, all on the same computer. It’s very much like two or more computers in one. I also would like to point out that while RAM and hard drive improvements are helpful and will noticeably affect performance, the CPU speed will have the greatest impact.

Hard drive technology also has improved, allowing for faster access times and increased overall storage capacities measured in the terabyte range, not to mention the latest move toward solid state drives that will greatly increase hard drive speeds in the near future. These advances, coupled with improvements in memory (RAM), allow for even more memory capacity at faster speeds with prices that are almost negligible. Computers are simply cheaper these days and offer vast improvements over your older computer systems.

Also, many laptops today are capable of doing anything a larger “desktop” computer does, albeit with limited upgrade options (due to space/heat considerations). Still, with advances in hardware and lower costs to buy a computer these days, by the time you consider upgrading (say every three to five years), a new computer might actually be more practical than upgrading.

There really is no need to spend thousands of dollars on a custom-built computer anymore when decent, off-the-shelf desktop and laptop systems are selling in the $500 range. If it’s been a while, consider a new computer and don’t ignore laptops because they can be a tidy and portable solution for less money than you might expect. Compare features like memory size, CPU speed and hard drive space. Most new computers today will come with more than two CPU cores built in. It’s standard equipment these days, and it’s almost like buying two computers in one.

Multi-core computers are so common now that much of the graphic and RIP software today is programmed to take advantage of these multiple cores by splitting of the workload between them. This can exponentially improve performance as well as stability while reducing equipment costs. Not all software is able to take advantage of dual-processor computers; however, many professional graphics applications, like Photoshop, will automatically detect more than one processor and manage the workload accordingly. Other software, like RIPs, will sometimes require you to toggle or choose multi-processor workflow in their settings. Nevertheless, as more hardware comes standard with multiple processors and other improvements, more and more software programmers are designing their products to take advantage of these features.

In closing, let me encourage you to try some of the tips above, but if you’re due for an upgrade, make sure you compare pricing and perhaps consider a laptop. Laptops come with a built-in monitor, keyboard and mouse. However you decide, consider that multi-processor computers are getting faster and faster with more and more capability. If you have not upgraded in the last five years, you really should consider it.