System Requirements

Before you download photo editing software, you need to make sure you have the correct system requirements.

If your computer is older, you may need an upgrade for the photo editing software to run properly. You can check all of this right from your computer with just a few clicks and I’m about to show you how.

But First…

What are the requirements to run photo editing software efficiently?

Let’s start from the beginning…

Operating System

With all of the features photo editing software have these days the best operating system is Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Windows 7 being the best. These operating systems are capable of running photo editing software efficiently due to the advanced drivers.

Storage Space / Hard Drive Space

For Google’s photo editing software (Picasa) – You will need at least 13.6 megabytes of space.

For Adobe Photoshop you will need 979.9 megabytes of space. This program has and ENORMOUS amount of great features which is why it is so much larger.

Memory / Processor Requirements

The requirements for memory or (ram) is going to be pretty much the same for all computers. I say this because, if you try to run any of these photo editing software without the necessary requirements it tends to be very laggy and can really irritate you, lock up, and may require a restart without save in the middle of your editing.

1. Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 processor or higher
2. At least 1 gig of ram / memory

Other Requirements

You will need an internet connection for activation and for online help and the required screen resolution is 1024×768 display (1280×800 recommended)

If you plan on doing advanced editing such as using the shader model built into Adobe Photoshop you may need to look into a good video card.

How Do I tell how much memory i have on my computer?

For Windows Users:

1. First go to your computer on your desktop or in your start menu.
2. Then right click, using your mouse, anywhere in the blank area and click properties.
3. A box should appear and you may need to scroll down. Look for installed memory (RAM) and that number is how much you have available. For example 4.0 GB is 4 gigabytes of ram. If you see this number you definitely meet the memory requirements.