Determining the memory allocation of a bitmap, rule of thumb

The memory capacity required for editing a bitmap may differ considerably from the size of the bitmap file on the hard disk.

You can use the following rule of thumb to make a rough estimate of the space required in the memory:

[width of the bitmap (in pixels)] x [height of the bitmap (in pixels)] x 3 (or x 4, depending on the file format and compression of the bitmap)

If this value exceeds half the memory capacity of your computer, editing may take a very long time or may even fail. (This is a very rough estimate which also depends on the programs that are currently running, the operating system etc.)

Example: A JPEG file with 10MB at a size of 10000 x 10000 pixels requires a memory capacity of approximately 300 MB. To be able to edit this file, your computer needs to be equipped with a system memory of more than 600MB.