Exporting large files 'hangs' computer

[Willem Jan Drijfhout]

When I'm trying to export large files (1 Gigapixel type) from Affinity Photo, the computer becomes very unresponsive. Just opening the menu already pulls up the spinning beachball. And when it's possible to actually export the file, for example as JPG, it takes ages for it to complete. During the process, the processor (16 cores) is working at full capacity, so apparently something big going on, but not sure what. Memory pressure seems low, but memory efficiency for these files is at -2 Billion% (see other post). Would anyone have any idea why exporting such files could be such a burden on the computer, or any suggestions perhaps on changing settings somewhere?

Under the Performance section in Preferences, I typically disable the use of the GPU, because my CPU is much faster. This has a massive effect on display and general retouching activities. For export, GPU acceleration on/off makes no difference, it's a tedious process either way. 

For reference, my computer is the Mac Pro 2019, 16 core, 160GB with 580x graphics card, running Catalina 10.15.4. So one should think that it is more than capable of handling these large files. And again, generally working with them goes rather smooth. Opening and first save can take a little time, but after that, most editing works well. It's really the export that is taking so long. Attached is a picture of processor activity during export. 

[Callum]

Hi Willem Jan Drijfhout,

Please could you provide one of the Affinity project files in question so I can try this at my end?

Thanks

C

[Willem Jan Drijfhout]

Hi @Callum, happy to do so. Any DM I can send you a link to?

Thanks, Willem Jan.