TechNote (Archived)

Error "a command was not available" or "not enough storage" when you use Merge To HDR (Photoshop CS2)

Issue

When you use the Merge To HDR command, Adobe Photoshop CS2 returns one of the following error messages:

-- "Could not complete the Merge to HDR command because a command was not available."

-- "The operation could not be completed. Not enough storage is available to complete this operation."

Detail

You may be running a non-English version of the operating system (for example, Swedish).

Solutions

Do one or more of the following solutions:

Note: If your operating system settings differ from the default Windows XP settings, the steps that you use may differ slightly from those provided in this document. The most commonly encountered difference is in navigation to Control Panel from the Start menu: You may navigate Start > Settings > Control Panel instead of Start > Control Panel, which is the Windows XP default.

New Solution 1: Install the Photoshop CS2 9.0.1 update.

Download and install the update from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/downloads .

Solution 2: Create a new Windows temporary files directory that does not contain non-Roman or high-ASCII characters in the file path. (Windows only)

Note: You must be logged on as an administrator to perform this procedure.

To create a new Windows temporary files directory:

1. Quit all applications.

2. Create a new folder that does not contain non-Roman or high-ASCII characters in the file path. For example: C:\Temp

3. Choose Start > Control Panel, double-click System, click the Advanced tab, and then select Environment Variables.

4. In the User Variables section, select TEMP in the Variable column, then click Edit.

5. In the Variable Value field, enter the file path of the folder you edited or created in step 2, then click OK.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the TMP variable.

7. Click OK twice to close the dialog boxes.

8. Restart Windows.

Note: Changes to user variables may affect the operation of some applications. If you encounter problems after you follow the above instructions, contact the manufacturer of the affected application or your system administrator to determine what directory you can use for the temporary files user variable without using non-Roman or high-ASCII characters in the file path.

Solution 3: Reduce the amount of memory used by Photoshop.

To reduce the amount of memory used by Photoshop:

1. In Photoshop, choose Edit > Preferences > Memory and Image Cache (Windows) or Photoshop > Preferences > Memory and Image Cache (Mac OS).

2. In the Memory section, reduce the Maximum Used By Photoshop value to 55%.

3. Click OK.

4. Quit and restart Photoshop.

Solution 4: Deselect Attempt To Automatically Align Source Images.

In the Merge To HDR dialog, deselect Attempt To Automatically Align Source Images.

Background information

Merge To HDR cannot read file names that have non-Roman or high-ASCII characters in the path. On Windows, Merge To HDR writes temporary files in the location specified by the user variables.

A limitation in Merge To HDR prevents it from addressing more than 2 GB of RAM. If you disable the Automatically Align Source Images option, then you significantly reduce the amount of RAM required by Merge To HDR.