Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Apr. 28, 2019	Apr. 29, 2018	Apr. 28, 2019	Apr. 29, 2018
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 131,580	$ 130,779	$ 256,291	$ 254,225
Cost of goods sold	105,570	97,960	204,179	193,744
Gross profit	26,010	32,819	52,112	60,481
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative	13,269	13,637	27,061	25,387
Research and development	3,542	3,817	7,805	7,921
Total operating expenses	16,811	17,454	34,866	33,308
Operating income	9,199	15,365	17,246	27,173
Other income (expense):
Interest income and other income (expense), net	4,286	3,883	5,925	351
Interest expense	355	551	886	1,125
Income before income taxes	13,130	18,697	22,285	26,399
Income tax provision	3,278	3,508	4,665	1,729
Net income	9,852	15,189	17,620	24,670
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	1,373	4,524	3,874	8,107
Net income attributable to Photronics, Inc. shareholders	$ 8,479	$ 10,665	$ 13,746	$ 16,563
Earnings per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.15	$ 0.21	$ 0.24
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.15	$ 0.20	$ 0.23
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	66,261	69,293	66,422	69,024
Diluted (in shares)	70,597	75,190	71,593	75,052