Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 28, 2019	Jul. 29, 2018	Jul. 28, 2019	Jul. 29, 2018
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 138,112	$ 136,391	$ 394,404	$ 390,616
Cost of goods sold	107,542	100,794	311,721	294,538
Gross profit	30,570	35,597	82,683	96,078
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative	13,124	12,504	40,186	37,891
Research and development	4,046	2,653	11,852	10,574
Total operating expenses	17,170	15,157	52,038	48,465
Operating income	13,400	20,440	30,645	47,613
Other income (expense):
Interest income and other income (expense), net	29	1,968	5,955	2,319
Interest expense	(377)	(557)	(1,263)	(1,682)
Income before income taxes	13,052	21,851	35,337	48,250
Income tax provision	3,218	2,054	7,883	3,783
Net income	9,834	19,797	27,454	44,467
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	3,487	6,792	7,361	14,899
Net income attributable to Photronics, Inc. shareholders	$ 6,347	$ 13,005	$ 20,093	$ 29,568
Earnings per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.19	$ 0.30	$ 0.43
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.18	$ 0.30	$ 0.41
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	66,313	69,374	66,386	69,141
Diluted (in shares)	66,570	75,258	69,919	75,121