QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended											12 Months Ended
	Nov. 01, 2015	Aug. 02, 2015	May. 03, 2015	Feb. 01, 2015		Nov. 02, 2014	Aug. 03, 2014	May. 04, 2014		Feb. 02, 2014		Nov. 01, 2015		Nov. 02, 2014		Nov. 03, 2013
Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 141,693	$ 131,699	$ 127,309	$ 123,505	[1]	$ 124,251	$ 124,852	$ 104,882	[2],[3]	$ 101,542	[4]	$ 524,206	[1]	$ 455,527	[3],[5]	$ 422,180
Gross margin	44,614	37,243	33,095	28,184	[1]	26,624	28,650	22,190	[2],[3]	22,882	[4]	143,136	[1]	100,346	[3],[5]
Net income	22,151	15,410	12,156	7,142	[1]	6,700	7,344	15,950	[2],[3]	2,041	[4]	56,859	[1]	32,035	[3],[5]	19,576
Net income attributable to Photronics, Inc. shareholders	$ 18,622	$ 12,106	$ 10,060	$ 3,837	[1]	$ 4,277	$ 4,186	$ 15,540	[2],[3]	$ 1,993	[4]	$ 44,625	[1]	$ 25,996	[3],[5]	$ 17,966
Earnings per share [Abstract]
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.28	$ 0.18	$ 0.15	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.07	$ 0.07	$ 0.25	[2],[3]	$ 0.03	[4]	$ 0.67	[1]	$ 0.42	[3],[5]	$ 0.30
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.25	$ 0.17	$ 0.14	$ 0.06	[1]	$ 0.07	$ 0.07	$ 0.22	[2],[3]	$ 0.03	[4]	$ 0.63	[1]	$ 0.41	[3],[5]	$ 0.29
Transaction expenses, net of tax						$ 2,500		$ 2,000		$ 500				$ 2,500
Non cash gain related to acquisition, net of tax								$ 16,400				$ 0		$ 16,372		$ 0
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Financing expenses				$ 900								$ 900

[1] Includes expenses of $0.9 million of financing expenses related to the exchange of $57.5 million 3.25% convertible senior notes.

[2] Includes expenses of $2.0 million, net of tax, related to the acquisition of DPTT.

[3] Includes non-cash gain of $16.4 million, net of tax, related to the acquisition of DPTT.

[4] Includes expenses of $0.5 million, net of tax, related to the acquisition of DPTT.

[5] Includes expenses of $2.5 million, net of tax, related to the acquisition of DPTT.