Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jul. 29, 2018	Jul. 30, 2017	Jul. 29, 2018	Jul. 30, 2017
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 136,391	$ 111,579	$ 390,616	$ 329,707
Cost of goods sold	(100,794)	(89,862)	(294,538)	(264,835)
Gross profit	35,597	21,717	96,078	64,872
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative	(12,504)	(11,639)	(37,891)	(33,403)
Research and development	(2,653)	(4,812)	(10,574)	(12,023)
Total operating expenses	(15,157)	(16,451)	(48,465)	(45,426)
Operating income	20,440	5,266	47,613	19,446
Other income (expense):
Interest income and other income (expense), net	1,968	415	2,319	(4,182)
Interest expense	(557)	(549)	(1,682)	(1,657)
Income before income taxes	21,851	5,132	48,250	13,607
Income tax provision	(2,054)	(333)	(3,783)	(2,814)
Net income	19,797	4,799	44,467	10,793
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(6,792)	(798)	(14,899)	(3,048)
Net income attributable to Photronics, Inc. shareholders	$ 13,005	$ 4,001	$ 29,568	$ 7,745
Earnings per share:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.19	$ 0.06	$ 0.43	$ 0.11
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.18	$ 0.06	$ 0.41	$ 0.11
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	69,374	68,525	69,141	68,376
Diluted (in shares)	75,258	69,380	75,121	69,311