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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
May 2, 2014

P: Introducing scale the UI 200% for high-density displays for Windows

  • May 2, 2014
  • 339 replies
  • 4329 views

The Photoshop team welcomes your feedback on this experimental feature. Let us know what you think!
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Photoshop user interface controls may appear small and hard-to-read on high-density displays. Also, on touch-enabled screens, you may have trouble clicking the smaller controls. 200% scaling solves this issue by doubling the size of the user interface.

Since the user interface elements increase in size by 200%, depending on the size and resolution of your display, you may need to adjust the layout of existing workspaces. For example, on a 1080 px screen at 200%, the Tools panel extends off the bottom of the screen. You can change to double-column orientation in order to fit the panel on the screen.

Note: This feature is only for Windows users. HiDPI on Mac has been available for high-density Retina displays since Photoshop CS6.

Caveats

You may encounter some cosmetic issues while using this feature. While many Photoshop dialogs have been reworked so that they fit on the screen at 1080 px, viewing some dialogs (such as Smart Sharpen) completely may require you to collapse sections.

Disable 200% UI scaling

If you need to return to the default 100% scaling, do the following:

1. Select Preferences > Experimental Features.
2. Deselect Scale UI 200% For High-Density Displays (Windows Only).
3. Restart Photoshop.

    339 replies

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    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 17, 2015
    Lovely feature if it were 125 or 150%, the current setting of 200% is way too much.
    M
    Mike Wickham
    Inspiring
    March 16, 2015


    The font size of text in the help window in Photoshop CS5 is uncomfortably small on a 24" monitor. I can find no way to increase it. Is there a command I have not found? If not, please add one!
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 16, 2015
    I have a Surface Pro 3 and 200% is a bit too big and 100% is too small so 150% would be good (or have a slider/dropdown with different zooms). Thanks.
    D
    denniR
    Participating Frequently
    March 12, 2015
    Thank you to Chris Cox for the info. I've been trying to solve the hi dpi issue with Bridge and Camera Raw for ages, and no one else from Adobe has acknowledged they're working on it, let alone that a problem exists. Bridge and Camera Raw are the only unusable apps on my laptop. As Bridge is an immensely important part of my workflow, my very expensive, very powerful laptop lies unused in exchange for an older, slower unit.

    Unfortunately, I take it that it's not a problem Adobe is taking all that seriously, though. Gone are the days of all creatives using Mac only. Larger portions of all creative fields are using good, fast, well built PCs, and it's discouraging to see this segment is obviously considered secondary to Adobe when so many others (including Capture 1) offer full hi dpi support with no issues to speak of.
    B
    brilliant_Meadow1549
    Participating Frequently
    March 9, 2015
    Okay... thanks for the help.
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 9, 2015
    Old versions do not get new features. If you want the UI scaling feature, you need to upgrade.
    B
    brilliant_Meadow1549
    Participating Frequently
    March 9, 2015
    Okey dokey. So do you recommend hanging tight to see if it's a feature/update they add for previous versions, or is that a lost cause and I just need to upgrade?
    F
    FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
    Inspiring
    March 9, 2015
    No, CS6 does not have that option. Again, it is a feature added in Photoshop CC 2014.
    This is not an Adobe issue, this is a new feature added to support new hardware (and a lot of Microsoft changes) in the latest version of Photoshop.
    B
    brilliant_Meadow1549
    Participating Frequently
    March 9, 2015
    It looks like CS6 has the option too. I don't want to pay for an upgrade since I already own the program and this is an Adobe issue... do you know of any options? I appreciate your help, Chris!
    B
    brilliant_Meadow1549
    Participating Frequently
    March 9, 2015
    I went to Preferences, but in my CS4 there doesn't seem to be an option to scale the UI. Am I out of luck?
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