P: Support scalable user interface UI for high resolution monitors

Good point Irene. These guys keep blaming Microsoft and apparently have been for years. By definition of the problem, Photoshop is outdated for modern technology and again, by definition, is for amateurs. I'm really disappointed to Adobe. The message is pretty clear - if you are a pro using high definition monitors, Photoshop is not for you. I will be attending some photog conferences this summer. Its time to spread the word - especially after seeing how people are treated on this thread.

If it's a Microsoft issue, then why doesn't Illustrator doesn't have the same problem? I posted a screenshot of the difference between Illustrator and Photoshop -- and you can clearly see that the Illustrator UI is fine at high res.

Example from MS:

User Interface - High DPI Awareness

Affected Platforms

Clients - Windows XP | Windows Vista | Windows 7
Feature Impact

Severity - MediumFrequency - Medium
Description

The goal is to encourage end users to set their displays to native resolution and use DPI rather than screen resolution to change the size of displayed text and images. Windows 7 can auto-detect and configure a default DPI on clean installs on machines configured by their OEMs using DPI settings. There are tools you can use to help design applications that are high DPI aware in order to ensure the most readable results.

We have added two new High DPI features to Windows 7:

•Per-user DPI setting (previously per machine)
•Change DPI without rebooting (logoff/logon is still required)

Manifestation of Impact

Applications that do not handle the high DPI case are likely to exhibit visual artifacts, including:

•Clipping of UI or text by other UI elements
•Inconsistent font sizes
•Off-screen UIs
•Blurring of text or UI
•Broken drag-and-drop or other inputs
•Rendering of full-screen DX applications partially off screen

Solution

To make your applications DPI-aware:
1.Do a high-level functional test pass, including install and uninstall at the following settings:

Setting

What to look for

1024x768 @ 120 DPI (125% scaling) This is an effective resolution of ~800x600, so look for UI clipped off the screen or layout issues. Also look for pixilated bitmaps & icons.
1600x1200 @144 DPI (150% scaling) Blurry UI. Verify that all mouse operations work, especially drag & drop operations. Also verify full-screen modes work properly.
1600x1200 @ 144 DPI with DPI Virtualization Disabled Often buttons and UI won't scale in relation to larger text & there will be significant text clipping. Look for layout issues in general & pixilated bitmats & icons.

2.Write down all the issues found, including location, screen resolution, and DPI settings, as well as how the application behaves in the other DPI/Resolution configurations for completeness

3.Check each issue against the Common DPI Coding Issues

4.Assess the cost of making the application fully DPI aware

5.Make a list of the High DPI assets required (for example, buttons, icons)

6.Work through and fix the list of DPI issues found in Step 1

7.Integrate the new assets from Step 5

8.Declare your application DPI Aware

Compatibility, Performance, Reliability, and Usability Testing

Re-run the DPI Awareness assessment and verify the issues are fixed.

Links to Other Resources

•Writing DPI-Aware Win32 Applications white paper (PDF version)

•Writing DPI-Aware Win32 Applications white paper (XPS version)

• Writing DPI-Aware Win32 Applications white paper (MSDN online version)

•Contact for technical questions: disup@microsoft.com

Community Additions

ADD

I'll be spreading this around...

I've had issues w/DPI ever since win7 x64 RTM. 7100 was a dream. Browsers/flash are always disappointed w/my DPI in RTM.

prodevel

2/23/2011

Big Applause

This topic should be read by EVERY Microsoft programmer, especially those writing code for the operating system itself!

Hans-Gerd Theunissen

12/3/2009

No, there really isn't a workaround available without fixing the MS APIs. That is why we have been working with Microsoft on the issue. (if we could work around it, would already would have)

Hi,

Just as a suggestion, while trying to solve the issue with Microsoft, to allow PS UI adapt by itself to the OS, isn't be possible to get a workaround ?

I mean a dedicated PS installation for HiDPi users and a PS UI scaled to 200% at compilation time?

Even if it's not smart and durable, it could be a solution for Adobe's fans... If Adobe make the same things for Bridge too ;-)

JM

Photoshop does not and cannot override the system resolution.
Photoshop simply asks the OS for the size of the display, and uses that size when drawing the UI.

🙂

Not true. My comments and many others have been removed. I get e-mail notifications from this forum so I know when new comments appear and can quickly discern when these same comments have been removed.

You talked to someone at a support outsourcing company -- of course they have no idea what is going on.

As already said many times in this topic: We are continuing to work with Microsoft to resolve the serious problems in their UI scaling APIs. When we have more information that we can share, we will let you know.

Time for an off topic comment: It would be nice if Abode had some paid employee's manage this board who actually enjoy working with customers.

In my years of being on this site there is never any advocacy for the customer, just denial and deflect.

This is like the sterile fruit flies they release. The males think their job is done an die off. Adobe thinks if they let us complain enough we will shut up and go away.

OK, you can delete my comments now.