P: Support scalable user interface UI for high resolution monitors

I continue to think there are two different view points being discussed here.
And it's likely limited to the interpretation of "scalable".
It appears that adobe is considering the definition to be a system wide thing - or an auto detect based on monitor resolution - and this would be true in considering detection of a hi Rez display - which is an issue windows suffers.
But there is a second way to define "scalable" which most posters here are referring to - the option to "enlarge" icons within the ui itself.
When we look at the adobe interfaces, we have options dealing with the program and a few offer the option to enlarge fonts within the program. The adobe ui changes and allows this to occur. The rest of the os is unaffected.
So since adobe made icons for their tools and other elements at a certain size they could easily have made larger icons.
So when we ask for larger icons, we now understand that an all inclusive is option is complicated. But we are asking if within the ui itself the images used to represent tools and options could be made larger.
Illustrator allows for handles to be enlarge. This is the adobe ui's choice, photoshop allows enlarged ui fonts.
Again, it's adobe's choice.
So if we set aside the retort that the os is an issue and focus instead on how to implement a ui specific enlargement, we might have a better communication.

I've repeatedly suggested that the icons created for retina displays - which are physically larger than those for normal displays - be made available as a preference choice and not as an auto detect. This would allow the larger elements to be used for those of us who require physically larger icons to match the ui font enlargement option we also choose.
If the ui has the capability to expand to accommodate the larger fonts, surely that ability could be expanded to the tool bar to allow larger icons.
In short, because a manual choice could be implemented, all that would need to happen is change to the ui, independent of the os.

Most applications do not yet have scalable UI on Windows - partly because there are issues with the scaling support in Windows. And we are working with Microsoft to get that resolved.

Please read the previous responses in this topic for more information.

I feel like talking to a wall. My 5 systems are all ok. Small small small small and small. I said small not unreadable. And most of applications have scalable UI NOW. Seriously,what the h*** are you talking about?

Again, we (the developers on Photoshop) are working with Microsoft on this. Nobody is being fooled, and we're telling you as much as we can without violating NDAs.

I've needed glasses for about 15 years now (and need to update my prescription soon).

If you can't see the fonts in Photoshop on a normal resolution screen - then something is wrong with your system and making things draw incorrectly (we have seen that happen to a few people - usually solved with a system reinstall, sometimes by removing bad utilities). The default font is readable on a normal resolution screen. The medium and large fonts are designed for higher resolution monitors or people with bad eyesight. Again, if Photoshop's UI seems smaller than most applications - something is wrong with the system.

The unsolved problem is for people with really bad eyesight, or high resolution screens. That's where we need to scale all of the UI (not just fonts and icons), and need Microsoft's cooperation.

You have multiple UI configurations in Bridge, so surely you can understand our frustration that the same isn't possible in Photoshop.

Chris Cox // Your coders are fooling you. You can do it even with MS-DOS. What OS problem? nonsense. And MS is fooling you too. They hates custom UI, so they will not offer customizable standard UI forever. They just can't say they are not offering them. And current large setting fonts are too small even with low resolution monitors. By the way, How good is your eyesight?

You really do not know the coding issues involved. That's why I'm trying to explain (at a high level, as allowed by NDAs) what is involved.

No, this is not just an internal application issue.
We do need fixes and additions to the Microsoft APIs. Microsoft understands this, agrees, and is working on it.
We want scalability, but are being held back by some OS issues (plus, it's a lot
of work). There are more issues involved, but this one is the biggest roadblock.

We are trying to make this work, but throwing in a bunch of red herrings is not helping your case. We will make this work, once we can, and we'll let you know when we have more information we can share.

Hi Chris,
let's try this in a different way...
Let's simply assume everyone here actually understands the basic issues a coder faces when dealing with an OS and move forward.

I understand that a scalable UI is complex when it needs to rely on the OS API interfaces, however, in the case of the Adobe UI, this is not necessarily the case.
The primary issue mentioned in this thread has always been about having larger Icons. In almost all of the case, the request is for regular 72/96 dpi monitors.

It is Adobe itself who constantly talks about the scalability issue as being an OS problem, and I completely agree.

But, and I stress, please remember that most of us do not have a retina monitor, we are simply asking for a larger UI option WITHIN the Adobe UI.

Let me ask please:
When we enlarge the fonts in photoshop using the built in prefs to enlarge the fonts, is photoshop using the font scaling of the OS or is it using it's own internal font scaling option?

I ask this as the UI itself alters slightly to accommodate the change of the font size.

My thoughts are that the enlargement is an internal operation outside of the scope of the OS API's.

I suspect this because:
when I change the font size OS Wide with it's own font sizing method, other applications and windows scale as expected, but 90% of Adobe program fonts do not. This implies that the Adobe UI's are, for the most part, completely independent "inside" the OS "window".

So what I'm proposing is that Adobe simply - physically - make four sizes of Icons (small, medium, large, xxl) - all of which are native resolution of 72/96 dpi, but are taller and wider in physical pixels. And allow the palettes and internal windows to "enlarge" to accommodate them.

This would solve the readability issue of almost everyone here - and be a manual solution to use the "largest" icons on a retina display.

It essentially solves the problem - albeit it's manually accomplished.

It allows the user to enlarge via prefs the font and the icons, and allows Adobe to not have to fret with the OS UI limitations.

It would be interesting to have you Adobe techs chime in on this aspect of the topic and put the Retina display distraction you're focused on aside for a while.

Again, Microsoft is aware of the problems, and we have been working with them to get a solution to the OS problems and missing functionality.

And the links you gave are for simple icon customization - which really doesn't even start to solve the scalable UI problems.

Again, when we have details that we can share, we will update this topic.

No, we've been working on this for a long time now, and found problems in the OS APIs. Microsoft is working on it.

We have repeatedly said that we are pursuing this - but sometimes there are fundamental OS issues that we simply cannot work around.