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How to fix small menus and icons on 4k display in Photoshop? [2015]

Forum|Forum|11 years ago
January 28, 2015
51 replies
377758 views

[This 7-year-old question from 2015 about CS6 and Windows 8.1 is now locked.

Please start a new thread about the current version if you have a similar question]

Hello,

So I have seen that I am not the first one to ask this question, but I have yet to find any true resolutions. I recently bought anew laptop, a Lenovo with a 4K UHD display which I already love for so many things. But, like a few other programs, the high resolution means the icons and menu text of PS CS6 are incredibly small, which may be alright on a TV, but on a laptop screen, it make it incredibly difficult to work. I have tried all sorts of different approaches in Windows, such as changing the OS font sizes and icon sizes, which do indeed change everything else on the computer, but PS is still the same tiny size. I have also increased the text size under the interface preferences to large, but with little real change. I understand why this is happening, but I am hoping that there is some sort of workaround, beyond just bumping down my screen resolution, which defeats the whole purpose of using UHD to edit photos. I have heard rumors of being able to code in some UI changes manually, but have found no concrete examples of how to actually do that.

I am sure that it would not take Adobe too much time and effort to create an update to help with scaling, but they are very set on pushing forward with Creative Clound, leaving the rest of us loyal customers to the dust until we pay up. If anyone has found any resolutions or workarounds, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

Correct answer riggitynick

This is a little late,

but for windows, I found that if you navigate to where the actual application file(.exe) is,

right-click it and select properties,

choose the compatibility tab and select "Change high dpi settings" under the settings section,

in the next window, select the checkbox that says "High DPI scaling override",

and choose "System" from the drop down.

-Hit ok to save the changes, and then re-open Photoshop(i've only tested it with photoshop and illustrator).

That fixed it for me.

Show previous replies

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Test Screen Name

Legend

You need to get up to date with Photoshop. CS6 is many years and versions behind your hardware.

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dbrose

Known Participant

I OWN CS6

Dont want to RENT something else

I

its_waseem

Participating Frequently

Just stumbled upon this thread and big thanks to whoever advised going to the properties of the .exe file. I was trying to do some work last night and it was sooooo hard to do anything.

fourwhitesocks

Participating Frequently

its_waseem, did you have to re-install after doing that? Like uninstall it and then re-install after changing the properties in the .exe file??

ugg frustrating

D Fosse

Community Expert

All this is much simpler in Illustrator, which is a vector-based application that doesn't care about screen resolution one way or the other. It just translates everything to physical print dimensions, based on whatever resolution the display reports to the app.

Photoshop is different, and a special case, because it can't scale the image with the UI. It has to leave the image 1:1, one screen pixel for one image pixel - but then scale the UI independently from that.

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Test Screen Name

Legend

Bear in mind that all solutions EXCEPT UI scaling inside recent versions of Photoshop mean you get no benefit from the expensive high detail screen: Photoshop just shows up with much less detail. If you want the benefit of the screen you paid for with detailed photo editing you must also pay for updated Photoshop.

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EugenB

Participant

Hello, friends in pain for this problem! I had the same problem for more than a year. I tried with a manifest file, to some apps worked, to some not. Beside this, after updates you lose the settings. This solution can help somehow, but the solution of Jploganlant works like a charm! I use a different setting that worked for me, choosing System at the end. Spread the news!

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Jploganlant

Participant

I was able to fix this by right clicking on the After FX Exe icon, then clicking properties, then clicking the Compatibility tab.

there i changed two settings override HiDef settings and selected system in the drop down.

I am pretty sure if you tinker with these settings you will figure out what works best for your computer

=)

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EugenB

Participant

Yes, it works for Win 10 Pro. Thank you sooo much! Check ”Override high DPI scaling behavior...” and at box under open and check System. This is the best solution that worked for me.

wolfy1231

Participant

you can try right clicking on Photoshop executable file, go to properties, then to compatibility. Check "override high DPI scaling behavior, scaling performed by system". Using this on my 4K screen to make menus look more managable.

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justdisa

Participant

Wolfy, you rock. =D

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mjs253

Participant

Hello,

The link below worked for me, although when I went to "Browse in Bridge" it went back to being tiny. I tried making a manifest file for Bridge but that didn't work. This will at least make Adobe Photoshop usable, albeit with a lesser screen resolution.

http://www.danantonielli.com/adobe-app-scaling-on-high-dpi-displays-fix/

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mattt20740575

Participant

This worked for me took about ten min to get my head around and works on c6 photoshop

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jpearl3

Participant

This worked for me:

Adobe App Scaling on High DPI Displays (FIX) | Dan Antonielli
(The instructions are below.)

Step 1: Tell windows to prefer an external manifest file

registry-edit

(Always make sure to backup the registry before making any changes.)

Press Windows Button + R, type “regedit”, and then click OK.
Navigate to the following registry subkey:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > SideBySide
Right-click, select NEW > DWORD (32 bit) Value
Type PreferExternalManifest, and then press ENTER.
Right-click PreferExternalManifest, and then click Modify.
Enter Value Data 1 and select Decimal.
Click OK, then exit the Registry Editor.

Step 2: Create and place the external manifest files

Copy your manifest file to all the application folders on which you would like to change the scaling.

Example: Photoshop.exe is located at: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit). In text editor, create a manifest file named photoshop.exe.manifest & save it here. The text to enter into the manifest file is located here: manifest.txt

manifestfile

For Windows to use the external manifest file, change the name of the file to the executable of the application.

Here are the files I created for my machine (Right-click and save to use on your machine):

Place these manifest files in the directory of the executable file. The executable files, relating to the above manifest files, are in locations like C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe or C:\Program Files\Adobe.

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patb26020418

Participant

Whaaaaaaaaaa? You lost me at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > that does not exist in that directory.

This is not a solution for ordinary users.

Adobe?

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jpearl3

Participant

Yes, this is a more advanced fix... however it's the only one I found when I did an extensive search.

Making edits to the registry can have large consequences if something is done incorrectly. For this reason, I recommend that if you do not feel comfortable making a change to the registry, you backup the registry &/or create a restore point before you make any changes: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/322756/how-to-back-up-and-restore-the-registry-in-windows

The "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > SideBySide" is in your Registry Editor. (A new picture is below).

Your version of windows may have the value in a different location. If so, you can try doing a search in the Registry Editor:

Under "Computer", click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE";
In the top menu, click "Edit", then click "Find";
Type in, "LastSuccessfullScavenge" (this is one of the other values in the location that we want to find);
Under the "Look at" check-boxes, check the "Values" option;
Click "Find Next" (the search may take a few minutes)
Verify that you are in the "SideBySide" key. If so, this is most likely the location in which you can add the new registry value. (step 1.3 in the instructions I posted).

Registry Editor location on my computer:

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Printrix

Known Participant

4k monitors are targeted for video editing and are a very bad choice for photo editing and illustrator work especially on a 15" or 17" laptop monitor, even on a 30" the menu's are too small to work comfortably. The ideal resolution for Photoshop and Illustrator is 2560x1600.

michellew74645693

Participant

What that make no scene more resolution should mean better photos.

TK_Newland

Participant

Mine is so small it is virtually unreadable, and it's already set on large font size in the preferences. I'm on a Surface Pro 4 with CS6. It was pretty bad on my pro 3, but with this new computer, I really can't read it. I can't believe that after what seems like 5 years (I first saw a post on the problem back in 2010), this hasn't been fixed. I found a link to this fix in another thread and though it looks pretty complicated, It seems that I have no other option but to try it. http://www.danantonielli.com/adobe-app-scaling-on-high-dpi-displays-fix/