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jsherman
New Participant
October 24, 2013
Question

How do I change font size from points into pixels?

  • October 24, 2013
  • 3 replies
  • 90141 views

I used to be able to set font size in points but CS 6 has removed this? Please dont say that points = pixels. They do not. See for yourself.  A photoshop doc and an Indesign doc have the same pixel size. A 20 point character "A" in InDesign, will be larger than a 20 pixel character "A" in photoshop. This creates hours of extra work when translating text heavy InDesign documents into Photoshop PSDs. Is there any workaround? Help!

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3 replies

rohitbhats
rohitbhats
New Participant
November 4, 2014

Just go to Photoshop>Preferences>Units and ruler here in the unit box there is a dropdown called type (by default its set to points). you can change your preference to pixels there. this is on MAC photoshop CC 2014

    Artiom Pituscan
    Artiom Pituscan
    New Participant
    May 21, 2015

    Thank you, my dear compadre.

      John Mensinger
      John Mensinger
      Community Expert
      October 24, 2013

      You're both correct. And not.

      Ton, your response is correct in that the method, (or more accurately, the best you can do), in InDesign is work in 1pt-to-1px and deal with it from there.

      But the OP is not wrong to conclude that points do not equal pixels.

      No constant unit of measure = 1 pixel. Pixel size is not a constant. Neither is the size of a capital A set at 20 points; unless it's always the same font. Type size when rendered in a browser, (which I assume is ultimately the product here), is even further removed from control.

      You're in an area where the subjectivity is inescapable.

      If you want your InDesign-set A to equal 20 Photoshop pixels, on your display, at whatever resolution you're working at in Photoshop, set it at 20 pixels high in Photoshop; save as PDF; place in InDesign; match by eye.

        Ton Frederiks
        Ton Frederiks
        Community Expert
        October 24, 2013

        Of course "points" do not equal "pixels". Even points do not equal points (you can choose between 4 different point sizes in InDesign's preferences). And depending on the resolution of the display the pixel size may vary.

        To get something reliable between InDesign and Photoshop you have to tell them what a pixel is in size, in this case how many pixels will fit in an inch.

          John Mensinger
          John Mensinger
          Community Expert
          October 24, 2013

          Yes, you understand that, as I suspected.

          Most of my subsequent explanation was not aimed at you, but rather at the OP's simplistic "A" comparison and request for a workaround. I apologize if that wasn't clear.

          Ton Frederiks
          Ton Frederiks
          Community Expert
          October 24, 2013

          See my reply here in the original thread:

          http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1012679?tstart=0

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