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InDesign CS6 resolution for pixel documents not the same

Forum|Forum|13 years ago
May 7, 2012
13 replies
106594 views

I have just opened in InDesign CS6, a document made originaly in CS5.5. This document is in pixels. At 100%, the document should be pixel for pixel with my monitor (iMac 27" at about 104 ppi), but it seems it is more at 100% if you calculate at 72 ppi. So a document of 980 pixel wide measure 13 inches on my screen! This is different from the previous way of showing pixel documents. And I can't see any preference that could bring back the resolution to the old way of showing the scaling.

In Adobe Acrobat, you have preferences to control this.

This count as a bug for me.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer John Hawkinson

I agree Peter, the screen design contingent does need more representation as Adobe clearly do not get it.

Yes I did read your first post regarding the ID 1:1 ratio. This is all well and good but my questions still remain. Why can I no longer specify text and strokes using pixels? and why can I no longer preview my files as they will appear in a browser. These features were available in CS5 they are now gone. Why?

I can only asume that Adobe are no longer focusing on InDesign as a UI design tool although they clearly state "InDesign gives you pixel-perfect control over design and typography". How they can say this and at the same time remove the ability to set type in pixels is beyond me.

I just wish Adobe would stop misleading customers by giving us incorrect and or incomplete product information.

At the end of the day it's my own fault for not downloading the trial.

Spen wrote:

Yes I did read your first post regarding the ID 1:1 ratio. This is all well and good but my questions still remain. Why can I no longer specify text and strokes using pixels? and why can I no longer preview my files as they will appear in a browser. These features were available in CS5 they are now gone. Why?

Your comment confuses me.

Did you mean to say that you can no longer configure ID to display the units of text and strokes as pixels?

This is not the same as you can no longer specify text and strokes as pixels.

So:

Ability to display fonts/strokes in pixels rather than points is a purely cosmetic feature. Internally, ID treats points and pixels precisely the same.
Since it is cosmetic, and the calculation from points to pixels is really easy (the same number!), could you help us understand what your actual concern is?
If you really want, you can still type in "12 px" in the field.
I was under the vague impression that when you created a document with Web or a Digital intent, then the displayed unit would be pixels instead of points. That doesn't seem to be the case -- my guess is it's a screwup.
If indeed it was supposed to be automatic, I suspect that's why the preference was removed.

(Incidently, in case anyone in the wings was wondering, while the scripting API did let you set this value in CS5.5, with app.viewPreferences.textSizeMeasurementUnits=MeasurementUnits.PIXELS; that doesn't seem to work in CS6, it generates an error: "Error: textSizeMeasurementUnits")...

To reiterate, I think this is probably a screwup in CS6 relating to a disconnect between what was actually implemented (removing the preference) and what was planned (automatic unit display), and not an intentional removal of the ability to show pixels. And yet, I don't understand why it really matters. Is it a warm-fuzzy feeling that you're seeking?

Spen

Inspiring

We've been using Robs DisplayScale script since CS6. It's still works perfectly with CC2014. I just wish Adobe would implement this and set as a the default when the user is designing for screen. We're currently having to tell designers to load this script when designing interfaces. Although it's easy to do some designers just seem averse to loading scripts.

rob day

Community Expert

I opened a feature request, which you might want to add to—see #84.

Also, if your designers are in house and they don't value 100% = Print, then you could reset all of the InDesign installations to the pre CS6 100% =1:1 from either Script Editor or ExtendScript. So from Script Editor if you run:

tell application "Adobe InDesign CC 2014"

set custom monitor ppi of general preferences to 72

set use custom monitor resolution of general preferences to true

end tell

And that would permanently change the preference and your designer wouldn't have to load a script into ID's script panel.

A

Anonymous

I have written an ExtendScript that basically does the same as Robs applescript. It opens a dialog with two choices; web or print. They turn on or off the custom monitor resolution and sets the monitor ppi to 72. Clicking OK will also set the zoom to 100%.

You'll find the code in a codepen here; Indesign Resizer .

I recommend binding the script to a keyboard shortcut. I use ctrl+1. This makes sense since the default for ctrl+1 is display actual size, and the script kind of adds a layer to this.

GForce85

Participant

I was to lazy to read the full thread.

In case the question isn't answerd yet.

Double click the magnifying glass and you will get a pixel preview.

I had a ID document of 1000 px wide. and I was working in 100% and exported it as a 72 dpi image. It turned out to be to small (or actually the right size but the ID zoom is wrong at 100% in pixel documents) I remembered that double clicking the magnifying glass in PS gives you a pixel preview at 100% (I guess be cause PS is pixel based it does it right) so I gave it a try in ID Made a screenshot and opened it in PS and it was exactly 1000 px wide in the screenshot. Problem solved

In my case (MBP 15") it is 64%

rob day

Community Expert

‌Double click the magnifying glass and you will get a pixel preview.

That worked in CS6 and CC but not in the latest version of CC2014. Double clicking the Zoom tool now gives you the 100% print preview.

GForce85

Participant

Why they keep changing it? At least when I update to a newer version I know I have to go to 64%

S

Sashabe

Participating Frequently

I used this fix all the time. But as of Indesign CC Oct 2014, it seems this isn't needed anymore — after creating a new document with web intent the 100% scaling is perfectly correct.

rob day

Community Expert

I'm not seeing that here using 2014.1 10.1.0.71 with OSX 10.10.1

If I set up with Web intent, and draw a 100x100 pixel square, my screen cap utility shows it as 152x152:

S

Sashabe

Participating Frequently

That's strange. I even relaunched Indesign to check. Maybe somehow this setting managed to persist between app sessions (and documents) on my install? The script's effect is document-wide, is it?

J

Jort_Ontwerpstudio_Bont

Participant

To make it all stranger, the 100% value in InDesign CS5 is correct.

Above that, when I open a CS5 document wich was saved at a view of 100% (InDesign saves the zoom scale in the document) in CC2014 the zoom factor is suddenly 66%.

I really cannot understand why they did this.

rob day

Community Expert

To make it all stranger, the 100% value in InDesign CS5 is correct.

The change to 100% equals actual print size happened in CS6. If you want to revert CC2014 to the old behavior run the script in #4, which changes the hidden preference.

W

whitelightmediajo

Participant

I've just opened InDesign CS6 for the first time today, and this is complete ruined the way I work on digital magazines for screen and tablet overnight. How the hell am I supposed to design iPad 1024x768 pages when I'm seeing things at this rediculuos blown up document size. If 100% isn't 100% anymore, how can you even tell what you're doign when designing for screen?

The biggest joke of all if when you copy and paste an element or page into Photoshop, it goes back to the size it should be. Fantastic Adobe, you couldn't have screwed us more if you'd tried. I design websites in good old Photoshop, imagine if happened to PS tomorrow. We'd al be ruined. Who makes these decisions?

I've been over and over this thread, is there simply no way to reset the effective pixels to 72dpi so I can carry on working like I have been for years? I can't quite fathom what I'm supposed to do with the scripts.

Please… anyone… HELP!

rob day

Community Expert

Please… anyone… HELP!
I can't quite fathom what I'm supposed to do with the scripts.

If you work on a Mac the Applescript I posted in #66 will let you toggle between the new CS6 zoom percentage (which is in fact better for print design) and the way it used to be where 100% is the same as in Photoshop.

My AppleScript is compiled and all you have to do is copy it to your scripts folder and it will show in your ID Scripts panel.

If you need JavaScript, copy the script Peter posted in #4 into a text editor and save it with a .jsx extention and put that in your scripts folder.

This reverts back to CS5 and earlier zooming
app.generalPreferences.customMonitorPpi = 72;
app.generalPreferences.useCustomMonitorResolution = true;
When you want to switch back again to accurate print 100% view run this:
app.generalPreferences.useCustomMonitorResolution = false;

W

whitelightmediajo

Participant

Thanks for this. I'll run the script when back at work. Seems simple enough. Although fixing it in terminal could be quite handy too. What are Adobe playing it, I see no advantage of working like this. For screen or print, either way they've changed the basis of what we all know

S

SylvainLemireAuthor

Participant

Since strarting this tread, I experimented with InDesign to find a solution to show the page at the same magnification as previous versions.

The only solution, and this has probably been designed that way by Adobe, is to simply double-click on the magnification glass in the palette.

In previous version, double-clicking the magnification glass would get you to a 100% view. Now, it gives me 66.7% wich is exaclty the magnification needed to bring my 108 dpi (imac 27") monitor to the equivalent fo 72 dpi (or ppi).

I have tried this on other monitors and InDesign will correclty scale a document to the good magnification to make it pixel for pixel.

So, still missing for me is a preference to mimic the one available in Acrobat, and now a shortcut to arrive at this magnification.

T

therealrgbk

Known Participant

The problem with that Sylvian is that you then have hairy, fuzzy blurry icky and NON pixel perfect working environment. It's exaclty the opposite of pixel perfect.

S

SylvainLemireAuthor

Participant

Well it work for me when I click on the magnification glass. Look at tests I have made:

(I've posted my screenshot here because this forums scale the screenshots)

http://sylvainlemire.clarify-it.com/d/wyd3n2

Peter Spier

Community Expert

Perhaps the "screen design" contingent needs more representation in the pre-release community.

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=prerelease_interest

Spen

Inspiring

DEAL BREAKER!

But wait... It gets worse... Has anyone noticed this;

In the InDesign CS6 preferences you can no longer set text or strokes using a pixel value. It has to be pt or millimetres. Am I missing something? Is this a Joke? Has some disgruntled Adobe employee replaced the InDesign CS6 download with QuarkXpress?

Adobe, you've renderd this software totally useless to anyone who wants to design for screen.

T

therealrgbk

Known Participant

Yeah since last time i posted, I've stopped using In Design. I'm now trying Illustrator. It's painful. Like Snap to Grid only works if you draw, move by keyboard, or resize by drage the boundaries of objects. But the reality is you need to soemtimes just click the object and move it around by Mouse. But for some stunningly awesome reason, Illustrator does not snap to grid in this case. So the entire experience is basically runined.

In a nutshell it's the same with all CS products. They are all ALMOST ok, in the end, all of them have what you need, but not in the same app. It drives me NUTS. I'm an, experienced, multiple Webby winning UI designer. I KNOW WHAT I"M TALKING ABOUT: Adobe, please listen up and fix these detials, they mean everything to our creative process and efficiency! Why is everything in your prodcuts executed in half measures. Half amazing, half absolute bull crap. And the stuff that brings the experience down for your users are SO easily fixed. If you'd just listen to us.

One word: Monopoly.

Spen

Inspiring

I hear you.

After weeks of testing InDesign as a viable UI desgin tool it looks like I'll have to go back to my old friend Photoshop (the image editing program). After this episode I'm not looking forward to discovering its "new features".

What a headache. And we pay for the privilege.

jessebc

Participating Frequently

The marketing for InDesign CS6 is pretty ironic.

T

therealrgbk

Known Participant

Oh.

My.

God.

jessebc

Participating Frequently

+1 for snap to pixels! Just sent that in as a feature request today.

T

therealrgbk

Known Participant

At Peter Spier and at jessebc, I'm not, I'm truly exasperated about this.

I was so excited to see InDesign CS6 promoting all these enhancements and features for ePublishing and digital. But i was thinking: "OK, they seem to realize the power of InDesign as a rapid prototyping, even design tool for digital! Surely if they have created all these new features, they'd have finally realized that it actually quite literally IMPOSSIBLE to even draw an object without it being hairy/fuzzy/not WYSIWYG? Surely?!"

Nope. I draw an object, it's hairy. Fuzzy. Blurred.

But now, Adobe has been so kind as to now throw another spanner in the works.

Seriously, Adobe, please listen. I BEG you:

I'm on a 1440x900px Mac book pro. I'm designing a site at a safe 1280x800px.

I need to see things as they are!!

Now, not only are the objects i create still blurry and fuzzy. I now cannot see my layout as i would in illustrator, fireworks and photoshop!

Or Chrome. Or Firefox. Or Safari.

Who makes these insane decisions?

I've used Adobe products for 16 years. I know what's up. I'm a power user of your products. I can tell you I'm speaking for the majority of people here. This is a bad move.

One more thing: Hoenstly, how hard can it be for you to just have object sit correctly on pixels when the user creates them?

You obviosuly undersatnd the importance of this since you implemented so well in PhotoShop. You implemented it in Ilustrator, but terribly, it displays differently at actual pixels then it does when you zoom in (again, incredibly slack of you). Fireworks does it. Why not Indesign.

I give up.

John Hawkinson

Inspiring

Seriously, Adobe, please listen. I BEG you:
I'm on a 1440x900px Mac book pro. I'm designing a site at a safe 1280x800px.
I need to see things as they are!!
Now, not only are the objects i create still blurry and fuzzy. I now cannot see my layout as i would in illustrator, fireworks and photoshop!
Or Chrome. Or Firefox. Or Safari.
Who makes these insane decisions?
I've used Adobe products for 16 years. I know what's up. I'm a power user of your products. I can tell you I'm speaking for the majority of people here. This is a bad move.
I give up.

I know you couldn't have read my post before you wrote this, but let me say it again:

InDesign is not a tool that is designed for web design. If you're using it for web design, that's fine, but you are a minority interest (not majority), and not what ID is really architected for. That doesn't mean it's not an effective tool, and it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be able to use it, or that it is isn't evolving to work for those purposes. But it's not how it is architected, and that means that its implementors make make some decisions that don't work well for web design.

That's what happened here. What was fixed was really a bug in the program -- that it assumed monitors were 72ppi when in fact they weren't.

But one of the consequences of that bug was that "pixels" in InDesign mapped 1:1 to pixels on the screen.

And so when one bug was fixed, another was introduced.

But only for those who use InDesign's pixel feature.

Which is decidely not everyone.

Which is doubtless why this was either unnoticed or at least, under-appreciated.

Fortunately, you have a workaround.

And there may be more elegant workarounds available soon; mine was really very simple, and there are fancier choices. But I'll let others speak to those right now.

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