Actual size update in Photoshop for high resolution screens

[Mari_onBoard]

Hello everyone,

First time posting here! 
I am a senior graphic designer working on a Creative Studio. We recently purchased new screens to update our working experience. Dell 27’ Ultrasharp (3840x2160 resolution). To my surprise I noticed that images in Photoshop started to appear smaller than usual when I used “View > 100%” . I contacted an Adobe agent through chat and I was informed that my screen resolution is way too big for the program therefore I won’t be able to see the real size of my artworks. This is essential for me in order to work fast and be accurate. When will that update can be expected? I feel that it is one of the basic needs for the majority of graphic designers working on digital material for online commerce.

Thank you in advance!

Mari

[davescm]

That behaviour is correct and expected.

In Photoshop, 100% view is not a physical size. It simply means 1 image pixel mapped onto 1 screen pixel. So if you now have a screen with a higher density of pixels then the image will look physically smaller.

You talk about the "real size" of your artwork. A pixel image does not have a "real size" until it is printed. Until then it is just x pixels wide by y pixels high and will show a different physical size on every screen with a different density of pixels. You can preview the printed size by entering a ppi value for your document and ensuring the screen pixel density is set in Preferences. Then use View > Print size.

Note : If you are comparing your preview screen view in Photoshop to that in a web browser, be aware that most web browsers scale images up when using high pixel density screens. Photoshop must not do that as it would make critical adjustment impossible (all scaling introduces artifacts). You can though do similar scaling in Photoshop by using View - 200%

Dave

[Mari_onBoard]

Hello Dave,

Thank you so much for your reply.
I understand the pixel density issue but how come it worked properly in my previous monitor (23')? The size in Photoshop>Actual Size(in 72dpi) was the same with the one showing in browsers after uploading. I am talking about digital banners not prints. I figured out that in my new 27' screen the actual size can be acomplished when i use 175% magnification. Still feels like going backwards instead of updating my user experience..

[davescm]

Hi,

For on screen use the ppi value is irrelevant. It is just a value held alongside the image as metadata and ready to be used by the print driver (and also by the ruler). It will not make the slightest difference to the 100% view whether you set it to 1ppi or 1000ppi.

The image has a number of pixels (x pixels wide by y pixels high) and for screen use that is all that matters..

On a low pixel density screen, which it sounds like your old screen was, both Photoshop and a web browser will use 1 screen pixel for 1 image pixel so the image will take up the same area on screen.

On a high pixel density screen, i.e. your new screen, Photoshop still uses 1 screen pixel for 1 image pixel. so the area of screen taken up by the image is smaller. Your browser however will scale up the image i.e. use more than one screen pixel per image pixel so that it uses a larger area of screen space.

You might ask why Photoshop does not scale in the same way as the browser. The answer is that it must not scale. Photoshop is a professional pixel editor so must display the image without any upward or downward scaling at 100% zoom. Without that we could not judge critical sharpening, noise or image artifacts as all scaling introduces its own scaling artifacts. In Photoshop, we need to see the image as it is.

As mentioned earlier you can zoom in further in order to replicate what the browser is doing, but in doing so you are introducing scaling and therefore artifacts, just as the browser is.

Dave

[Test Screen Name]

Ah, so you're comparing with a browser. That isn't actual size either, but what happened a few years ago is that - with the new monitors - web browser images were getting smaller and smaller. So the web browser makers, and Microsoft (for Windows) and Apple (for Mac) took the decision to scale most apps up by default (200% is the usual amount). The effect is that these apps get no benefit from a better monitor - in fact they look worse. So it's up to Photoshop to give you the real detail you paid for, and which photographers typically need (rather more than web site visitors typically need).

If you're trying to match a browser size, then indeed a scale (200% normally, perhaps 175% for you) is how you do it. 

[Mari_onBoard]

Most helpful answers so far @Test Screen Name 

Big thanks!

[Test Screen Name]

It seems you were badly informed by the support staff. It is the job of Photoshop to show pixels at screen resolution with 100%. This is not a fault, in anything except your expectation. If you can't see what you need, you know how to zoom in. If you didn't want to see more detail, it was a mistake to buy more detailed monitors.

[Mari_onBoard]

Hey, thanks for your reply

I just thought there was some sort of command in Preferences that would automaticly adjust to my new screen resolution and keep the actual size "actual", but nope. (tried everything: UI Scaling etc)  I still believe this is Photoshop's issue to resolve.. somehow. I ll stick to 175% magnification till further notice 😕

[davescm]

As explained above - this is not an issue to resolve. Photoshop does, should, and must, display 100% zoom without scaling. If it did not, then it would be useless for critical image adjustment.

Dave

[Mari_onBoard]

Dave, I hear what you have to say, it does make sense, but my issue remains the same. I am no tech expert, I m just stating that after 20 years of working in Photoshop i have an issue that makes my job slower and difficult. I never thought that a bigger monitor would work differently than the previous one. We live, we learn. Maybe a pseudo-actual size command in preferences would be helpful.

[D Fosse]

You still don't understand. "Actual size" is one image pixel represented by one screen pixel.

It has nothing to do with physical size on screen. That depends on the native screen pixel density, and so it naturally varies from one monitor to the other.

[Mari_onBoard]

i feel that you are missing the point here, thank you for your help though : )

[D Fosse]

No, I'm not missing the point. You wrote:

To my surprise I noticed that images in Photoshop started to appear smaller than usual when I used “View > 100%”

And that's exactly what we're answering. It's entirely normal and expected with a 3840 x 2160 monitor.

Swap it out for any standard 1920 x 1200 monitor, and everything will return to what you're used to.

[hansonbeesnest]

So the issue here is that if I screenshot a website, open the screenshot in Photoshop on a 4k monitor, and then create a graphic that fits exactly into that screenshot, save the graphic, and upload it to the site, it actually appears almost twice the size it was in Photoshop, in the context of the screenshot of the site. 

This is so counterintuitive for someone who has been creating images on a standard monitor for decades. It seems like Photoshop should have a feature to assit with this issue. 

[Lumigraphics]

That's something an amateur who knew nothing about digital images might do.

Every image has pixel dimensions and both Mac and Windows will tell you what that resolution is. If my downloaded graphic is, say, 600 x 400 pixels, I can simply create a 600 x 400 pixel document in Photoshop.

SO, yes, Photoshop DOES have a feature to assist. Its called image dimensions.

[hansonbeesnest]

20+ years of doing this and you call me an amateur. Nice.

[Lumigraphics]

The hallmark of a professional is being able to admit their ignorance and having the desire to learn new things.

[hansonbeesnest]

Which explains why I'm here on the Community discussion page trying to understand why this isn't working. I

1. On a 4k monitor (mine's at 3840x2160) take a screenshot of a web page in the browser (Chrome in this case)
2. Open the screenshot in Photoshop
3. Set guides at two points to indicate a width and use the measure tool to determine that width in pixels (400 in my case)
4. Create a graphic 400 pixels wide (fits perfectly between the guides)
5. Upload to the actual site and view the page...

In the attached image, I've labeled three screenshots from Photoshop:

A - The screenshot in Photoshop from the section of the webpage where a sized image needs to be, including PS guides to indicate total width image must fit within (measued to be 432 pixels from guide to guide)

B - Screenshot in PS including a resized image layer that should display on the webpage (in this case, the image in the layer is 400 pixels wide); the image was saved off at 400 pixels wide

C - Screenshot in PS from the webpage after the 400-pixel-wide image was added to the page, now measuring around 600 pixels wide, or 50% wider than saved

I'm absolutely all ears to learn why the image I sized to match a screenshot taken on the same monitor, measured in Phototshop, is displaying 50% larger when displaying on the site (with width constrained to 400px by both HTML IMG attribute and CSS style width attributes.

I'm sure there's an explaination and I'm sure it's not complicated, but it's not intuitive at all that this is happening. 

[D Fosse]

@hansonbeesnest 

This has nothing to do with Photoshop. The factor that has changed is your 4K monitor. With the denser/smaller pixels, the 4K monitor displays a given pixel size document at half the size.

What confuses you is that consumer image viewers and web browsers compensate for the smaller size by automatically scaling up when they detect a high resolution monitor. They do this by using four screen pixels to represent one image pixel.

This is the industry standard workaround to ensure that the same material can be used everywhere, regardless of what screen technology the user happens to have. Without it, we'd need two separate internets. Photoshop, as a professional grade tool used for a whole lot more than browsing images on the internet, obviously can't do that. It has to display correctly.

But it can, if you want to: View > 200%.

(I made this example for a user with 5K, not 4K, but you get the idea)

[Lumigraphics]

We have explained why. WEB BROWSERS SCALE IMAGES ON A 4K DISPLAY.

[Trevor.Dennis]

That's something an amateur who knew nothing about digital images might do.

Every image has pixel dimensions and both Mac and Windows will tell you what that resolution is. If my downloaded graphic is, say, 600 x 400 pixels, I can simply create a 600 x 400 pixel document in Photoshop.

SO, yes, Photoshop DOES have a feature to assist. Its called image dimensions.

By @Lumigraphics

Play nice guys.  We don't tolerate rude behaviour on these forums.  

[Lumigraphics]

Retina/Hidpi displays use multiple hardware pixels to show on screen pixel. You need to scale your Photoshop windows up to 200% (or whatever scale percentage your display is using.) Other software such as web browsers automatically scale images based on screen resolution.

[Stephen Marsh]

The "Print Size" view can be used to set a custom scale:

https://www.photoshopessentials.com/essentials/print-size/

https://www.bumblejax.com/content/how-to-view-your-photo-at-actual-print-size-in-photoshop/

One can also use a script to zoom to preset a 175% or another value, here it is for 25%:

/* https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/image-view/m-p/10650951 */

setZoom(25); // as percent

function setZoom(zoom) { 
   cTID = function (s) {
      return app.charIDToTypeID(s);
   }; // from xbytor
   var docRes = activeDocument.resolution;
   activeDocument.resizeImage(undefined, undefined, 72 / (zoom / 100), ResampleMethod.NONE);
   var desc = new ActionDescriptor();
   var ref = new ActionReference();
   ref.putEnumerated(cTID("Mn  "), cTID("MnIt"), cTID('PrnS'));
   desc.putReference(cTID("null"), ref);
   executeAction(cTID("slct"), desc, DialogModes.NO);
   activeDocument.resizeImage(undefined, undefined, docRes, ResampleMethod.NONE);
}

https://prepression.blogspot.com/2017/11/downloading-and-installing-adobe-scripts.html

[lamortclothing]

Thanks so much for this. The first link you posted sorted it.  

[7billionbuddhas]

I'm having this exact issue. When I view at 200% the dimensions are correct, however, my image is pixelated. It's making me crazy. I want to see the image clearly at it's correct dimensions. How is this done? Is this a MacOS setting or a PS setting? I'm trying both angles. My clearest and most legible size I can get my new 4K monitor to display is at 1920x1080 HiDPI. 

FWIW, I'm ancient, I started my career with Photoshop 5.0. I understand pixels and screen resolutions etc.