How to change image interpolation setting default from "bicubic" to "nearest neighbor" in Transform.

[Daniel35887877e4s2]

I changed the Image interpolation setting in Preferences>General, but that does not affect the transform tool itself. It keeps defaulting back to "bicubic" in Transform Tool. I want it to be "nearest neighbor" every time. How do I change this. The older version of Photoshop let me keep the setting forever.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

 It keeps defaulting back to "bicubic" in Transform Tool. 

No such thing. 

Is it represented in the Toolbar? If not then it’s not called a Photoshop Tool. (edited)

Could you please post screenshots with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible? 

[WMETS]

I think this is wat he's saying. I was also looking for an answer to this. When using the transform tool the first time when PS is booted, it's always in Bicubib, can this be changed in the prefs, to another, like neares Neigbour for inscance?

        

[Stephen Marsh]

The setting is sticky, it remembers the last interpolation method used (it doesn't use the General Prefs value). Note that the sticky behaviour is only during that session, if you quit and restart Photoshop it will revert back to Bicubic and not the last used setting.

If you always wanted a certain interpolation method to be used as a default start point, rather than the last used value or bicubic, you could create an interactive action or script and use that instead, perhaps remapping the keyboard shortcut.

Note: I would never use "nearest neighbour" in a "free" transform unless I was resizing in multiples of the original, such as 200% or 400% etc. and wished to preserve the edges of the original pixels.

[19911hb]

I',]m guessing most newspaper comic strip creators have been using PS for many years and have set up their prefs as instructed by the newspaper syndicate.... but they only use Photohop to color comic strips, so any new wrinkle is a problem. In previous versions , if interplaotion was set to nearest neighbor that's where it stayed.  What's happening now is, regardless of whether the creator only ever uses nearest neighbor , when the program is opened it defaults to bicubic. Muscle memory means that most of us, after decades of doing the same thing every day, keep forgetting that the prefs no longer work and the setting has to be changed manually. I think the ptroblem with the suggested Actions solution is that a lot of us have no idea how to set that up and even if we did, we will still forget that we have to manully change a setting ot add a step before we can resume work. I realize that says more about how limited our PS skills are but it is incredibly frustrating that there is no longer a simple setting that works.

[Stephen Marsh]

@19911hb 

I get it, muscle memory is tough to override.

I'm not an Adobe employee, so all I can do is suggest practical, pragmatic alternatives to deal with the situation now.

Recording a single step action and remembering to use it to trigger the interactive transform is the simplest solution that I can recommend. Although not all users may know how to record an action, they really should do so as they are missing out on a lot of productivity gains.

This topic is marked as a "discussion" so Adobe devs may never see it, as this is a user-to-user discussion. An "idea" or "bug" topic does appear on their radar.

[cristifagan]

I'm having the same issue since I updated PS. Any solutions? I use this tool everyday for a comic strip- so annoying to have to manually change it on the toolbar every time!

[Stephen Marsh]

Any solutions?

By @cristifagan

See my post directly before your post, I don't believe that anything has changed since then. 

[c.pfaffenbichler]

@cristifagan , please read this (in particular the section titled "Supply pertinent information for more timely and effective answers”):
https://community.adobe.com/t5/using-the-community/community-how-to-guide-tips-amp-best-practices/td...

Could you please post screenshots taken at View > 100% with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Options Bar, …) visible to illustrate your problem? 

[19911hb]

Tbh, it's pretty straightforward. Interpolation is set to nearest neighbor in ps preferences but whenever the program is opened it defaults to bicubic in the toolbar  and has to be changed  manually. For us comic strip creators this is a problem because if we forget to change it then that piece of art is useless. I see lots of creators complaining about this new problem in later versions of photoshop but I can't find any solution. It appears to be a case of photoshop disregarding the prefs ..  so I think the question  is whether it is a glitch or something that can easily be o ridden. 

[M-H]

Image Interpolation in preferences refers to canvas, how "the zoom" works, so its not affecting transform tool. Best workaround as @Stephen Marsh mentioned is script. Feel free to use one I've just made.

var fileName = File($.fileName).name;
var brackets = fileName.brackets(/\(([^)]+)\)/);
var extractedBrackets = brackets ? decodeURI(brackets[1]) : "Nearest Neighbor";

var interpolation = '';
if (extractedBrackets === 'Nearest Neighbor') {
    interpolation = 'Nrst';
} else if (extractedBrackets === 'Bilinear') {
    interpolation = 'Blnr';
} else if (extractedBrackets === 'Bicubic') {
    interpolation = 'Bcbc';
} else if (extractedBrackets === 'Bicubic Smoother') {
    interpolation = 'BcSm';
} else if (extractedBrackets === 'Bicubic Sharper') {
    interpolation = 'BcSh';
} else if (extractedBrackets === 'Bicubic Automatic') {
    interpolation = 'BCAu';
}

var desc1 = new ActionDescriptor();
var ref1 = new ActionReference();
ref1.putEnumerated(cTID('Lyr '), cTID('Ordn'), cTID('Trgt'));
desc1.putEnumerated(cTID('Intr'), cTID('Intp'), cTID( interpolation ));
try{executeAction(cTID('Trnf'), desc1, DialogModes.ALL);} catch(e) {}

function cTID(s) { return app.charIDToTypeID(s); }
function sTID(s) { return app.stringIDToTypeID(s); }

Copy above to notepad and save as "Transform (Nearest Neighbor).jsx" in: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2025\Presets\Scripts and after PS restart in should apear in File > Scripts where you can reassign Ctrl + T shortcut from the default Free Transform. Script picks the interpolation type from its name so you can create other ones just by duplicating it and renaming to the whatever you need. 

[19911hb]

Many thanks ... will give this a go!