Issue with image scale/resolution changing when uploading to internet on new 1440p machine

[Ellie28481532cn63]

Hello!

I'm currently experiencing an issue and I'm curious whether anyone has experienced similar or has any advice.

I've recently switched from a laptop with a 17.2 inch, 1080p screen to one with a 17.2 inch, 1440p screen. I use photoshop for digital artwork and routinely work on canvases that have to be of specified dimensions. My issue is this; on the 1440p laptop, a canvas that is, say, 2000x2000px looks significantly smaller when at 100% than that same canvas art 100% on my 1080p laptop. When I then save said canvas (usually as a .png), without making any edits to its dimensions or res, and upload it to the internet, the resulting image is larger when at 100% than it appeared in photoshop and suffers a substantial drop in quality (similar to the loss of resolution commonly seen after actively scaling up an image). This is not something that ever previously happened on my 1080p laptop, I've not changed methods or added in any new steps at all, but am using exactly the same processes as I have for several years without issue or complaint. But at present, the images uploaded to the net on the 1440p machine are of far too low quality to be useable.

This isn't a bug per se and it doesn't appear to be a general scaling issue as the UI is fine and I've changed the DPI high settings as some people recommend (it didn't make any difference at all - though I'm guessing that this IS tied to the change in screen resolution somehow). So I'm really hoping that someone has a better idea than I do what's going on!

(On windows 11, using PS 26.6, for the record)

Thanks in advance.

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

There's nothing wrong.

100% has nothing to do with size. It means one image pixel is represented by exactly one physical screen pixel.

I made this illustration for a user with a 5K screen, but the same principle applies. The more screen pixels per area, the smaller those pixels are:

[Ellie28481532cn63]

But this makes it incredibly difficult to use PS because the image in-app appears entirely different to the uploaded image (which it never did on my previous laptop)? How are you meant to be able to work on something when the final result - once uploaded - doesn't look anything like it did in PS? 

I appreciate your help, for the record. But I'm struggling to see how I'll be able to continue working on image commissions when the visual difference between the PS version and the uploaded version of the image is so drastic. Surely if the resolution in PS is correct then that is the resolution in which it should be uploaded? 

[Stephen Marsh · Accepted solution]

For example, my old Retina MacBook Pro has a native resolution of 2880 x 1800 px. If I take a screenshot of a web browser, it's fullscreen 1440 x 900 px. Web browsers scale hi-ppi monitor content x2 times. So in Photoshop, 200% is the new 100% view for hi-ppi viewing.

[D Fosse]

Stephen is correct.

Photoshop isn't doing anything - but web browsers and consumer-oriented image viewers scale up when they detect a high resolution screen. Photoshop obviously can't do that.

This is the industry-standard workaround to ensure that the same material can be used regardless of the screen technology the user happens to have.

If not for this, we'd need two separate internets.

Set Photoshop to View > 200%.

[Ellie28481532cn63]

Okay, got it, that's good to know. Thank you both for your explanations & advice!

[ExUSA]

Forget all of that. Everyone viewing your images will have a different size and resolution display, so it won't even be consistent from viewer to viewer.

I have a standard resolution 23" display at work while at home I have a 30" 2560x1440 display and a 24" 4K display. I just edit at work at 100% and at home at 200% so I'm seeing actual pixels.

You are making this too difficult.

[Charles_Alabi]

This is a common issue when moving from 1080p to 1440p — higher pixel density makes the canvas look smaller at 100%, even though it’s the same pixel dimensions.

Try these quick fixes:

• Check Windows DPI scaling settings for Photoshop (set to “Application” or “System (Enhanced)”)
• Uncheck “Zoom Resizes Window” in Preferences > Interface
• Confirm your export settings aren’t resampling the image
• Use View > 100% (exact) and avoid rounded zoom % like 99.2%

It might just be how Windows/Photoshop renders on the new screen — not an actual change in output quality.

Let us know if tweaking those helps!

Best,
Charles Alabi
CEO | Founder | Systems Thinker :globe_showing_europe_africa::briefcase:
Citywide Security Company | Citywide Cleaning Company