Photohop image resolution is smaller than other apps

[Augusto24716166az1l]

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked before. I did a serach here and thought I found the answer but I still haven't figured it out.

I have been using Photoshop for a few years on and off but I wouldn't say I'm an expert so please bear with me!

I just bought a new MacBook Pro 16" and set it up to do photography and photo editing work.

First thing I noticed that the resolution of some of my previously scanned images is smaller in Photoshop than when I open them in Preview or similar. When I looked at the image size on PS the size seems to be correct but even if displayed at 100% it looks smaller. This didn't happen with my (very old) Macbook and the version of Photoshop I had.

Now, I thought I figured this out by reading some posts here, if the image has been edited on PS before and has been resized in any way (even if you left the same pixels) it'll look smaller on Photoshop. But where I'm getting confused is that after I took a raw unedited image scanned from my Epson V850 Pro scanner and Photoshop still displays it smaller. 

Now, it's not the end of the world but I just want to make sure there's nothing wrong with my settings and that the images I work on Photoshoop will look right when printed or digital.

Has anyone else had this problem (if it is a problem at all)?

[jmlevy]

[Moderator note:

You had posted in the InDesign forum. I have moved your thread to the Photoshop forum.]

[davescm]

100% zoom in Photoshop is not a physical size but simply means 1 image pixel mapped onto 1 screen pixel. Therefore, if your new monitor has a higher pixel density (more pixels squeezed into the same space) then the image will appear physically smaller on that screen than on a screen with a lower pixel density.

Dave

[Test Screen Name]

It isn't really a problem. It's worth making sure you fully understand why some apps (but not Photoshop) are doubling the size, but the quick fix is to zoom to 200% in Photoshop.

[D Fosse]

Could a moderator delete the duplicate thread? It has no replies yet. https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/image-resolution-is-smaller-in-photos... 

Augusto, all of the above is entirely correct. Just a little more background.

All consumer-oriented image viewers, web browsers etc will scale up images to 2x linear dimensions when they detect a retina/4K screen. This includes all MacOS-native apps. They do this so images display at roughly the same screen size as they do on a traditional low resolution screen.

What you see on screen is one image pixel represented by four screen pixels. In effect, it turns your high resolution screen into a standard low resolution one.

If it wasn't for this scaling, we'd need two separate internets. This is the industry standard workaround to ensure that the same material can be used everywhere, regardless of what screen technology the user has.

Here's the important part: Photoshop doesn't do this. It displays accurately, 1:1, because it is used for a lot of purposes where accurate display far outweighs any convenience considerations. Photographers, print designers, prepress, forensic/medical/scientific workers etc etc - they can't have any scaling. It would render the application useless.

[Augusto24716166az1l]

Hello,

Apologies if this has been asked before. I did a serach here and thought I found the answer but I still haven't figured it out.

I have been using Photoshop for a few years on and off but I wouldn't say I'm an expert so please bear with me!

I just bought a new MacBook Pro 16" and set it up to do photography and photo editing work.

First thing I noticed that the resolution of some of my previously scanned images is smaller in Photoshop than when I open them in Preview or similar. When I looked at the image size on PS the size seems to be correct but even if displayed at 100% it looks smaller. This didn't happen with my (very old) Macbook and the version of Photoshop I had.

Now, I thought I figured this out by reading some posts here, if the image has been edited on PS before and has been resized in any way (even if you left the same pixels) it'll look smaller on Photoshop. But where I'm getting confused is that after I took a raw unedited image scanned from my Epson V850 Pro scanner and Photoshop still displays it smaller. 

Now, it's not the end of the world but I just want to make sure there's nothing wrong with my settings and that the images I work on Photoshoop will look right when printed or digital.

Has anyone else had this problem (if it is a problem at all)?

[Duplicate thread merged by moderator now that it has a reply of its own.]

[TheDigitalDog]

"Smaller" is relative as this is based on the zoom ratio. Photoshop can zoom in and out of course. If you view the image at 100% (1:1) in all applications, the size should be the same as you are using 1 image pixel for one screen pixel.

[D Fosse]

Yes, but with a retina display other applications won't display 1:1. They will display 2:1, and that's what happens here, and what confuses the OP.

See my longer post in the OP's duplicate thread (a moderator needs to merge them).