Photoshop CC on a High DPI display on Windows 8.1

[britmansell]

I'm using a new Lenovo Yoga 2. The native resolution is 3200x1800. Most Windows applications use scaling to enlarge the menus and other aspects of their user interface. However, Photoshop CC is basically unusable at this resolution because it does not honor the scaling. I have to drop the resolution down to 1600x900 before launching Photoshop CC. Extremenly inconvenient.

Anyone else have this issue on Windows?

[BIT-101]

The hack works. As long as you understand what it is doing, it lets you choose between an unusable UI that uses the full resolution of the screen or a usable UI that does not use the full resolution. Given that a lot of people are going through the lengths of changing their resolution anyway in order to make the UI usable, the latter choice is preferable to a lot of people. At any rate, it should be a user option until Adobe fixes it fully.

[Alluring_Whisper98C6]

Dear Chris,

CS6 customer here having the same issue. I just paid hundreds of dollars for this software, and it is unusable to me. More so, the Adobe Photoshop rep that I spoke to by e-mail essentially told me that resolution of this issue will not be supported in CS6. That was the end of the conversation, in spite of me attempting to reach out for some workable solution.

I feel abandoned as a customer, and wish Adobe would either give me my money back or help me.

[Herbert2001]

I find it somewhat dishonest seeing that Adobe's marketing still does not mention retina screen incompatibility in the system requirements of CS6 (for Windows, I believe?).

If anything you should be able to receive a refund. The software is not functioning properly on your system, and there are no indications anywhere in the system requirements that Photoshop CS6 will not play nice with a retina screen.

[karlc73797985]

Chris

Will there be a fix by someone soon?

Karl Christman

[Caroline Griffith]

That was a non-answer from Chris. Other applications make it work just fine.

The kicker? InDesign is able to handle it, even if Photoshop and Illustrator can't: Screenshot (ID on left, AI on right)

Why can't they just do whatever they did with InDesign?

[Noel Carboni]

In all seriousness, I believe the software is completely different under the covers between applications.  Adobe has worked to make disparate applications made by disparate people grow together as a suite, using similar icons and color schemes, but that doesn't mean there's any commonality behind the scenes.  My understanding is that Photoshop is a HIGHLY complex set of source code that doesn't take kindly to being prodded.  Quite likely Adobe really wants to tidy up the interfface but it'll be a LOT more work than it seems it should be.

-Noel

[Caroline Griffith]

"In regards to HiDPI support, InDesign and Lightroom work because of X, and the rest of CC don't yet because of Y. We understand that other programs are able to handle HiDPI, but compared to the CC suite, they're different because Z, so we need more time. Nonetheless, we have devoted an entire team to this issue and hope to have a beta fix out by next January. We'll keep you informed." would be a wonderful explanation and an acceptable answer.

"Microsoft's APIs are broken. No timeline.", on the other hand, is just plain ol' evasion because it doesn't answer the following:

• Why other corporations with complex programs can handle HiDPI despite Microsoft's API
• Why some of Adobe's own programs can handle HiDPI despite Microsoft's API
• Why they are unable to provide any sort of ETA -- especially if they're working so closely with Microsoft, a company which plans out its releases months if not years in advance and releases betas and previews pretty consistently
• Why this wasn't dealt with earlier in the Windows 8/8.1 release process

[Noel Carboni]

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you on all points.

Something's clearly harder than it seems it should be.  Maybe that's getting management to devote development resources to keeping the product working with current OSs vs. implementing Gee Whiz new features that sell more products, I don't know.

And don't fault Chris.  There's no question he's limited in what he can say about future plans, and at least somewhat limited in what he can say about how things are.

-Noel

[Caroline Griffith]

It's not Chris's fault personally, but Adobe's communication ability.

[Noel Carboni]

Adobe is too big to communicate like a small, agile, responsive company.  Not that there should be a difference, but there always is.  And there ARE a lot of good people there.

-Noel

[nealpix]

Conrad:

I am not sure I trust or buy Adobe's response.   Adobe is claiming that they can't make Photoshop CS6 or CC work with high DPI displays since Windows 7 and 8.1 does not
support the needed High DPI scaling API's???   If that is true, why does it work just fine on Adobe LightRoom 5?   It would seem that Windows 7 and 8 are both just fine

when it comes to scaling for High DPI displays, since LightRoom scales it's UI and tool bars just fine on those two MicroSoft OS's.

So why does Adobe choose to lie?  They really can't release a patch to PhotoShop CS6 to make the toolbars scale the same way LightRoom already does?

Or more likely, Adobe just chooses not to invest in patching this.  Apparently they will just want those of us who paid for PhotoShop CS6 to toss it in the

trash and buy a monthly subscription to PhotoShop CC?   Even if that is true (while foul), then what version of PhotoShop CC will support large High DPI screens on

Windows 7 x64?  (I do not intend to inflict the pain of Windows 8 on myself)

Neal

[nealpix]

Adobe Staff:

A previous thread on this topic indicated that Adobe is working with Microsoft to fix some of the windows High DPI functionality

needed for PhotoShop to scale properly, especially taking it to the next step of non-integer or variable scalling (not just 200%).

Is there any indication that the upcoming Windows 10 will provide a more workable solution for Adobe, and us users, in the

area of high DPI scaling?  Or are you working with Microsoft to patch this in existing Windows 7 and Windows 8.1?

Cheers,

Neal

[Chris Cox]

We really can't say when new features will appear in unannounced versions of our software, and especially not in third party software (like Windows).

But we are continuing to work with Microsoft on the UI scaling issues.  I think everyone wants to see this working well on Windows.

(and that is about all I can say without getting calls from angry lawyers)

[Omid_Gamini]

@chris cox<br/>This is an important problem we have with all adobe softwares.<br/>photoshop<br/>aftereffects<br/>illustrator<br/>lightroom[<br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone | https://overview.mail.yahoo.com?.src=iOS]

[funkotronic13]

Shakespeare got it right wayyy back in the day when he said (and I quote loosely): "Kill all the lawyers first".

[britmansell]

Just as FYI, Adobe Lightroom CC works great on this High DPI display. It's crisp and looks as we all hoped it would.

However, Photoshop and Illustrator are microscopic.

[Pieter Kappetein]

Completely agree, I have the same issue, in fact the fonts are so small you hardly read them and it is almost impossible to use Photoshop while lightroom is fine

[franksavarese]

This forum is useful only if Adobe folks follow the threads and realize when it's important to listen and take action. From what I've seen and heard they do neither. My daughter uses Photoshop cc and got a MS Surface Pro which she loves because she travels a lot. But she can hardly read the menus. I'm older than her and to me they're invisible. True it's only a 10" screen, but the 1080 display looks great with everytrhing else. I'm a photographer and longtime fan of Photoshop. I work on a desktop, but would love to buy the Lenovo Yoga Pro2, or the Sony Flip13, etc., so I can work in the field and also display my photos by flipping from one to the next on a tablet.

With all due respect to Thomas Knoll and the other Adobe geniuses who MAY be working on an elegant solution, here's what i think we need:  An addition to the VIEW menu that toggles on/off an "easy-read" function. When ON, anytime the cursor is moved from the image display up to the menus, or left to the tools, that area of the screen enlarges 2X or 3X until the selection is made and the cursor returns to the image. It can enlarge about 1/3 or 1/4 of the menu bar at a time. This eliminates the need to change screen resolution, which is NOT the way to solve the problem. I want my photos to look great, why would it make sense so spend so much for a high-res screen and then have to dull it down? 

If anyone out there agrees with me, maybe we should all demand action. I'd love to see someone from Adobe send me a response to prove they're actually listening to users. Or paying attention to the marketplace.

[Guest]

franksavarese wrote:

I'd love to see someone from Adobe send me a response to prove they're actually listening to users. Or paying attention to the marketplace.

Did you even READ post # 28??

It says Adobe has been working on the solution for some time with MS.  Getting either company to move quickly is impossible as this is not their only issue.

[Trevor.Dennis]

There are none so blind as those that will not see.  The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know’

[franksavarese]

Just saw it, thanks. But I think Adobe can solve this problem without help from Microsoft. I'm not a programmer,

but I think temporarily ballooning the menus wherever the cursor is placed is doable, and should be built into

the next update. High res screens have been around for a while, 4K TV's and 1900 x 3600 13" screens are on sale

NOW.

Adobe is much more than just Photoshop today, but its your core. Remember Eastman Kodak? And something

called film? They were so confident in their industry leading position, and the fact that nothing will replace film in

the forseeable future, they missed the boat as photography went digital. Don't miss the boat. There will always be

desktops and monitors, but tablets, ultrabooks and convertibles are todays trend. If the next generation doesn't

find Photoshop convenient, someone will provide an alternative.

But thanks for listening!

Frank Savarese

[Guest]

franksavarese,

I am not a programer either, but I do know that quite a few things in PS rely on subroutines of the OS to do the job.  Things like copy/paste and the UI.  MS like Apple tends to go its own way on issues that confound standard programs.  The touch pad of MS is one.  They came up with a new "standard" that does not fit with the old "standard".  I would not be suprised if MS has some screwball way to handle hi def screens for Win 8 that may be a little off of what Win 7 would use.  But that is only a guess.  Trying to get an agreed standard for MS and all the other apps may be the issue.

[Noel Carboni]

I'm kind of glad Photoshop advertises that it knows how to handle a high PPI display.

For one thing it allows my plug-in software, which really DOES handle high PPI, to look its best.

High PPI handling - i.e., application conformance to the desktop "scaling" setting (e.g., 100%, 125%, 150%) is not new.  Even XP supports it.  It just requires care in implementation and inclusion of graphics to take advantage of higher PPI settings.

I suspect most of Adobe's problems are that they have their very own cross-platform library of on-screen controls, which may not have been programmed in such a way as to anticipate the needs of high PPI display users.  It's probably a nightmare to work out how to make them work at any other size than the size in pixels they were originally designed to work.

I don't mean to stir up trouble, but based on my own graphics software development experience I can tell you that it IS quite doable to run a scaled-up graphics processing UI, complete with GPU acceleration, on any Windows system going back to XP.  My software is doing it.

-Noel

[Herbert2001]

My thoughts exactly. Seems more like a legacy code/GUI library issue than anything else that the devs are having issues with solving.

Ideally the software should have a user customizable GUI ppi settings.

[Lance Warley]

I implemented the hack, had it working on a Yoga 2 Pro, and then it stopped working.

Does anyone have experience with this, including a fix?

P.S. I posted this on the site where the hack is posted, but no one has responded other than to suggest I make sure Disable Display Scaling on high DPI Settings is unchecked. That hasn't helped either.