Photoshop CC / Windows 8.1 HiDPI / Retina scaling support

[middlep1]

Hi,  I am currently running the latest CC apps on a Windows 7 machine and am currently looking to upgrade my PC hardware, I have my eye on either the new Dell XPS15 with Haswell CPU/HiDPI screen (3200x1800 resolution) or the equivalent new Dell Precision m3800 when available in November with identical specs.  After testing a number Windows 8/8.1 systems over the last few days with Photoshop CC (14.1.2) It appears that Adobe has still yet to implement retina style UI scaling for any of it's CC apps for the Windows platform. They all seem to default to a predefined pixel font size. Potentially making Photoshop and other apps unusable on a 3200x1800 15.6" laptop screen if they do not scale like their Mac counterparts.  Can anyone confirm or elaborate on whether this feature exists for Adobe products on Windows yet, if it ever will or when it will become available in the near future?  Thanks

[Trevor.Dennis]

Did I read somehwere that the Retina support gives you scaling options?  Or is it just on or off?

[marcolaspina]

A me fa puzza di complotto... trovo inammissibile che da un anno ancora non si è arrivati ad una soluzione.

In giro c'è gente che ha già trovato una soluzione, diciamo... invasiva che permette l'utilizzo di photoshop:

http://surfaceproartist.com/blog/2013/12/11/hack-makes-photoshop-and-illustrator-readable-on-surface...

Ma io da utente, è possibile che devo diventare un hacker per riuscire a far funzionare un software così diffuso, aspettando soluzioni ufficiali da circa un anno?

Nei super mercati oltre agli spaghetti, ormai si trovano solo notebook da 15" con risoluzione full  HD....

Che tristezza....

[LidiaDotMe]

Marco come darti torto! Io siccome devo ancora comprarlo ho deciso di acquistare quello con lo schermo full HD.. mi dispiace molto rinunciare a quella risoluzione ma onestamente, come dici tu, questo problema c'è da un anno e sinceramente la vedo dura che lo risolvano.. penso che questo schermo sia un tentativo di dell di fare una via di mezzo tra il full HD e i prossimi schermi 4k.. tentativo fallito per colpa di windows..
(avendo i soldi necessari sicuramente comprerei un MacBookPro ma per avere le stesse caratteristiche del suddetto Dell la cifra sale a più di 3000euro.. per il momento non è il caso)

Altro fattore che mi puzza è il fatto che Dell ha messo uno sconto di 300euro sui suoi portatili con quel tipo di schermo dalla settimana scorsa..

Thanks to everyone! Finally I will buy the one with Full HD res, to avoid problems..
There's something suspicious in that affair.. Dell is even discounting the QHD+ 3200x1800 display pc (300 euros less from last week to the 1st may, at least in Europe), this sounds really really suspicious to me..

[CedricMi]

There is nothing suspicious about it.

I've been using the QHD+ Dell XPS 15 since November 2013 as my main work computer and it is an outstanding laptop.

The screen is outstanding, the build is outstanding, it is screamingly fast.

But yes, it's not the best experience with Photoshop and Illustrator at the present time. until Adobe finally wakes up and deliver a much needed upgraded version.

By the way, the Dell is totally silent generally. But Photoshop in the background, even if not used, activates the fan - and that's fishy and tells me there is much to recode in Photoshop.

I otherwise work with dozens of applications simultaneously (office, web browsers, Gimp 2, ...) and the computer stays totally silent.

[gdecamp]

Agree the Dell XPS 15 is an outstanding machine, no noise no problems at all. Everything I use works perfectly except the 2 Adobe products, Lightroom and Photoshop. I admit I do not use them often on the laptop but I am now using the Nikon Product, Capture NX,  for RAW conversion and then photoshop. Have to limit my photoshop use until this is fixed.

Actually Nikon View VX works fine as well and is a free program for Nikon users. Also have ACDsee Pro3 on the laptop which is an older version and that works fine.

Hope the Adobe fix is sooner rather than later as I prefer these programs.

[Noel Carboni]

That XPS 15 display is what, 276 ppi?

Out of curiosity, what Windows desktop scaling setting do you use?  200% or a custom setting even larger?

-Noel

[patcatone]

I hope MS won´t forget to do that HiDPI implementation in Win 7. Since there are people who still don´t want to work with the 8.1 version.

The shown 200% scaling does not work very well, at least nocht in Win 7.

[chromatic1]

Chris Cox (@Adobe) --

I have been reading your responses and I find your replies to be disengenuous.  Let's establish a few facts --

1. Microsoft provides multiple APIs for presentation layer graphics in applications - there is WinForms, WPF, and WinRT.  There are also older technologies which were common in the late 1990's.  These display technologies include native Win32/GDI, MFC, and ATL.

2. All Microsoft user interface APIs created after the year 2000 (WinForms, WPF, and WinRT) support some level of native screen scaling.  WPF and WinRT are vector based -- and as result, they support high DPI screens with minimal effort.

3. Adobe is having a hard time fixing its products because the APIs Adobe uses are over 15 years old (Win32/GDI, MFC, ATL).  You are blaming Microsoft for your chocie to not update software to newer APIs during the past fifteen years. 

4. It is not a priority at Microsoft to change older Win32/GDI APIs -- this was no omission on Microsoft's part.  If you want your software to support high DPI screens you must rewrite your software to use WPF or WinRT for the presentation layer.

5. Adobe prefers to assign blame to Microsoft instead of fixing their own products.  This behavior is evidenced by the support team's insistence that fixing Photoshop's technical limitations is outside the company's control.

[Chris Cox]

Facts:

1) Yes, Microsoft has acknowledged the problems with their APIs and are working with us to get them fix or provide workarounds.  Other products (by several other companies) ran into the same problems and are also working with Microsoft on the issue.

2) Your claims 1-4 are completely off base and have nothing to do with the situation.  I'm really not even sure where you got some of that...

3) We are not assigning blame, but explaining the situation as it stands today.

Again, we are continuing to work with Microsoft on the problems with the Microsoft Windows UI scaling APIs.

[gdecamp]

Will the new Windows 8.1 updated slated for next week help with this issue of scaling? Bought a new Dell Laptop and have to get so close to the screen I am getting a tan! 🙂

Thanks for any Info!

Edit: By the way I am using Photoshop CC on a Dell XPS 15 touch.

George

[LidiaDotMe]

Hi! I'm an Adobe CC user and I'm looking on a new Dell XPS 15 with an QHD+ 3200x1800 display ..before buying it I would love to know if there are some news about the screen issues..

I was wondering if I set the display resolution on 1900x1080 will I have the same scaling problem with Adobe applications or not?

Thanks!

[BIT-101]

The higher the resolution, the worse it looks. i.e. the smaller the menus and ui elements are. At 3200x1600, I find it completely unusable. At 1600x900, it's fine. You'll probably be OK at 1900x1080. Things will be a little smaller than usual, but not bad.

[LidiaDotMe]

Thank you! So I think I'll buy it and then we'll see..

Have you experienced the same problem with other softwares? I use also Maya and ZBrush..

[BIT-101]

I've seen the problem in a few small independent software releases, but PhotoShop is the only program by a large company with resources that can't seem to get it together.

[Noel Carboni]

Imagine having to move a giant Oak tree that's been growing for decades, but which is restricted from growing further by being blocked by buildings all around, and doing it without taking off any branches or even disturbing the squirrels, who are easily brought to anger. 

-Noel

[BIT-101]

Now imagine paying premium money for something, finding it unusable, then being insulted when you are not happy about it.

[Noel Carboni]

I understand your frustration, I really do.  But you seem to have the attitude that all your problems with system integration are someone else's.

Be patient.  Adobe will get their work done in time, and you'll be able to use the hardware you didn't bother to check for compatibility before buying.

I recently bought a 30 inch monitor.  I had enough in my budget to buy the Dell 32 inch 4K monitor, but I realized, after doing a bit of research, that the software I need isn't all yet capable of dealing with the 140 ppi.  Windows' own per-monitor ppi setting capability isn't mature yet.  So I went with the 100 ppi 30 inch display, and couldn't be happier.

-Noel

[deliciousmark]

BIT-101, apparently it is your fault.

Here is Photoshops system requirements:

http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-pricing/system-requirements-photoshop.html

Luckily I saw those. I almost bought a few 24" 1920x1200 LED screens and a PC with 24GB ram. But I now see for Windows I should have 1 GB of RAM and screens that are 1280x800.

Whew, that was close.

[Noel Carboni]

Joke all you want, but finding your way to the forum to ask about what's optimal before buying would have been little harder than finding your way here to complain afterward.  You have to admit, From a business perspective it's somewhat irresponsible to buy first and ask questions later.

-Noel

[deliciousmark]

I google "Photoshop HiDPI support". First result is titled "HiDPI and Retina Display Support | PHOTOSHOP.COM BLOG".

First line in result: "The Photoshop and Lightroom teams are pleased to announce we will provide support for HiDPI displays in the coming months"

Date of article: August 30th 2012.

The user base of Photoshop is tiny - Photoshop itself is not well known. So you really should't assume it will work on 4 year old tech, even though they say it will in the first result in google.

[Chris Cox]

Those were for the Macintosh Retina displays.

Fortunately Apple had a fairly complete and well tested API before their high resolution displays were rolled out.

[Noel Carboni]

It works just fine - as long as you have a magnifying glass.  😉

And if we want to pick nits, we can see that the recommended display size isn't even close to 3840 pixels in width.

Seriously, anyone here would have been able to tell you that a lot of the UI does not yet scale.

-Noel

[gdecamp]

Seriuusly folks, when will this be fixed? What is a ballpark time frame?

Chris, does it say Macintosh Retina display only? Either way, can you give us a ballpark? Above it seems to indicate a fix is in the cards already?

[Noel Carboni]

Adobe never, but never states when something will be ready.  Assume it's on the principle that no promise is better than a broken promise.

-Noel

[Chris Cox]

Adobe is a publicly traded company - we cannot comment on unannounced products or versions of products, nor can we comment on unannounced products or versions of products from other companies.