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In Color Design
Participating Frequently
May 31, 2018
Question

Previous screenshot images displaying too small

  • May 31, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 903 views

PS CC2018

iMac 27" with retina display

I just got a new iMac with the retina display (not because I wanted too, I had too) and my old files and new files open smaller than my previous iMac. I should say they display smaller on the new iMac monitor. A 500px x 500px 72ppi file is still 500px x 500px, it just displays like it's 200px x 200px.

I understand the retina display native resolution and the PPI of the screen/display and how it correlates to the PPI in the image. Which is what's causing the problem (in Bridge and AI too...but that's another topic).

Is there a setting to make PS adapt to the new higher pixel count of the retina display, and display files on the monitor at their correct dimensions?

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    2 replies

    Sebastian Bleak
    Community Expert
    Sebastian BleakCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 31, 2018

    Hi In Color Design

    I ran into this when I switched to a similar display. Unfortunately I haven’t found a setting that detects this automatically. I did get Retna DisplayMenu (RDM) to easily change between several resolution options.

    Attached is a screenshot of the program incase you’d like to check it out:

    Hope you find this helpful

    -Sebastian

    Per Berntsen
    Community Expert
    Per BerntsenCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 31, 2018
    I understand the retina display native resolution and the PPI of the screen/display and how it correlates to the PPI in the image.

    This has everything to do with the ppi of the display, and nothing to do with the ppi of the image.

    Image ppi only comes into play when the image is printed - on screen it will display according to its pixel dimensions.

    And since you have a retina display with physically much smaller pixels than a regular display, the image will display smaller.

    Other applications (like web browsers) will scale images to 200% when detecting a retina display (using four screen pixels to display one image pixel), but Photoshop has to display them correctly - i.e. displaying one image pixel with one screen pixel at 100% view.

    So this is expected behavior with a Retina display. If you want to view images larger in Photoshop, use View > 200%.

    On non-Retina displays, your images will display larger, because the pixels are larger.

      I
      In Color DesignAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      May 31, 2018

      Thanks. I understand everything you noted. And there is a correlation between screen resolution and file resolution.

      What I'm looking for is a setting that detects and automatically compensates for the higher pixel count in the 5k monitor and displays a file at the same size I see it in other applications, like web browsers, without needing to zoom in.

      I
      In Color DesignAuthor
      Participating Frequently
      June 1, 2018

      Never going to happen. Photoshop is a professional-grade image editor. It has to display correctly, end of story. And that it does.

      View > 200% does exactly what these browsers and image viewers do. It doesn't have a default shortcut, but you can assign one.


      D Fosse:

      What is "correctly"

      Shouldn't "correctly" mean images and files show at their correct size as they have been created for their particular application whether it's for the web or print?

      For decades now 1024px x 768px and 8.5" x 11" has displayed the same for me in BR, LR, PS, IL, DW, MU and ID. Until now with the retina display. Now all my files display at half the size I've been seeing them all these years. I can zoom in with these apps (except for BR, so in BR I can't preview all the work I've done over the years at a size that's even legible in some cases) but that's a work-around to what I see as a problem.

      The only Adobe app that displays imported files/images and the workspace correctly for me is ID. Why ID and no other?

      At the root of the problem is the retina display (possibly Apple in my case) since I can no longer assign an actual screen resolution to the monitor.

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