Photoshop Elements UI font too small on high-resolution display

[oscillatory]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a Dell XPS15 laptop with a QHD+ (3200x1800) display. The PC is running Windows 8.1. I have also purchased Photoshop Elements 12 to run on it.

With the display at the native resolution, it is necessary to have the "Change the size of all items" option in the display settings of Windows 8.1 set to "Larger", in order for the native Windows fonts and UI elements to be at a reasonable size. The laptop came with this option enabled by default.

However, disappointingly the UI font size in Photoshop Elements is way too small when the display is at the native resolution. The application is basically unusable.

I have tried setting the "Use system font" option in the General preferences, but this doesn't seem to help.

The only way I can get the Photoshop Elements UI font to a reasonable size, is by dropping the screen resolution (to say 1920x1080).

This seems like a terrible waste of a beautiful screen, particularly when my main reason for using the PC is for editing photos, and my photo management and editing software is preventing me exploiting the full resolution of the display.

I'd appreciate any help or suggestions.

Thanks.

[jim116]

absolute same reponse with chat, same microfont with my Lenovo Yoga 2....what is the point...they need to send an update fixing this issue...useless.

[Nirak_Nesneros]

I have a Lenovo yoga 2. I am running windows 10 and using photoshop elements 14. Everything finally works fine.

[hanas71824280]

This is so funny! I feel preciously the same as Maixo. Amazingly, some of these complaints go back to  2014. On top of ACR font to be miniature (I think it was designed by and for a midget), the keybord and esp. the numeric pad on my ACER Aspire A515 55-52J is really squisched, like made for kid's hands. The ACR font is a real pain, as per the Adobe support guys: "because it is a plugin, nothing can be done". Adobe Bridge font - yes, you can play with the font size in Preferences, but unfortunately, it does not affect the ACR size. It is a plugin. My Photoshop font seems to be ok now, I do not even to play around with it. They (Adobe experts) seriously need to do something with this, it is a major problem for photo editing. Eyes and headaches every time, I work on this stupid overpriced laptop.

[coyote101]

Note for PS CC, the "experimental" fix identified above has been removed from the latest release, so PS CC is now back on par with PS Elements - tiny icons.

So, some users with the previous release may not to "upgrade" to the latest. Too late for me. 

[ssprengel]

I am running the latest PS CC 2014.2.0 r236 and still have Experimental Features in Preferences and there is a UI 200% option, still.

[jim116]

so what is the fix

[Nirak_Nesneros]

Using photoshop elements 12 or 13 I got terribly small print.

I changed from Windows 7 to Windows 10. At the same time I bought photoshop elements 14. The very very small print disappeared. I did nothing but install the new software.

[jim116]

This does not help  I have elements and premier 11 and a yoga pro 2

Jim

[Nirak_Nesneros]

It does solve the problem – but you have to buy photoshop elements 14 – just like I did! It wasn’t going to be solved until the new verison of PE14 came out. I needed it to work so I bought the new version. It isn’t worth beating a dead horse to death. The problem is solved but you have to accept that the solution is not quite what you were looking for.

I too have a yoga2 pro.

[jim116]

$150 additional to what I paid for 11. Really. That's the solution.

Jim

Cell: 440-670-5960

[Nirak_Nesneros]

I paid 59 dollars for pe14.

Truly, and with no nastiness implied. Get over it. I too wanted my PE 12 and PE 13 to work on my Lenovo. But it didn’t and I spent a lot of time being annoyed about it. I spend $59 going out on a Saturday night for 2 people. I am now happy that it works, I don’t have to worry about the small print and I can spend my time much more productively.

And furthermore, I am now thrilled with my Lenovo Yoga 2 Plus. Before, I was furious that I c ouldnt use it.

I now have a fabulous resolution that works and my ability to work on pictures is greatly expanded because the screen view is so clear. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees. My advice to you is good – hopefully you will follow it and get over your anger.

By the way, I am a 74 year old woman on limited income. I have read a huge amount about the issue and granted, we were somewhat screwed over when what we bought didn’t work right but it does work right now. The technical difficulties were huge and they finally go it correct. It was not as easy to fix as you might think.

Happy holidays and best regards

[jim116]

Thanks. I'm not angry. Just trying to find a way to get it to work. And it's unethical for a company to do that. I'll talk with them tomorrow if they want to keep screwing me I'll just have to buy it.

Jim Stefancin

Cell: 440-670-5960

[dfuser]

I have PSE 14 on a Dell XPS.  The program fonts are okay, but the plugins' fonts are illegible.  I have tried everything on the Photoshop forum to fix this - changing system fonts, resolution and even adding a "manifest" file.  Nothing works.

I use the Windows 10 magnifier to see the plug ins, but that is a cumbersome work around.  The magnifier displays only a tiny part of the screen at a time.

Anyone else have this problem.

[MichelBParis]

dfuser wrote:

I have PSE 14 on a Dell XPS. The program fonts are okay, but the plugins' fonts are illegible. I have tried everything on the Photoshop forum to fix this - changing system fonts, resolution and even adding a "manifest" file. Nothing works.

I use the Windows 10 magnifier to see the plug ins, but that is a cumbersome work around. The magnifier displays only a tiny part of the screen at a time.

Anyone else have this problem.

Which plugins?

There may still be something to try. You have probably noticed that the organizer does not use the same method as the editor. Instead of using a magnification to 200%, it uses the settings in the Windows preferences. You can choose 125, 150% for instance, and that applies to most other softwares.

[Ardbeg75]

I'm using PS 6 on Windows 10 on two 3840 * 2160 screens and the menus, toolbars and whatnot are, like you say, tiny. I have no binoculars at hand. !

Has Adobe no solution for this? No patches released? Going the WIndows way and through the command panel trying to enlarge texts etc doesn't do it for me. Same problem in Adobe Illustrator v 6

Come on Adobe!

Regards,

Robert

[ssprengel]

Adobe only "patches" (updates) the current version of software not every release going back in time, which would be very expensive.

PS 6 (from Sept 2000) or PS CS6 (from 2012) were not the current versions once PS CC came out in June 2013.  Since then there have been PS CC 2014 and the current (as of May 2016) PS CC 2015 with only 2015 getting updates at the moment.

As far as what you can try w/o upgrading to a CC subscription, there at least used to be a way to use .manifest files that would autoscale each app and I'm not sure what the limitations might be on your size monitor on Windows 10, but worth a try:  http://www.danantonielli.com/adobe-app-scaling-on-high-dpi-displays-fix/

In the current PS CC 2015 you can scale the UI as either 100% or 200% and the UI Font:  Tiny, Small, Medium, Large.

Adobe has said they would like to introduce arbitrary scaling in Windows but the Microsoft API has enough bugs that they can't, yet, and 200% took alot of work.

I should also add that the initial thread is about Photoshop Elements, but it appears that you were asking about Photoshop (not Elements) and Illustrator, and my answers are with those two products in mind.  If PS6 really means PSE6 then I'm not sure what might be done except upgrade to PSE14 which has a UI-scale 100% or 200% preference setting just like Photoshop.

[dfuser]

The Nik Plug ins.

Organizer crashes my system, so I have never used it.  Besides, I wouldn't use the plugins in Organizer, I would use them in in Editor.  I am asking about Elements, not Photoshop, by the way, but I have tried everything on the Photoshop forum as well because this is so frustrating.

[ssprengel]

I was replying to ardbeg75 who seemed to be asking about PS and AI.

[coyote101]

Thanks ssprengel,  my error.  I have two versions of PS CC on my computer, and I opened the wrong one after update. Indeed, the experimental 200% option is still available and works pretty well on Yoga Pro 2.

Apologies to all for the incorrect post.

[maixo]

can anybody recommend an alternative to photoshop elements 12 ? is it too much to ask for photo editing software (which adobe are still selling) which works with modern high res displays ?

I am looking for a non-adobe alternative because their customer service is a disgrace ! I have emailed them and got no reply and when I finally got through to their chat "support" I was told to go to these forums.all I am getting here  are people like me asking the same questions with no answers.

[Jackez-ly6Yx8]

Yes DxO is very good and Capture ONE too.

http://www.dxo.com/fr

Capture One Pro 8

[Nirak_Nesneros]

I recently bought PE 14 and also windows 10.  My yoga 2 plus finally works great.  The screen resolution is no longer a problem and I don't have to change anything.  As thrilled as I am, I am very disappointed in both Microsoft and Adobe that it took so long to fix the issue.  Also, it cost me a lot of money in software expense.  PE 12 or 13 never worked and I paid for both of them.

[Smpiders]

Running Photoshop Elements 13 on a Surface Pro 3, and I am struggling with the tiny font and UI.  Adobe advertises that the program scales automatically based on the resolution of the display.  In my experience thus far, this does not work.  I did download Photoshop CC 2014, and the experimental scaling works wonderfully.  I don't understand why they can't implement the same fix in Elements.

[ssprengel]

I'd suggest starting a new thread with a screenshot over on the feedback site:  http://feedback.photoshopcom/ that Adobe supposedly reads every initial post of and evaluates whether there is an issue.

The screenshot should be of Elements 13 maximized on your screen, and the Help / About Photoshop Elements visible to verify the version number.  If that screenshot isn't accepted for embedding in the message, itself, because it's too big, upload it to www.dropbox.com and post a public download link to it in the message.

Also do a Help / System Information, and post that to a message in the same feedback thread you've started over there.  Make sure you've removed your serial number from the PSE13 system information listing if it's shown.

[danr7668932]

THIS WORKS 99.99%

I have been experiencing the same problem and after playing around in the settings, I came to a conclusion…

So here are the steps I would recommend to follow if you wish to solve your problem

1. Right-click on your home screen and click “screen resolution”

2. Then choose the resolution somewhere half your recommended settings

      Ex: If you have 3200x1800 (recommended), try choosing 1600x900

3. Click “Apply” and you’ll get a pup-up asking if you want to keep the changes

      Click “Keep changes”

     Everything will be big but don’t worry

4. You then would want to right click on your home-screen again and this time choose “Personalize”

5. Click on “Display” located at the lower left side of your screen

6. Click the check box “Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays”

      And keep the option for “Medium- 125%” and click “Apply”

7. You’ll get a pop-up window asking if you want to “Sign out now” or “Sign out later”

     Choose “Sign out later”

     And RESTART your computer/ laptop

8. Try running your program and you should see some positive changes

These steps should work with other programs with similar problems

Hope this helps…Good Luck