Image quality in editor - jagged edges

[stuarto46527878]

When I open an image from the organiser into the editor, the image displayed is of much lower quality. It looks more pixelated and the edges are significantly jagged. This is even before any changes have been made.

If I edit the image, say with some filters, and then save it, it looks fine again in the organiser view.

Is this some sort of cut-down preview for performance purposes? I cannot see any preference to improve the preview quality.

[MichelBParis]

stuarto46527878  wrote

When I open an image from the organiser into the editor, the image displayed is of much lower quality. It looks more pixelated and the edges are significantly jagged. This is even before any changes have been made.

If I edit the image, say with some filters, and then save it, it looks fine again in the organiser view.

Is this some sort of cut-down preview for performance purposes? I cannot see any preference to improve the preview quality.

In the editor, the only situation in which you can judge the edges is when displaying at 100% pixel view. Zooming to 50%, 25% or 12.5% also allows a good interpolation for  viewing.

What you are seeing is also much more visible if your display has a low resolution.

[GZinnysdaguy]

I see in your reply that you mention displaying at different pixel views.  I am new to PSE and cannot find a switch or toggle which allows me to change the display resolution in the editor window.  Please excuse me if this question does not make sense but I have just converted from Paintshop Pro and never had this issue with their editor.

[GZinnysdaguy]

Ah, I looked a little deeper into your answer and found under the View dropdown an option to go to 'Actual Pixels'.  Sure enough, on 'Actual Pixels' the jagged edges disappeared.  However back on 'Fit on Screen' (the only other option on PSE 15) the image is poor. Do you know of any other option to improve the editors display quality.

[MichelBParis]

If you can see 'jagged' edges, that means you are seeing individual pixels which produce a 'scale - stairstep' effect on diagonal lines.

You don't have enough pixels to draw the line so that the eye no longer sees the individual pixels.

As mentioned in my previous post, that is especially a problem if your display is low resolution (= few pixels...)

Your original file has enough pixels because you no longer see the scale effect when you zoom to 100%.

Your printed file will use all the pixels of your image, not the reduced (downsampled) version your display can only provide.

Is it possible to get a 'smoother' view at 'fit on screen'?

The editor shows a downsampled (reduced pixels count) version of your image. To be able to zoom instantly, the process for that transformation is not the best possible. When you want to create a reduced version of your file, you can use the 'resize' menu. The result should be better because the downsampling algorithm can fool the eye to see a smoother diagonal line by changing the luminosity/tone of adjacent pixels. You have several options in the resize tool box to choose from. But those resizing tools are not fast enough for instant viewing while zooming in and out. So, you are left with zooming at 50%, 25% factors which use a more efficient algorithm. When you use the + and - cursor of the zoom tool (look at the slider in the tool palette).

[GZinnysdaguy]

Thank you for your rapid reply and for the information about how things are rendered in PSE.

Is it correct for me to summarise that Adobe must use different downsampling rates or algorithms for Organiser and the Editor?  The reason they do that is to allow users to quickly resize their images as they edit which they don't need to do in Organiser.

Organiser would not have as much background code associated with image manipulation as the Editor so they can afford to spend more processing time in creating a prettier downsized image.

Maybe it's the same reason why Paintshop Pro in Windows never seemed to have the same issue, i.e. because it wasn't as powerful an editor and didn't need to run as much background code to manipulate it's images.

[MichelBParis]

You don't specify the dimensions in pixels of your display. I can't see the 'jagged' effect on mine (1920 x 1200 px) and it's negligible on my wife's laptop (1366 x 758).

Yes, Adobe chose speed over edge optimization in the editor. Do you mean you are using the F11 (full screen) view in the organizer?

In practice, that kind of optimization for viewing purposes is not so important, in the editor it's mainly to assess sharpening and detail level; in those cases, it's necessary to be at 100%; same for editing in camera raw in the ACR module.

Remember you can switch to 100% view and back by double clicking on the magnifier icon in the tool palette.

[GZinnysdaguy]

Thanks again for continuing this discussion.

My display is 1920p x 1080p and the video card in my Macbook Pro detected and matched that resolution.

In organiser, as in editor, the default image for viewing and editing photos shows a downsampled image of the whole photo.  This image takes up the same size screen real estate in both apps yet one is smooth and the other crinkled.

[GZinnysdaguy]

I have this same issue. My display is ok as it renders the same files perfectly in other applications.  It is only in the editors that the interpolation is awful.