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CS5 Very small toolbar- Tried Preferences, Interface, Large and it doesn't work.

Community Beginner ,
May 23, 2010 May 23, 2010

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I have Win 7 and just got the CS5 Premium installed.  Everything is fine in the other programs but Photoshop's toolbar and swatch pallette are so small that it is very hard to work with.  The menu bar(file, edit, etc) all across the top look like they are are a 2 pt. font. They are also very hard to read.  I tried setting it to large in the preferences but it didn'tchange anything.  Any other suggestions?

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

LEGEND , May 23, 2010 May 23, 2010

Your system's DPI setting in the display settings.

Mylenium

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LEGEND ,
May 23, 2010 May 23, 2010

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Your system's DPI setting in the display settings.

Mylenium

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Community Beginner ,
May 23, 2010 May 23, 2010

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I have always had my system appearance/display setting set at "Larger" (150%).   I did go to the control panel and changed the screen resolution from 1920 x 1080 down to 1360 x 768.  That made the tools and menus the correct size.  But then all my other programs(and desktop) had huge menus and tools.  They were so large that it would be hard to work in those programs.  So I set it back to 1920 x 1080 and I'm back to the microscopic tools and menus in Photoshop.  Is there anything else that you could recommend?  Thanks for your help.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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You can make your other programs stay small by setting your appearance/display setting to 100% when you change the resolution to 1360 x 768

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Guest
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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It is a mistake to use any other setting than the monitor's native resolution if you are a serious Photoshop user.


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New Here ,
Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016

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- now seriously ?

- how do you discover such fundamental truth ?

So, after more than 15 years in PS and comp. [Dreamweaver, Flash, Flex Builder, Illustrator, inDesign]  (yep - quite everyday) you tell me I'm not a serious user ? - maybe you are right, I make jokes all day long.

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Community Beginner ,
Mar 27, 2015 Mar 27, 2015

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Unfortunately, changing the display resolution is NOT a solution on a hi-rez Mac. You cannot change the system display resolution without tremendous loss of quality. Not because it's lower resolution, but because it is fuzzy and creates distortions and halos.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 25, 2015 Apr 25, 2015

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That's very nice that you know about the 'DPI' settings.  WTF is a DPI??  You guys posting answers out here have to take into consideration that most of us don't know a damn thing about computers.  What is average to you on a day to day basis ... most of us have never heard about them.

So ... when you say "Your system's DPI setting in the display settings."  has absolutely no meaning to me ... and I don't know how many others.  We are not all 'System Administrators' with years of computer skills under our belts. 


Please provide ALL of the information related to your answer ... we are not stupid, if you can be a tad more specific that would go a long way.

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Community Beginner ,
Sep 02, 2015 Sep 02, 2015

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Firstly, calm down. You're asking others to be considerate, but you're also being rude and disrespectful. Which is probably why no one bothered to help you.

Secondly, you're using a professional level software. DPI is not professional-level jargon, its a widely known and used tech term. You have access to google it, try using that. I'm not saying everyone knows everything, I've used design software for 15 years, and there are still things I don't know as I've never needed to. It's just an opportunity to learn something new. Flipping out isn't the way to get help. If you are having trouble understanding something in specific, try asking politely.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 07, 2016 Apr 07, 2016

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That is a little like turning the volume up by asking everyone else to shut up.

Altering the PPI setting on a Windows screen will change the font of the OS and all software. This can throw out the fonts where they are not unreasonably small in the first place (as is the case with Adobe applications).

Maybe you could change the PPI before using Adobe products, and then change it back again afterwards. But that is a lot of messing about. And remember than the fudge is only necessary at all because Adobe does not take accessibility seriously.

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Explorer ,
Dec 15, 2017 Dec 15, 2017

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This is a solution ONLY in some cases, so the question should not be shown as "Answered." Many of us have tried re-setting our monitor DPI, but that has made other apps too large and has not affected the tiny CS5 menus.   

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Community Beginner ,
May 23, 2010 May 23, 2010

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I have just installed CS5 and am having same problem.  Also Win 7.  The menu titles and icons in title bar are so tiny they are unreadable.  Adjusting dpi size doesn't affect this program atr all.  It seems as if Adobe doesn't respond to the usual Windows adjustments?  Any ideas?  I just can't see the menu titles.  It is awful

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Community Beginner ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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Do you have the trial version of CS5?  That is what I am using and I will be getting the disks today.  I'm hoping once I install the disks that my tools and menus will get bigger. I did read where you can manually set the dpi to 149% or 151% in your display settings.  That didn't help with making the tools any bigger but it did take away the triple cursor problem that I had in Photoshop Elements.  If you find a solution, let me know.

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Community Beginner ,
May 24, 2010 May 24, 2010

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I have the full version of CS5.  Nothing will change the title bar text.  If I play around with my Win7 display settings I can increase the size of everything else, slide bars, menus themselves, palettes, but not Adobe menu titles.  Dreamweaver seems the same, it has teeny weeny text and is nearly unreadable.

I am very cross about this, every other program is amenable to being changed within Windows - why not this one?

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New Here ,
Feb 01, 2017 Feb 01, 2017

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New Computers Have a Very High Screen Resolution | Change to 1920 x 1080 and your problem is fixed.

Go to your systems (computer) advanced display settings and bring the resolution down to 1920 x 1080.

or

search Display Settings on your system (computer) find Advanced Display Settings and bring the resolution down to 1920 x 1080.

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New Here ,
Jun 07, 2010 Jun 07, 2010

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Amen.  I have a 30 inch monitor and 66 yr old eyes (and Windows 7).  My workflow is constantly interrupted by having to change my seated position and thrust my head forward so that I can read the icons.  It's like buying a Ferrari but being unable to adjust the seat.  I find it a gross oversight and sleight to users who spend a lot of money to use their product, which supplies multiple options to manipulate the workspace and photographs but no way to adjust the fonts in the workspace.

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 09, 2010 Jun 09, 2010

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Have you tried making the menu options larger?  Not idea I know, as the menu titles remain ridiculously small.

I used Control panel - App and Personalise - Personalize - change window glass colour - Adv application settings.

Then select from list of Items - Menu and make it larger font type and size (Verdana is nicely spaced for reading on screen).  It does make the menu items list much larger.

I also tried Edit/prefs/Interface. UI text = large and I think it made the palette size a bit larger.

The real issue here is why does Adobe not conform to Windows accessibility options.  I thought most companies now had to allow for reading problems on screens - I guess they just forgot it!!

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LEGEND ,
Jun 09, 2010 Jun 09, 2010

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Adobe software has the rare characteristic that it is built for BOTH Windows and Apple environments.  Under the covers, Adobe has "rolled its own" controls, coded in a system-nonspecific manner.

This has both good and bad sides.

The good side is that it's one of the most consistent products between the platforms that you will find.  If you are good at using Photoshop on a Mac and you are placed in front of a Windows system, chances are you'll be good at using Photoshop on that system as well.

That bad side is that Adobe may not keep up with the latest "trends" in window management by Microsoft.  To their credit, Microsoft has been working to make the Windows environment more usable by creating things like the ability to size up virtually everything on the display.  This is not accomplished in one fell swoop, but by making the myriad different controls and visual elements sensitive to the chosen settings.

See where I'm headed here?

Adobe, while creating an environment that has certain advantages for them, has also created an environment that has certain assumptions built in - like what size things will be rendered on the display, and this environment is also very vast, embodying all the Adobe products.

Adobe apparently has not chosen to migrate their UI controls along with the new Microsoft directions - which by any measure aren't consistent even in themselves (just look at the UI for WordPad in Windows 7 if you want an example).  Adobe might also have made the judgment that if they were to tweak their controls they'd unleash a whole new realm of user problems, both because they had to touch a lot of code, and because now there's a whole new layer of complexity that covers virtually everything.

Even today on some systems people report not being able to see all the numbers in the edit boxes.  Imagine if all those UI elements were made variable...

I'm not justifying Adobe's approach, but I can say (as a developer myself) I do understand it.

-Noel

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Guest
Jun 09, 2010 Jun 09, 2010

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Big mistake by Adobe – and maybe illegal.


Aren't there accessibility requirements for commercial software?


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LEGEND ,
Jun 09, 2010 Jun 09, 2010

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Illegal?  You're kidding, right?  Commercial software user interfaces are not regulated by law, no more than law requires a novel to be printed in large type.

You might be confusing with laws governing access to telephone services, or something like that.

Now, it might be that Adobe could sell better into certain markets (e.g., the Federal Government) by being able to say they conform to certain requirements for accessibility (e.g., section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) on a response to a request for bid.  That could make it commercially attractive to add those features.

But an illegal UI?  

Maybe someday...  Give the lawyers time.

-Noel

Disclaimer:  I am no lawyer; I've just done a little research.

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Explorer ,
Jun 20, 2010 Jun 20, 2010

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Well, I, for one, only purchased CS5 when I was assured by the sales rep on the phone that I was going to be "very happy" with the improvements Adobe has made in terms of accessibility.  I was told that they finally did conform to the Windows accessibility practices and that I would be able to use these programs as I do any other (including Paint Shop Pro, which I have been using for decades partly because the Adobe products were not accessible.

And to add insult to injury, I now have a project with a deadline, and Adobe says I have to pay for telephone support.  But I see here that it's not just me that is having these issues.

sjbh

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 20, 2010 Jun 20, 2010

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I have now resorted to changing my screen res to 1280 x 960 and I can now (just) read everything on PS screen.

What a ridiculous situation though.  I have not read any reviews that mention this lack of compatibility with Windows yet it is a very important point.  And I don't know how to even start complaining to Adobe - any ideas?

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Explorer ,
Jun 21, 2010 Jun 21, 2010

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I have written, called, and now I am about to really try to raise the roof

because I bought the whole CS5 Suite based on being told that it was

accessible. I have limited vision and I already have my windows fonts

tweaked and sized up. To have to change the screan resolution is not only a

PITA, as someone pointed out, it's a waste of an expensive monitor to use it

in something other than its native resolution. And I never use just PS--I

always have all sorts of applications open at once so changing the

resolution is not a resolution for me.

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Guest
Sep 14, 2010 Sep 14, 2010

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I'm surprised that you are surprised that this could be illegal. It makes perfect sense to me that it could.

Requiring large type is a disability I would think.

A book and software aren't even a little similar, software is alive. When I buy a book I know to buy large print, when I buy software I assume I will be able to adjust the text size somehow, someway, preferably simply.

So, I have just installed my lovely new CS5 on my lovely new windows 7 computer and sure enough, most of CS5 is not legible to me.  When I change the entire computers font view everything becomes grossly huge. This is all completely unfair, ridiculous and should be illegal.

Ageism at it's best.

s

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Community Beginner ,
Feb 18, 2016 Feb 18, 2016

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Adobe markets to the wider world. It is most definitely illegal in the UK, for example, under the Equality Act 2010.

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