Workaround for tiny Photoshop UI on High DPI screens


Recently got a laptop with a gorgeous 4K display resolution. I got it to do some heavy duty work with many of my graphic applications while on the the road. I was immediately bummed when I first fired up CS6's Fireworks, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Illustrator to find that everything is tiny, better yet, microscopic.




There is the simple solution of downing the resolution to 1600 x 900 and changing the scaling to 100%, but you cut your gorgeous display down to a quarter of its previous glory…and that’s not the point.

SO! Rather than change a bunch of setting every time I needed to use a few apps by Adobe, I started to seek out a better solution without much luck.


What is the root of the problem?

Short answer: Adobe.
Long answer: When the apps load, Windows asks if the app is High DPI aware and these apps answer “yes”. Which is why you end up with an interface for ants.

 

What is the solution for it?

Have the app tell Windows that it is not DPI aware and let it scale everything properly. (Not the best solution, but it does the trick)

 

Step-by-Step Fix:

  1. Force Windows to look for an external manifest file.
  2. Create the external manifest files.

 

Step 1: Tell windows to prefer an external manifest file



Make sure you backup your registry (or create a restore point before your proceed) and tread lightly in this area. However, we are only adding one line, so this is VERY easy; do not be intimidated.


  1. Press  Windows Button + R, type “regedit”, and then click OK.
  2. Navigate to the following registry subkey:
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersionSideBySide
  3. Right-click, select NEW > DWORD (32 bit) Value
  4. Type PreferExternalManifest, and then press ENTER.
  5. Right-click PreferExternalManifest, and then click Modify.
  6. Enter Value Data and select Decimal.
  7. Click OK. Exit Registry Editor.

Step 2: Create and place the external manifest files

This is the exciting part. All you have to do is copy your manifest file to all of the application folders that you would like to change the scaling on. For example, Photoshop.exe is located at: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64 Bit) therefore, I have created a manifest file in text editor named photoshop.exe.manifest to place in that folder.





Here is a link to a txt file with the manifest code: manifest.txt
For Windows to use the external manifest file, you will have to change the name of the file to the executable of the application. (e.g. photoshop.exe.manifest)
Here are the files I created for my device (Right-click and save to use on your machine):

Now place this file in the same directory as your executable. All of the ones listed above are in pretty straight forward locations like C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe or C:\Program Files\Adobe.

And that's it! It should look great now on your screen. You don't have to reboot or change anything else.


UPDATE:
Registry Permission Issues not allowing users to change from Hexadecimal to Decimal.

1. Reboot device and try again. If that doesn't work, try the following option.
2. Registry Permissions Fix: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-files/cant-save-files-wo-admin-permission-when-logged-in/060deaf8-4166-4e75-b6c4-2d846e41f8a7?auth=1

 


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