Photoshop CS6 with HD display
bfluegie
Registered Users Posts: 850 Major grins
I may have recently taken a step forward when I got a Dell XPS-13 with 4K touchscreen, but I’m apparently still in the dark ages when it comes to post processing. I’m working with the last standalone versions of Lightroom (Lightroom 6.14) and Photoshop (CS6). I haven’t installed my LR catalogs from other computers yet, but Lightroom seems to be handling the higher resolution screen. Unfortunately Photoshop may show the photos OK but the user interface is tiny. It didn’t automatically scale and I haven’t found a way in Photoshop to enlarge the UI. This is what it looks like—totally unusable, at least with my eyes.
The only thing I have been able to find online for CS6 that will allow you to work in 4K is a registry hack. But I also found one source that said that the hack messed up some of the tools, causing actual selection to be different than what the tool is covering. The only other suggestion I saw is to change resolution to 1080 and then disable scaling in Photoshop.
Has anyone who still uses Photoshop CS6 figured out a way around this issue? I suppose it could be time for me to just join the rest of the universe and get the subscription. Or I could just decide to use something else on those rare occasions when I need something more than Lightroom. I do have Topaz Studio and ON1 Photo Raw, but my few attempts at using them haven’t worked as well for me as Lightroom/Photoshop. Possibly just because I am more familiar with the Adobe products. But I may have hit a wall with the versions I currently have. I really don't use Photoshop that much so maybe I can use Lightroom and then go into either ON1 or Topaz instead of Photoshop. I don't know if that would work or not.
Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Comments
I don't think there's a good solution, Barbara. Adobe prefers that you give them more money, and they're not going to make it easy for you to avoid. The main problem is that without Adobe code changes, you can only change the overall resolution of the running application. So if you change the resolution of the UI, you are also changing the resolution of the images. Now maybe this is OK for you and the registry hack or Windows setting change will let you use the application. But your 4K display will be wasted while you're in the Adobe applications. Depending on your needs this might not matter, dunno.
Thanks for the quick response Richard. I was afraid of this since I really couldn't find much online. Based on a YouTube video I found the registry hack can have some unwanted side effects. Here's a link to the video. The proposed solution in the video is to reduce display resolution.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BgrOCs3SsBI
I'd hate to give up all this new resolution. I know I've never had it before but now that I do I want to use it.
I might play around with the other programs I have, comparing results to what I have previously obtained with Lightroom and Photoshop. Maybe I'll start out in Lightroom and then go to ON1 Photo Raw the way I have gone to Photoshop. If I can't get this to work I might see if GIMP or one of the other free programs will take the place of Photoshop. Otherwise I guess I'll be signing on for the subscription.
One other possibility occurred to me. If your computer supports a second monitor, you might be able to add a lower resolution monitor and split the screen so that the PS palettes and tools appear on the low res screen (at their proper size), while the preview image is on the 4K screen (in all its glory). You would still have an issue with the selection tools and cursors being smaller in the preview image, though maybe you could get around this by tweaking the magnification. I have absolutely no idea whether this would work, but it might be worth looking at. I'm pretty sure I remember reading about using older versions of PS on dual monitor systems, but I don't know what happens if the monitors have different resolutions.
The reason I got a laptop is because I hope to start traveling almost full time in about a year. I have considered taking a 24" display if I have room in order to have a larger monitor than the 13" laptop. I haven't tried hooking up a second display but I may have to give it a try. My current desktop display is not 4K so I might find out how it works.
I also thought about the Windows Ease of Access functions. There is a magnifier available. It doesn't seem to turn on and off as easily as I would like but maybe I could find a third party app that would just come on when I need it to magnify the menu. I have just started playing around with the windows version but it looks like I would have to keep setting the magnification back down to 100% and maybe change another setting after I use it to magnify a tool or menu item since I don't want to keep a magnified zone around the cursor at all times. I suppose I could just keep the entire screen magnified while in Photoshop and turn it off when I go back to Lightroom. My ideal would be an app that sits on the task bar or in the system tray that I could click on to get a "lens" that magnifies whatever the cursor is pointed at. Then after I select the menu item or tool I could click again to stop the magnification. Basically I want something that is right there when I need it and goes away quickly when I don't. Anyone know of an app like that? I guess I'm off to start searching.
I did some more reading about the Windows magnifier and found that there are keyboard shortcuts that may work for me. Hold down the Windows key and press + to turn it on (without magnification) and WIN and + to magnify to 200%. Then I could make my menu or tool selection and press the Windows key and ESC to turn off the magnifier. Or if I want to keep it on I can hold down the WIN key and press the minus key to reduce the magnification but keep the magnifier tool on. I'm not sure yet which would work better for me, but I'm going to give it a try.
http://fixthephoto.com/photoshop-not-enough-ram.html
http://www.fltdsgn.com/10-best-free-online-photo-editors/
First, verify that you really are out of RAM. Set the little dropdown control below the preview to 'efficiency.' This will show how often you are swapping. If it remains at 100%, you do not have a memory problem.
Next: make sure that you are not running other programs that are using your computer's memory. Window and OS-X both have system monitoring tools that show memory usage.
Once you are sure that memory is the issue, you don't have a whole lot of options. The most straightforward approach is to add more RAM to your system, if it can support it. Some systems will not accept more than 16GB. You might need to replace one or more of your existing memory cards with a higher capacity one if you don't have any free slots. Be sure to check with the manufacturer before buying anything.
If your machine is maxed out on RAM, you might try adding the fastest solid state disk you can find and using it as your Photoshop cache drive. This will not give you the same performance as more RAM but could be the cheapest approach. If you are only maxed out from time to time, this might be acceptable.
Finally, you might have to consider buying a new machine with greater RAM capacity.
You probably don't need more RAM, not with 16GB. That's more than enough except for very intensive large documents.
The Photoshop installer for Windows allows you to install a 32-bit or 64-bit version. Check to see which version of Photoshop you installed. If you installed the 32-bit version, that may be the problem. A 32-bit application on Windows or Mac is unable to see more than 2 to 4GB of RAM depending. It will stop at these limits and believe it is "out of RAM" no matter if your computer has 8GB, 64GB, or 128GB of RAM. A 64-bit application can access up to 17 billion GB of RAM (!) if I read a web page right.
If you find out that you installed the 32-bit version, go back to the Photoshop installer and run the 64-bit install.
Now, if your computer is so old that you can only run a 32-bit OS and applications, then you do need a new computer.