New Accesibility Feature in IMatch 2023.1.20 - Text Scaling

Started by Mario, July 25, 2023, 07:49:47 PM

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Mario

The upcoming IMatch 2023.1.20 is the first IMatch release that supports Windows text scaling.
This is a feature in Windows that allows users to "make text bigger" across the board, in Windows and all compatible applications.

rn_2023_1_20_1.jpg

Note: this setting is independent from DPI scaling (Display settings > Scale in Windows), which IMatch also supports.

This option is on by default.
IMatch applies the text scaling configured for Windows to all text displayed in IMatch, from tree controls to dialog boxes to apps.

This can be very welcome, for both young and older eyeballs :)
You can disable it under under Edit > Preferences > Application if you don't want it.
If the text scaling is Windows is set to default (100%) there is no difference, whether this is enabled in IMatch or not.

For a text scaling setting of 130%, this changes the text size e.g. in the File Relations configuration dialog like this:

rn_2023_1_20_2.jpg

It was quite hard to make this work, since IMatch not only uses Windows components / controls, but also components provided by the Microsoft runtime environment and 3rd party user interface libraries.

It seems to work quite well, though. If you find something not looking right, let me know via a bug reports.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook

Tveloso

There have been many times where something in IMatch has made me say out loud something like "that's so cool"...when learning about a new feature or using one for the first time, that I knew about, but didn't really appreciate its power.

While this feature is not something that I need (yet), it is another example of how remarkable IMatch is, and Mario's dedication to always improving it even more.

Thank you Mario.
--Tony

Mario

Quote from: Tveloso on July 26, 2023, 02:10:22 PMThere have been many times where something in IMatch has made me say out loud something like "that's so cool"...when learning about a new feature or using one for the first time, that I knew about, but didn't really appreciate its power.
Thanks. Much appreciated :)

IMatch is DPI Aware for many years, which means it handles different display DPI settings and adapts.
Some of the newer notebooks have such insanely high DPI screens (ad quite small ones) that some users need to run 250% to 300% UI scaling in order to be able to read text. Weird.

IMatch is multi-monitor aware and can deal with it - even if the monitors use different resolutions, DPI settings or color profiles. This requires some programming effort. But multi-monitor systems are not unusual among the IMatch user base. I use 2 4K display now. Very comfortable, both for workstation computers or notebook docking.

"Intensive" features like the Keywords Panel, the Metadata Panel and the Attributes Panel support individual font sizes for a long time. Because upping the font size a notch or two makes it so much easier on the eye to add or edit metadata and keywords for hundreds of files in a row.

VarToy has customizable font size since IMatch 2023. Which helps to get variables with many .,; working by having a larger font for better readability.

There is also a general "App Panel Scale" (Edit > Preferences > Application), which allows to scale all apps and app-based views in IMatch up and down. This is a global setting which affects all apps.

The new feature in 2023.1.20 to support Windows text scaling is just another accessibility feature, to make IMatch easier to use for as many persons in as many environments as possible.
-- Mario
IMatch Developer
Forum Administrator
http://www.photools.com  -  Contact & Support - Follow me on 𝕏 - Like photools.com on Facebook