Dell XPS 15 High Res Laptop and IMATCH

[kiwilink]

Hi Mario:

Reference thread "Dell XPS QHD 3200x1800 Display and IMATCH".

A while back I asked about my high resolution laptop that I bought (a Dell XPS15). My resolution is 3840x2160.  I have attached a screenshot that shows what IMATCH looks like.  Since I wrote that thread I have come across a fix that is widely used by Photoshop users with high resolution monitors.  It involves using a Manifest file.  I am referencing that link.  http://www.danantonielli.com/adobe-app-scaling-on-high-dpi-displays-fix/  The second attachment shows what my IMATCH screen looks like when I use this manifest file.

My question is this.  As you can see, if I don't use the Manifest file my file window is too small because of the high res.  If I use the Manifest file I end up with a degraded resolution.  I'd like to know if you have any suggestions for me.  If I look at my images on this high res laptop outside of IMATCH they look spectacular.  If I use IMATCH without using the Manifest file my pictures are spectacular but my file window is too small.  The file window is the right size if I use the Manifest file but I then lose the high resolution within IMATCH.

I also mentioned before that my customized file layout window has a lot of spaces down in the footer area when using my High Res but not when I use the Manifest file.  Any suggestions there?

Thanks!

Kiwilink

[ianrr]

Thanks a million for this how to link  ... can put away the magnifying glass for Photoshop !!!

I have the same Dell laptop  ... extremely happy with it. Truly well thought out machine.

Await to see if Mario has an option to your question big time

Ian

[Mario]

IMatch is DPI-aware and comes with it's own manifest file to inform Windows about it.
I work on a high-DPi 4K monitor myself. I run IMatch on monitor setups with 100% to 200% font-scaling.
I'm not sure which problem you are trying to solve?

You can configure font sizes, icon sizes, tree icon sizes, toolbar button sizes etc. individually to match your taste and screen resolution and DPI setting you use.

Since there are some ; spread around in your footer, this looks like empty variables to me?
You did not specify a Size for the footer or anything.
Try to specify a Size (in pixels) and also a font size in point. This may help.

[kiwilink]

Mario/Ianrr:

Ianrr:  Glad it helped.

Mario:  Thanks for the fast reply.  I was trying to change the size of the file window so the Image was larger (see my 1st attachment where I drew a red square to show the size of the image I'm trying to see).  I did not see a place in "Preferences" "File Window" where I could change the pixel size.

I was unaware I could change the size of the headers and footers under Layout but I see it now that you pointed it out (see attachment 2).  Thanks!!  I will play with this and see if I can tailor one for this laptop.  On my desktop (which is not a high Def 4K) it looks great as is.

Let me know if I really can change the image size and where I should go to do this.

Thanks!

Mike

PS  I created a test database and changed the default from 300 to 900 for thumbnail generation and that looked pretty good.  Would this be a big impact on my 700K image database if this is what I would have to do? 

[Mario]

The thumbnails only grow as large as you have created them!
If you set IMatch to create 300 x 300 pixel thumbnails, this is what you get. If you run on a 4K monitor and make the file window panel 500 pixels wide, the thumbnail will not grow - because it cannot.

You can configure the thumbnail size under Edit > Preferences > Database. Not that you then need to do a "force rescan" to drop existing thumbnails and re-create larger thumbnails from the original image. Also note that 600 pixel thumbnails instead of 300 pixel thumbnails require 4 times as much disk space in the database and also four times as much memory in the memory cache.

You can configure many things in your file window layouts, from the size of the headers and footers to fond-size.

For more info, see the IMatch help and the knowledge-base articles:

Configuring IMatch for High-DPI Screens and Easier Reading

and Using Large Icons for Toolbars in IMatch

[kiwilink]

Mario!

Thanks a million for the reply.  Yep, I got it.  I just changed the test database from 300 to 1000 and on this 4K monitor it looks pretty good (see attachment).  Before I change my entire database do you recommend against this?  I have an I7 processor and 16GB of memory so maybe I wouldn't notice the difference but I wanted to ask what you thought.  I'm squinting to see the 300DPI on this Laptop.

On my desktop the 300DPI default is just fine but on this 4K laptop the 300DPI is too small even when I move the slider to the right.

Thanks Mario!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

The reason why IMatch gives you control over the thumbnail size is that you can adapt it to your needs.

A 1000x1000 pixel thumbnail takes about 4 MB (!) storage on disk and in memory when cached. Your database will become a lot larger!
A 300x300 pixel thumbnail only about 350 KB...

[kiwilink]

Mario

OK.  I think after careful consideration, I will use the default 300.  As to my layout, I have tried compressing my footers even using 1 as the size but I can't seem to get Footer 2 to show up right under Footer 1 (see attachments).  I also was trying to eliminate the blank space right under the thumbnail (I highlighted it in blue in my 1st attachment).  In esscence, I'm trying to get my footers to align right under each other as I see with my headers (and I didn't change the size for the headers).

If you can guide me here I'll be good to go.

Thanks!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

There may always be some space between footers, depending on font metrics, line heights etc.
You can just combine it into one footer, no?  Add a <LineBreak/> to wrap to a new line.

[kiwilink]

Mario:

Wow!  Genius.  I didn't know I could do that within the Layout footers.  Worked great!  I still have the space above the "rating".  Is that something I can shrink?  If not, I can live with this.  Thanks so much. 

See the attachment!

Kiwilink

[Mario]

Worked great!  I still have the space above the "rating"

That 'space' is there because your panel is much wider than your thumbnail size. You won't see it if you match the thumbnail size in your database to the width you want to use for your panels. If the thumbnail becomes wider, it will fill the space above the rating as well.

For information and examples about XAML markup used by IMatch in file window layouts, File Window Tips, Design & Print etc., please see the XAML help topic. If also explains about <LineBreak/> and stuff.

[sinus]

Worked great!  I still have the space above the "rating"

That 'space' is there because your panel is much wider than your thumbnail size. You won't see it if you match the thumbnail size in your database to the width you want to use for your panels. If the thumbnail becomes wider, it will fill the space above the rating as well.

For information and examples about XAML markup used by IMatch in file window layouts, File Window Tips, Design & Print etc., please see the XAML help topic. If also explains about <LineBreak/> and stuff.

And, of course there is also the additional reason, having landscape and portrait-format does include spaces normally, at the sides or below/above.

[kiwilink]

Mario/Sinus:

Thanks so much for the feedback.  I really appreciate it. 

I am so happy I went with IMATCH years ago!!!!  The flexibility of IMATCH just continues to amaze me.


What other program has terrific support like this from the author and the outstanding helpful moderators/users.  I just love this program!!!!!!

Kiwilink

[sinus]

Mario/Sinus:

Thanks so much for the feedback.  I really appreciate it. 

I am so happy I went with IMATCH years ago!!!!  The flexibility of IMATCH just continues to amaze me.

What other program has terrific support like this from the author and the outstanding helpful moderators/users.  I just love this program!!!!!!
Kiwilink

And I appreciate such comments like yours!  Thanks.

Glad hearing, that you are happy with IM5.