SCHMACTUAL SIZE

[gustav_been@rock.com@adobeforums.com]

Hey. I read a discussion on "actual size" in the Indesign Mac forum. Well, it's obviously a problematic feature if one wants it working. Nevertheless it would be really useful to see a document in it's "actual" printing size. The only question is how. Adobe may have some super-organic plasma screens that displays perfect Adobe-sizes but I don't. My 21" ViewSonic P815 runs in 1600x1200 and displays 100% size A4 pages in about 14 cm width. I refuse to change my hardware settings in order to experiment my way to a close match. Does anyone have an idea as how to tackle this? It is quite disappointing if I may say so, that Adobe hasn't paid attention to this.

[Guy_Smiley@adobeforums.com]

[email]gustav_been@rock.com@adobeforums.com[/email] wrote in
news:3bb4dfc3.-1@webx.la2eafNXanI:

> It is quite disappointing if I may say so, that Adobe hasn't paid
> attention to this.

What would you expect them to do? There is no way for an application to
know the absolute dimensions of a screen pixel.

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

Yes there is. The user can tell the application. Many applications support this, including Photoshop (for its actual print size feature where you get to tell PS how many dpi you plan to print at).

It would have been so easy to have built this in from the start but now it's a feature that is unlikely to ever make it high on most user's lists of features.

You can, of course, work out what percentage represents actual size on your monitor and type that number into the magnification field.

Dave

[Guy_Smiley@adobeforums.com]

[email]Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com[/email] wrote in
news:3bb4dfc3.1@webx.la2eafNXanI:

> You can, of course, work out what percentage represents actual
> size on your monitor and type that number into the magnification
> field.

And this is different from "[t]he user can tell the application" in
what way?

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

Well, if you told the application once "My monitor is 98.5 ppi" then actual size and 200% and 400% and whatever% will give you just what you'd expect it to give you.

Which is far, far different from typing in 137.5% and 275% or whatever, every time.

Dave

[John Mensinger]

I have to admit I'm baffled by the way this keeps coming up, and the importance it seems to hold for some users. I do a lot of "view management" while I'm working in order to facilitate the various tasks at hand, but I couldn't care less about a theoretical "actual size." I know the size of the paper, and the size/position of every item I place on it. I can print a copy at 100% whenever it would be beneficial, and there are many reasons to do so that are much more critical than seeing actual size. What's the mystery?

[gustav_been@rock.com@adobeforums.com]

Well, then why include a feature that obviously doesn't work? I disagree with you John, some of us have a need for WYSIWYG, wheter it's about displeyng actual colors or actual sizes. Now, I read a post describing a apllescript that would adjust this feature. Can we apply this to Windows as well?

[Dave_Saunders@adobeforums.com]

All the AppleScript does is set the screen to actual size by setting the zoom level to whatever you decide it should be. In JavaScript, which works on either platform, it is:

app.layoutWindows[0].zoomPercentage = 140;

Substitute your preferred value for the 140.

But this is not the same as changing the meaning of "actual size." That's built into the product.

Dave