How can I make the toolbars and window contents BIGGER?
Subtropic Pixel
Posts: 2,388
Hello. My two main working monitors are a 24" and 27" monitor, each running at 1920 X 1080. My monitors are each about 24" from my eyes.
The contents of the toolbars and working windows are much too small in Carrara and the text is too small to read. I don't want to have to use the Windows magnifier...
Even selecting the dropdowns, "help/about" is difficult to read.
How can I make the Carrara UI elements bigger on my screen without changing the screen resolution in Windows or the screen resolution in the main working window or render windows?
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Have you tried the Preferences?
I'm still trying to figure a way (I got curious when you asked the question). You can make the pictures of your content files bigger (but not much bigger) down in the content tray by clicking on the 2nd circular symbol from the left on the right hand side of the top of the content tray (if you hover over it it says 'large preview') but they aren't a *ton* bigger, honestly, they're still pretty small.
Also File/Preferences/Interface Font you can select to change the font type used by default and depending on which font you choose you can get larger writing, but I'm still searching for something that gives a *truly* larger result.
I'm sure you already know that you can grab the content trays and pull up, down, sideways and give yourself more real estate, but again, still searching for a way to make all the words and pictures truly *bigger* :)
Yes, me too. I was very much hoping AGAINST having to change my font sizes in Windows 8; that always screws things up, and often randomizes all of my desktop icons.
I can't read them, the typeset is too small!
Actually, yes I did try the preferences. "Interface Font" does allow the user to change the font but NOT THE SIZE. Even this forum allows me to change font sizes! Got any other ideas?
I don't have C8 or C8.5 so I wouldn't know if the ability to change font sizes was added or not. My other idea may be just to not try and help sarcastic people. 8-/
Well, I took your first response to be a bit sarcastic, so I guess we are even! And truth be told, neither of us gave enough information to be truly useful to the other; neither I in my first post nor you in your response. So again, we are even! :lol:
But seriously for a moment...no, 8.5 does not appear to allow resizing of fonts. The real bummer for me is that the program is not usable in this state; not with big monitors and 1920 X 1080 resolution. This has become an ongoing problem for me ever since getting monitors larger than 19", and I'm amazed that nobody else complains about their computers displaying everything in fine print. I feel like I'm reading a real estate contract!
Anyway, I am a "can do" person, so I am going to try changing the setting for all text in Windows, and will have to reboot soon; we'll see how that works.
Apologies for the failed attempt at humor.
I'm running into a wall on this; I can't figure out how to make the text bigger (so far). I'm certain there has to be an option for it though, hoping that Daz Spooky might wander by and see this thread and answer, but then again it's the weekend so...
I'll keep looking, sorry I don't have a better answer yet...
Hi Jon, and thank you for looking into this.
I just got back from a reboot; reset my Windows 8 text to 125%. Desktop is nicer to read but there is no benefit inside of the application, which is as I suspected.
This is going to be a serious usability problem for me. I don't sit close enough to my monitors to be able to use reading glasses, and as a new user I do not know the keyboard shortcuts yet, so I am going to be in a world of hurt here. And using Windows Magnifier just tends to slow down graphic processing and make the UI very sluggish, plus it requires that you have even more screen space to put the "magnified" portion, which usually causes you to be CONSTANTLY looking at a monitor to the side, awkward and not ergonomic.
Has nobody else ever complained about tiny fonts in the past 8+ versions of the product? I can't believe that the target demographic is all 18 year olds and people without common myopia.
Jon, I've just started going through the various fonts in preferences to see if any particular one is significantly bigger...maybe that will get me through this so that I can use the product while I start my campaign for Carrara 9. :smirk:
I will let you know if I find any that might be workable.
I changed mine to Cinecav X, which was designed for subtitling and has a greater x-height. It seems decent so far, but it's a paid font. You might try e.g. Tahoma or Verdana, because they also are designed with a larger x-height and should be easier to read. It is a bummer that we can't change font sizes, but as a programmer I can see where that could cause chaos pretty fast. It seems like the current UI toolkit was designed back in the days of smaller screens and a smaller set of agreed-upon pixel resolutions.
Veranda seems to be the least-worst; thank you for the tip.
But they're all pretty bad and I'm getting a headache just looking through fonts.
I use a free font called "digital strip" (a comic strip style font) and it gives the best readability of any I have tried.
Sorry, but there is no way to change the display font size. I have been complaining about this for years and for the same reasons you give.
I keep telling them that releasing The Millennium Cow will solve this problem, as well as all stability issues with Carrara - not to mention bring about World Peace, end Hunger and Poverty, as well as usher in a New Age of Bovinity in All Things.
But nobody takes me seriously...
What about changing your screen resolution? It's moderately easy by going into Control Panel, and can be reversed as easily. It might save your headache until you find a more reasonable way.
Gus
That's the problem. There is no other way, reasonable or not.
We LIKE larger resolution, and don't want to sacrifice it just for one program that refuses to cooperate!
Where is The Millennium Cow when we need her the most??
I agree with "Moo"!
Changing screen resolution to non-native settings make for a poorer experience all around. Might be livable if ONLY IF all I did was spreadsheets, but at least Microsoft Excel has a zoom slider at the bottom...so font sizes are not a problem with (ahem!) MS Office.
Too bad it's a visual-creative software that I want to use and high quality color-correct IPS monitors I want to use it on...
Here's a thought: Might there be a way to create a new version of an existing font; such as Tahoma; maybe named "Tahoma-BIG!", for example...where the so-called "default size" is 12 or 14 or whatever I want it to be...and then change Carrara to point to that new font?
If that doesn't pan out, I will investigate 3rd party software that could possibly help with this. Yes, I am getting the big hammer out. Will report back soon!
Does the magnifier tool work? I just tried it on my browser at it really magnifies! I like how sleek Carrara's tools are, personally.
This has been an issue for quite some time and I had hoped that maybe the beta version addressed this as I hadn't seen a thread in sometime about it. They used to pop up fairly often. The last time was in the c8.5 beta, but it was several iterations ago.
Hello Dartanbeck. Yes, Magnifier works; but it's a kludge.
As I mentioned above, you have to keep looking at the screen where your magnifier plop is, and the screen where your cursor is moves like a Google map within the magnifier window.
I actually have four screens here, so I have the screen space. But the auxiliary screens are not IPS or color correct and craning my neck to the side all the time is not a good long term solution, not to mention that the disorienting behavior of the magnifier plop window can induce nausea. I think the long-term answer is that we need to find a bigger font, and not just for the menu dropdowns, but for ALL of the UI elements INSIDE the application.
Moo, I found a free font called "Digital Strip". It might work, but there are two things I'm concerned about:
1. The Digital Strip font I found is actually an "all caps" font. These are sometimes more difficult to read; not unlike "all bold" text. I think what I need is an existing mixed-case font such as Tahoma, Calibri, or Veranda with a "native size" that is just a couple pixels bigger in all directions.
2. Downloading any free fonts and possibly getting malware with them.
Yeah, I agree magnifier would not be a workable permanent solution. I'm really surprised there isn't a way (that has been found so far at least) to just increase the font size. I'm lucky I guess that my vision problems are all in the realm of being nearsighted, which doesn't come into play when I'm working with Carrara, so I never thought about it before, but there really should be some way of doing this, doesn't seem like it would be too hard for the programmers to change the UI to add this option if it isn't already there.
I see; thanks for the info. What really mystifies me is how developers can just keep marching obliviously along with such small print, version after version, after version!
None of us are getting any younger and I don't want to wait years for DAZ's own developers to finally decide that they have to do it because they can't read their own application! I could be dead by then!
Of course, most coding workspaces (for example Microsoft Visual Studio) allow developers to adjust their fonts (INCLUDING SIZES!) in THAT application. Why not offer the same functionality to their own user community? Come on DAZ, be nice to us!
Hi again Jon; thank you for all the time you spent trying to find a solution.
I too am "just nearsighted", and it's all correctable. But I'm becoming more and more sensitive to small print, and since my monitors are 2 feet from my face (like they're supposed to be), it feels even worse.
It seems to me that package labels, music CD, and movie DVD packaging is getting smaller, not bigger. Even weed-killer, medicine, and frozen food labels are shrinking at an alarming rate. Labels on BIG gallon bottles are having more and more text crammed onto them. I swear the people designing software, labels of all kinds, and album art are not paying attention to these issues. Probably because they're in their 20s and 30s and are not yet annoyed by small print.
Even Windows 8 itself has made basic tasks more difficult. Scroll bars that are light grey on a white background, with no way to change them in Control Panel? And my only recourse is to change to a "high contrast" color palette? Please!
Sorry about that... I've never really used it before. I haven't slept for a couple days when I posted that :(
Boy isn't that the truth. When I try to spot the running time and whether it's a DVD or a Blueray I'm buying, well... good luck, and better break out the microscope.
Larger font sizes should be a no brainer and easy to add feature. I don't know how I missed it before, but I hadn't realized that other people have complained about this in the past until Evil mentioned it.
C'mon DAZ, don't make us wreck our eyes squinting! :)
This is an issue for Vue 11.5 PLE too, but theirs is not quite as painful. Neither is good; it's just a lesser-of-two-evils at this point.
In the US we have ADA and ISO compliance for the most common things such as doorways, stair dimensions, wheelchair accessible parking, the allowable height of a toilet seat, and even braille on bank ATM machines. I'm not a fan of forced compliance regulations, but it would be nice to at least have a published set of application guidelines, and a switch in the settings/preferences to either use them or "roll your own," so to speak.
Funny thing I see all the time: Braille buttons on bank ATMs. Did I say they were "DRIVE UP" ATM machines? :ohh:
The following is not sarcasm or an attempt at humor:
Maybe you should go back to using smaller screens. Or how about not running 1920 X 1080? Why not try 1280 x 720 or something else not as high. Everything on the screen will appear bigger. Fuzzier maybe, but bigger. By your own admission the bigger screen and higher resolution is not working for you so why work that way? Maybe only switch it when you want to use Carrara and switch it back for everything else.
The resolution of my 27" screen is 2560 x 1440. I'm also about two feet from it (sometimes more sometimes less depending on how far back my chair is leaning) and everything in Carrara is crystal clear and easy to read. Nothing seems too small.
Once again, this was not sarcasm.
Hi again Jon; thank you for all the time you spent trying to find a solution.
I too am "just nearsighted", and it's all correctable. But I'm becoming more and more sensitive to small print, and since my monitors are 2 feet from my face (like they're supposed to be), it feels even worse.
It seems to me that package labels, music CD, and movie DVD packaging is getting smaller, not bigger. Even weed-killer, medicine, and frozen food labels are shrinking at an alarming rate. Labels on BIG gallon bottles are having more and more text crammed onto them. I swear the people designing software, labels of all kinds, and album art are not paying attention to these issues. Probably because they're in their 20s and 30s and are not yet annoyed by small print.
Even Windows 8 itself has made basic tasks more difficult. Scroll bars that are light grey on a white background, with no way to change them in Control Panel? And my only recourse is to change to a "high contrast" color palette? Please!
Well, I'm no doctor but based on everything you said here it sounds like the problem is your eyes.
Again, not sarcasm.
And this is not sarcasm either, but the problem may be your eyes - they're TOO Good!!
I have heard many complain about this over the years, and a few say it's no problem - but you are the only one to claim to be able to read Carrara's interface at 2560 x 1440 from 2 feet away without difficulty.
That really is exceptional eyesight, and not meant as an insult.
(My Mommy says that sitting closer than 2 feet from the monitor is bad for my eyes)
And this is not sarcasm either, but the problem may be your eyes - they're TOO Good!!
I have heard many complain about this over the years, and a few say it's no problem - but you are the only one to claim to be able to read Carrara's interface at 2560 x 1440 from 2 feet away without difficulty.
That really is exceptional eyesight, and not meant as an insult.
(My Mommy says that sitting closer than 2 feet from the monitor is bad for my eyes)
Quit hanging with the bovines Sock! Everybody knows cows have bad eyesight! :P
Hello GigaShadow and thank you for your reply.
I know you're not being sarcastic, and I appreciate that. But asking me to downgrade my settings (resolution) or to downgrade my equipment is really not helpful...again, this is not just a mere office application; this is a tool that USES the visual. Why downgrade any of it?
Especially when DAZ has entire control over these capabilities. They wrote the code! The appropriate thing here is to put pressure on the maker to accommodate the user, not on the user to accommodate the maker.
I will need to find a way to make-do with the way it is now, yes of course. But when we throw our hands up for something like this just as you have done in your two posts above, then we let the maker off the hook...and it really is their responsibility to accommodate the customer, if not for current customers, at least for future customers. Or for current customers who might develop nearsightedness or other challenges over time. Might even include you or one of your loved-ones.
Imagine if we told your wife or girlfriend that she needs to use a 19" monitor ... but she uses YOUR computer and you have a 27" or other screen. No, the responsibility here resides with the people who write the software, and nowhere else.
UPDATE -
I have not yet found a workable solution, other than sitting no more than 12-16 inches from the monitor and wearing reading glasses. I can't do that because of the layout of my home office, so I will continue to pursue this, and I promise I will become a burr in the backside of DAZ-everybody. Who's with me? :cheese:
There are a couple of silver linings, however; so this effort has not been totally in vain.
1. I seem to have uncovered a real opportunity for DAZ to step up and fill a market gap for its customers. It looks like a lot of people have the same complaints about font sizes, and maybe not just for Carrara.
2. I stumbled upon two products that seem to be very helpful. Currently I am trialing these:
.....2.a - "Fences" by Stardock. Adjusting my font sizes in Windows causes all of my desktop icons to get slammed to the left, and no longer in any order that makes sense. "Fences" allows me to organize the icons and keep like-with-like. So far, I like!
.....2.b - "WindowBlinds" also by Stardock. I was hoping that this product would help me change the default font size that applications see from Windows. That did not pan out for me, but this package did solve a nagging and long-term problem that I have had with Windows 8, and that is "nearly invisible" scrollbars. As I mentioned in a prior post, light-grey on white is just silly-stupid, and Windows 8 offers no native way in Control Panel to change this to a more high-contrast selection. Well, WindowBlinds has brought several alternative "themes" back to the Windows 8 UI. I found one that has textured scrollbars like Windows 7 used to have.
Unfortunately, both products are paid items, but at least they are valid solutions!
I'm trialing both of them now and have 30 days to decide.
And this is not sarcasm either, but the problem may be your eyes - they're TOO Good!!
I have heard many complain about this over the years, and a few say it's no problem - but you are the only one to claim to be able to read Carrara's interface at 2560 x 1440 from 2 feet away without difficulty.
That really is exceptional eyesight, and not meant as an insult.
(My Mommy says that sitting closer than 2 feet from the monitor is bad for my eyes)
That could be. I do happen to have good eyesight.