Image size view is different in Affinity vs Photoshop and web browsers

[dulano]

I am having a frustrating time with image size using Affinity Photo. When I open the same image in affinity and photoshop and switch view to 100% and / or actual size the image looks different in Affinity vs Photoshop and when I export the image and view in web browser it is the same size as the Photoshop view. Please help. Thanks so much!

[HVDB Photography]

APhoto by default opens an image as 'Zoom to Fit' (Ctrl + 0)

View > Zoom shows the different shortcuts 

Pixel Size (Ctrl + 9) shows the same size in APhoto as viewed in your browser (screen resolution depending)  

Actual Size (Ctrl + 8) shows the exact size for printing

 

[Ric2016]

I am having same issue here. And I am viewing the image in 100% (Cmd + 1). Any help?

[Ric2016]

Hmm.. just found out Cmd + 9 (Pixel Size), which shows 100% of the actual pixel size as what GIMP or Photoshop understand as 100%. Now curious to understand what Affinity Photo understands for 100% (Cmd + 1)

[kirkt]

AP understands units, or physical dimensions of the document based on its pixel dimensions and the specified pixel density (pixels per inch, for example).

Try this:

1) make a new blank document that is the width of your display, in pixels.  For example, my display is 1920 pixels wide, so I specify 1920 in the width field of the new document dialog.  ALSO: specify a value for "DPI" - try 300 to see if what I am about to describe is what you experience.

2) When the new document opens, view it at 100% (CMD-1) - the document should be as wide as your display width, because that is the zoom based on pixel values.

3) Use the shortcut CMD-9 to view in Pixel Size.  The view should be the same, because the zoom is based on the pixel dimensions - NOTE, that it will likely be twice as big on a Retina display because of the way some apps treat 1:1 pixels on a Retina display.

4) Use the shortcut CMD-8 to view in Actual Size.  The document should be displayed smaller than the previous.  On my display, if I take a ruler and physically measure the dimension of the document on the display, it measures 6.4 inches, or 1920 pixels / 300 pixels per inch.  It would appear that AP is aware of my display's pixel density (screen resolution) and can do the scaling automatically.  In PS, you have to enter your display's "Screen Resolution" or pixel density (in Pixels Per Inch) manually in the preferences to get this type of scaling to work properly when viewing the document (see screenshot).  In PS, if you have this parameter set properly and you choose to view your document at Print Size, then the image on the display will have the physical dimensions of your print, based on the document's pixel dimensions and the DPI tag.  Thus, if your document were 1920 pixels wide in PS and you set the DPI tag to 300, PS would display the image at 6.4 inches wide on the display, and you could measure the image width on the display with a ruler and it would, indeed, be 6.4 inches.  So, it appears that CMD-8 (Actual Size) in AP is equivalent to Print Size in PS, as long as you have manually configured PS with your display's Screen Resolution.

You determine your display's screen resolution by looking it up on the Googles, or measuring the linear dimension of the display (width, for example) and then dividing that value, in inches for example, by the width of the display view, in pixels.  The result will be a number, in Pixels/Inch that you can then enter into the Preferences dialog show in the attached screenshot in PS.  Looks like AP does all of this automatically.

Kirk