Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Recommended Posts

Ok, this one is probably just a newbie question but I just don't get it yet.

 

How can I see the real document size (in pixels)?

 

I tested with all the zoom percentages and size options but I still can't see the real document size in affinity. I want to create a document that match my screen size, which is 2880x1800px and 220ppi (macbook pro retina display).

 

- New document is created with 2880x1800px and 72dpi.

- Go to view and select 100%. This will show the document way bigger than the screen size.

- Go to view and select Actual Size. This will show the document smaller than the screen size.

- Change the dpi to 300dpi. This change the actual size, now the document looks smaller on 100% zoom.

- Now I change it to 220dpi just on test if the dpi has something to do with the ppi of the screen but it doesn't.

 

Conclusion:

- I had no idea what is coming on here but it seems imposible to precisely match my screen pixel size.

- Why the dpi value affects the actual size? since Im working with pixels, dpi should not have any effect on the document size.

 

Did I missed a setting? I also tried by selecting the Pixel (Retina) mode and Pixel Size mode, but neither resolve the problem.

 

My logic says that if you set a 100% zoom it should display all the pixels of your document, and if your document has the same pixel size of your screen, it should match perfectly with it. This is the way in which Photoshop, Pixelmator and many other works.

 

Thanks in advance!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Hi aledel,

 

Hopefully I can explain this one... Basically, your screen is notionally 1440x900 points at 144 dpi. It may have 2880x1800 pixels on the device but Apple discourages designers from thinking about pixels (if you read their guidelines on creating high resolution artwork) and encourages you to think about points at an arbitrary dpi. If you create a new document of 1440x900 points at 144 dpi you should find that 100% zoom is correct.

 

If you make a document of 2880x1800 pixels then you're going to need to set the zoom to 50% to see it at the 'retina' size because 100% means 1 pixel to 1 point on the output device which will actually be zoomed in twice as far as you intended. It is not a good way to work. Our 'Device' presets for Apple hardware all deliberately stick to Apple's guidelines because they genuinely just make sense and are definitely the best way to work reliably with high resolution artwork.

 

Hope that makes some sense?

Matt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

It'll be 800x800 points... you just need to decide what dpi you needed. The idea is to think of points not pixels, then decide on a dpi that you require. For 1x assets, that's usually 72dpi (800x800 pixels), for 2x it's 144dpi (1600x1600 pixels) and for 3x it's 216dpi (2400x2400 pixels), but you can obviously decide on any value that's appropriate.

 

If we're talking about Designer, then 800 points at any dpi will occupy 800 points on your screen at 100% in the standard vector view mode. The number of pixels that are in this document will vary based on the dpi, but this is the bit that you shouldn't need to think about - just aim for the right number of points at the right dpi and then everything will make sense.

 

:)

 

 

Incidentally, for anyone that is interested, this is actually how you have to program for OS X and iOS - you use points as the unit type (not pixels) and you pass in bitmap data that has sufficient pixel resolution for the number of points multiplied by the 'backing scale' (2x for 'retina')

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Matt, thanks for making a very clear explanation!

 

You are right, this is the appropiate way to work with high resolution assets. Until now I was working on the traditional 1:1 pixel dimensions, but working in points or indepedent pixels units is better when designing on retina displays.

 

In the meanwhile, I'll have to work in both ways until I made the full switch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...
On 6/17/2015 at 11:06 AM, MattP said:

Hopefully I can explain this one... Basically, your screen is notionally 1440x900 points at 144 dpi. It may have 2880x1800 pixels on the device but Apple discourages designers from thinking about pixels (if you read their guidelines on creating high resolution artwork) and encourages you to think about points at an arbitrary dpi. If you create a new document of 1440x900 points at 144 dpi you should find that 100% zoom is correct.

Thanks for this Matt, I'm a latecomer to the whole retina display thing. Having just opened up my AD files to edit them I was rather surprised to see them at half the size I was expecting. CMD+9 did the job of making the designs appear as they should do, but if I change the document settings from px to pt 100% works as it should :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.