InDesign not displaying actual (print) size
InDesign 2021 does not actually show you the printed size of the document.
There are two potential (and faulty) options to achieve this currently:
- Set the zoom level to 100%: On various forums I've read that this should let you view the document at actual print size. A document that physically takes up 10x10cm on your screen, should print at 10x10cm.
In effect, that doesn't happen and the 100% renders my document at a way larger size than what it's actual size. (I'm literally holding up a ruler against my screen, and a 10cm wide page is about 20cm wide on the screen).
- Go to view>view actual size: This one comes closer - the document (and thus objects in it) are rendered about 1.3 smaller than the real-actual dimensions they'll be printed at (as opposed to 2 times bigger in the previous method).
Again, this doesn't actually work and I'm wondering what it's intended to do.
My suggested solution:
I'm using a 4k, 15.6" Dell monitor, and photoshop did this also. It even has a "printed size" in addition to "actual size", which also didn't render things in their correct size.
After reading this article: https://www.photoshopessentials.com/essentials/print-size/
I understood that photoshop assumes all screens are at 72dpi, and that causes the incorrect rendering. After "telling" photoshop my actual monitor dpi, which is 283 - it began rendering things correctly when choosing "view print size".
I when to edit>preferences>units&increments, and tried setting the "points/inch" setting. It was at 72 at default, and I thought that setting it to 283 would solve the problem.
When I tried doing so, a popup came up and said "the value must be between 60 and 80". So this obviously doesn't work. I'm wondering why this would be the case, as screens today have dpi's of way over 72 and 80.
Maybe allowing entering higher dpi's will solve this problem?
Anyway, if anyone knows a solution/idea on how to display print size, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks,
Alon
Alon Emanuel
shared this idea
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isaac
commented
Bump. Fix it, Adobe.
In the meantime, please let us adjust what ppi InDesign thinks our monitors have to try to fix it on our own.
re: Dan
I tried your workaround only to discover my User Interface Scaling was already set to "Small" (1/6) :<
Can confirm that changing this setting affected "Actual Size." See below.27" monitor: Dell P2721Q, 3840 x 2160, 163ppi
Windows 11, scale is set to 125% in System > Display. Changing this setting also yields different scales. I guess it's just real messed up.UI Sizing: 1/6 --> "Actual Size" = 90.18%
UI Sizing: 2/6 --> "Actual Size" = 108.93%
UI Sizing: 3/6 --> "Actual Size" = 143.75% -
Dan Forzano
commented
Encountered this in the middle of a project.
Mac OS 14.3, ID 19.1
Spent a lot of time looking for cause and/or fix online. Lot's of crazy stuff with scripts, resolution switching, etc.
Finally figured out it had to do with User Interface Scaling. As the tools and pallets have become very hard to see with my aging eyes, I had turned scaling to medium (up from small). After setting it back to Small and relaunching the app the feature worked correctly.This is absolutely a bug. Scaling the UI of the app should not present Actual Size incorrectly.
I'm back to squinting at the screen until this is fixed. -
Danny
commented
Almost 2024 and issue still on…
There is no solution, only playing with UI size and screen resolution.This problem would never happen in Illustrator because there is an option in preferences that always display print size at 100% zoom, no matter the UI size.
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Dave Lawrence
commented
@Stanislaw Zielinski That post is old. Doesn't work in InDesign 2022. Scaling just isn't there and actual size makes it huge. On a pretty standard 27" iMac!!
Like the OP, I have no idea how to get the pages to the right display/print size. I want letter to be actual letter size. Like InDesign 2020 used to do it. Also, Google is not much help here, as it just says push CMD+1. Well ... duh. But it doesn't work.
It is getting frustrating putting our voice in here and no one hears. Maybe you can rename this forum instead of "user voice", maybe Adobe HearingAid, or maybe Adobe InEarPlug.
But I did find a work around.
Affinity Publisher 2 makes a letter page the correct size out of the box. :/ Lol
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Stanislaw Zielinski commented
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More than a month has passed without any follow up... This is a crucial "feature" or more accurately a bug that has to be fixed.
