Hi display res, text too small - solution other than lower res?

Question

Level 1

14 points

Hi display res, text too small - solution other than lower res?

Hello all.

I have a new 27" iMac. I would like to use the default display res of 2560 x 1440, but the font size system wide is too small.

Is there ANY way to increase this font size without having to use a lower display res?

Because as it is, I've downgraded to 2048 x 1152 just so I can read everything, but the lo res shows badly in programs like the Adobe cc. Everything, including my colour swatch palettes, have a kind of moire around it, similar to jpeg artifacts.

I know that I can change font size on some of my apps, as well as my desktop, but not everything, and it's the Finder menu that really gets me!

Help anyone?

B.

P.S. My apologies if there is already a thread like this somewhere that I didn't find 🙂

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jun 2, 2015 7:01 AM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,418 points

Jun 2, 2015 7:40 AM in response to Belly Buckle

You can use Zoom or you can also type Command + to make many apps larger. Other than that you need to adjust the resolution.

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,097 points

Jun 2, 2015 7:50 AM in response to Belly Buckle

Is there ANY way to increase this font size without having to use a lower display res?

Unfortunately, Macs do not have that capability (I wish they did). I've tried this a couple of times, but it is tedious: when working in an app that needs high resolution, simply change it while working on that and then change it back later.

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Answer 3

pokey b

Level 4

1,893 points

Jun 2, 2015 8:22 AM in response to Belly Buckle

I have a 21.5" mid-2010 i-Mac and often find small font size (or low contrast fonts) hard to read. One work around that I really like is to hold down the control key and scroll with he mouse. This is basically a version of the zoom command but instantly and easily available to zoom larger then again back smaller. The main down side to it is that (as I have it configured) the screen centers on your cursor and the entire screen image follows your cursor when you move the mouse. You may need to set this up in system preferences > accessibility > zoom.

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Answer 4

Belly Buckle Author

Level 1

14 points

Jun 2, 2015 9:00 AM in response to pokey b

Hey everyone. Thanks for the feedback. I kinda figured that there was no way around this.

I wish someone designed an app for this!

B.

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Answer 5

Rudegar

Level 10

170,658 points

Jun 2, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Belly Buckle

not an easy task as the app would have to effect all other apps

windows have a change the dpi to 125% and 150% and it makes most apps look crazy bad some buttons are big some are small some text overlap

looks like a train-wreck

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Answer 6

poikkeus1

Level 4

2,454 points

Jun 2, 2015 10:03 AM in response to Rudegar

There is one universal way to increase the size of graphics and text (System Preferences/Displays/Resolution) that should work in most situations. However, applications and websites vary in their text requirements. "Command +" is a good way of dealing with sites with microscopic text.

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