2

I occasionally have trouble seeing the small pixel-size values that Preview.app displays while editing photos. For images that are close to 640 pixels, I like to keep them just under 640 so they display full size in Stack Exchange, like the image below does in this question.

Is there any way I can ask Preview to just make those numbers a bit larger? Permanently is fine, or a hot key. I'd like to avoid solutions that just zoom the whole screen.

example of writing an SE question in the morning

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    As far as I know, it is not possible to customize the size of on-screen number display. Would you rather consider using Screen Zoom? (System Preferences app → Accessibility → Zoom → Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom). This lets you quickly zoom into any area of screen and see other illegible content clearly.
    – Nimesh Neema ♦
    Dec 11, 2018 at 5:38
  • @NimeshNeema oh my goodness! That's an excellent solution. Two fingers up-down now zooms my entire screen in and out around the current mouse location. That will definitely work if I can't make the numbers just a bit larger. Thank you!
    – uhoh
    Dec 11, 2018 at 5:51

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

It's not possible to customize the size of the said on-screen numbers shown by Preview.app.

As a workaround and a more generalized solution for other such cases, you can leverage the Screen Zoom feature available in macOS. Although it's an accessibility feature, it is generally employed by UI designers to create pixel perfect UI.

To enable and configure Screen zoom, go to System Preferences app → Accessibility → Zoom, and enable the checkmark for Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom. Now assign a convenient key to be used as modifier key (I use Control).

enter image description here

Once configured, you can press and hold the modifier key and scroll to quickly zoom in and out of your screen.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    This works much more easily than I thought it would. Since I don't need to do it so often, it definitely solves my problem. Thanks!
    – uhoh
    Dec 11, 2018 at 6:02
  • 1
    @uhoh The best part about this approach is that it's a generalized solution. Try picking up colours using Digital Colour Meter.app and you can easily pick and see individual pixels! Very handy when using with high resolution displays which are common in recent generation Macs.
    – Nimesh Neema ♦
    Dec 11, 2018 at 6:03
  • Yep, sticking with the options in the OS is so intuitive, zooming is almost instinctive already since I use it within apps, now zoom is everywhere.
    – uhoh
    Dec 11, 2018 at 6:12

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .