# font size changes in LR



## Dick.E.Hoskins (Mar 28, 2019)

I installed LR Classic CC, the current version, on a new machine using a 4K monitor.  The font size was very small. I used the LR preferences to increase the font size which worked for the main screen but the menu bar at the top and right click displaying menus still have a very small font which I cannot read. How do I get the font in all of LR to be of a size I can read? I have already increased the Windows font and that works for all the rest of my programs but not for LR.  Photoshop and Camera Raw are displaying OK font sizes.  thanks-


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## clee01l (Mar 28, 2019)

This is a Windows Settings issue.  The Windows controls (Menus etc.) are managed by the Windows API.  They are specified as a number of pixels high and wide.  On the larger screen the pixels are larger that they are on your new 4K HiDPI monitor


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## Califdan (Mar 29, 2019)

Not a Windows issue.  it is a combination of screen resolution, Windows, and the applicaiton (Lightroom in this case).   So, yes Windows play's a part but is not the sole issue.

Stepping back, one buys a higher resolution monitor so that one can see more pixels on the screen at one time.  This is accomplished by either have a physically larger screen or by packing more pixels into a given amount of screen space.  In the later case, each pixel is inherently smaller to allow more of them in the same amount of real estate.   So, the first factor in the problem is having a higher density display.  So, why have a higher density display?  Well, it gives you a higher resolution depiction of your image allowing you to see more detail, sharpness, and noise.

So, how does Windows factor in?  Windows will detect that your monitor has more pixels and will set itself to use them all.  This means that everything will look smaller.  For example on a lower density screen, (using made up numbers) you have have 72 pixels per inch.  But in the higher density monitor you may have 144 pixels per inch.  To display something 1 inch across on the lower resolution monitor would take 1" but to display that same thing on the higher density monitor would only consume 1/2 inch making it half the size.   Microsoft understands though that a typical user may not want everything to appear half the size.  Whereas this is a good thing for viewing a high pixel count image, when trying to read text it is not a benefit at all.  Thus windows is programmed to display some things (like menu's) using more pixels when it detects a higher density display, thus keeping such things roughly the same size on the screen.

But for applications that are not written by Microsoft the developers must do the same thing in order to keep things like text big enough for us old geezers to still read.    In Lightroom's case I don't think they did a great job of this.  For example, they gave us a preference for font size that only has a few choices.  For example assuming "Medium" is 100%,  the next one is Large (150%).  In many cases Medium is too small to read and Large is too big and takes up too much space on the screen.

At least that's how I understand it.


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