Font Sizes

[Krakadon]

Is there a way to change font sizes in DP? I'm going through individual soundbites in the soundbite list on a 22" monitor and it is ridiculous. I'm squinting 2" from the screen to barely read the tiny little font. I have to use the Mac OS accessibility features which I don't like. Apologies if this has been asked before. I searched and didn't find anything current.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I'm not certain but there are a number of "Themes" in DP and some use different fonts and colors. There are also free themes some members here made and Ampledood (I can remember his actual handle - sorry) sells beautiful themes. I'm sure if you search the www for DP Themes it should come up. I'd start by trying included themes (see preferences) first to see if it helps at all. Many have complained about font sizes in the past, so it's not just you.

[bayswater]

The answer is no. You can't increase font size.
But there are some thing you can do to improve the situation.

You can use the aforementioned themes to get better contrast between the characters and their background. I've edited the themes I use so make the background very light and that helps. (look at Logic -- fonts are the same size, but they are more 'visible' due to better contrast)

You can just use a lower screen resolution. That sounds pointless, but most of the DP display is graphic, and you can zoom or size it to any useful size. The net effect is the fonts get larger and everything else stays pretty much the same.

Once you get familiar with DP, the fonts won't be as much of an issue. You'll just know where everything is, and not spend a lot of time reading the words on the screen.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Control-mouse wheel is a good quick fix.

[mikehalloran]

Once you get familiar with DP, the fonts won't be as much of an issue. You'll just know where everything is, and not spend a lot of time reading the words on the screen.

I can barely read them even with my computer glasses on a 27" iMac screen. I agree, it's not much of an issue.

[Krakadon]

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate it.

First dude: I've been using DP since 1999. I know it extremely well. I use a non-standard theme (Round Is Right I believe) although it isn't as high contrast as some others. Most of the themes I consider to be terrible but maybe I could use a different one for certain tasks. In this case a bunch of soundbites got deleted from the sequence and I had to go through a ton of soundbites to find the right ones and put them back.

Second dude: Didn't you just contradict yourself? You said you can't read them at 2" with your computer glasses on a 27" monitor and that it isn't an issue. That sounds like evidence that it is an issue. I'm not trying to sound like a d#$k but do you use intuition to make the problem disappear? What if you're trying to find that one soundbite with time stamp 0:02:07:16? Or even read the time stamp?

I love DP and I'm not bagging on MOTU but what I've heard isn't you can't change the font size but there are some partial work-arounds.

MOTU can you please add the ability to increase font sizes? Especially on the soundbite list and event list windows (and any other highly densely populated lists). When they are open outside of the consolidated window there is plenty of screen space still available.

BTW +1 on control-mouse wheel. That is the Mac OS Accessibility feature I use.

[bayswater]

It's not much of an issue, because if you are familiar with DP, the text we can't read doesn't tell us anything we don't know. I think that was the point.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Managed screen real estate.

[apanacci]

Wish they would make the mixer bigger !!!!!!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Or at least resizable!

[Robert Randolph]

It's not much of an issue, because if you are familiar with DP, the text we can't read doesn't tell us anything we don't know. I think that was the point.

Becoming familiar with DP when many of the UI elements and font sizes are so small is problematic.

Not everyone has the 'luxury' of having learned to use the software back when 800x600 was a reasonable resolution. Many of us are starting on screens with large resolutions, and DP is rather difficult to learn/use on these screens.

It is definitely a problem.

[bayswater]

Or at least resizable!

Or at least the fader height.

[Dan Worley]

When people say they're having a hard time seeing or reading something, believe it. Telling them that if they only knew the app better is ridiculous. And telling them that you don't have a problem with it is even more ridiculous.

The small, unresizable font size in DP is an issue for many of us and it's something MOTU has been told about many times. Their decision has been to not do anything about it. Well, that's not fair or true either because they have made some improvements in readability over the years and versions.

[Shooshie]

The fonts in DP are mostly larger than those in the Finder, and I have no trouble with either on a 27" Apple Cinema Display. My eyes used to be better than average, so I know how advantageous perfect vision can be, but that's unfortunately no longer the case for me. Depending on how far I'm sitting from the monitor, I have to use either 2.0 or 2.5 diopter reading glasses. DP is quite clear with those.

I find that various themes are easy to read. Some slightly less so. I like the themes of AmpGUI.

If you cannot read the font on a 27" monitor, consider the sharpness of the monitor. Over the years I used DP on dozens of monitors. There were 2 or 3 that were VERY hard to read, because they just weren't very sharp. I've stuck with Apple monitors at home for that particular reason.

That said, I'd normally support asking any developer to make possible larger fonts, but this time I have reservations that prevent such a recommendation. Allow me to explain. Adjustable fonts in the interface means that ALL the interface elements would have to be redesigned to allow for the larger fonts. If you haven't noticed, DP's interface is extremely well balanced. Make certain fonts larger, and you'd completely mess up the proportions and relationships between various elements of the interface that simply must be a certain size in order to work with other elements. You can't just make the font bigger. You also have to make the container bigger. When you do that, you screw up the interface.

If you were to double the size of every font in DP, you'd end up with about 75% of the interface. It just wouldn't fit the way it was designed to fit, and again, that "fit" is like a puzzle.

So, let me suggest something. I use it every day, and it provides instant magnification of anything you want to see. Turn on zooming in the System Preferences/Accessibility/Zoom. This works for EVERYONE. Not just me, not just MIDI Life Crisis, but every single person reading this on a Mac. From that point on, all it takes is a quick scroll with the scroll wheel or a two-finger drag on the Magic Trackpad (one finger on the Magic Mouse) while holding down CONTROL.

Instant zoom. You can see menus, lists, notes, interface elements, control points, or anything else that might require a closer look.

With this tool at your disposal, I think every argument that takes the indignant stand against MOTU suddenly loses its steam. You CAN see anything you want... instantly. Zoom in. Zoom out. Very easy. Once you have seen it, you know what it is, where it is, what it says, and what it does. If you forget... zoom in and zoom out. It's that easy.

So, which will it be? Demand that MOTU create a user interface that shrinks and expands, such that you can never depend on any other studio's copy of DP working the way your own copy works, such that the whole interface gets warped and bent because you use a huge font or a tiny one?

Or just turning on your Mac system's zoom? Zoom in; zoom out. Takes maybe ⅛ second each way. Oh... look at that. A fraction. Can you tell what it says? Zoom in; Zoom out.

MIDI Life Crisis gave the answer way up the thread. I'm expanding on it so that you will see how quick & easy it is.

Shooshie

[Dan Worley]

The fonts in DP are mostly larger than those in the Finder, and I have no trouble with either on a 27" Apple Cinema Display. My eyes used to be better than average, so I know how advantageous perfect vision can be, but that's unfortunately no longer the case for me. Depending on how far I'm sitting from the monitor, I have to use either 2.0 or 2.5 diopter reading glasses. DP is quite clear with those.

I find that various themes are easy to read. Some slightly less so. I like the themes of AmpGUI.

If you cannot read the font on a 27" monitor, consider the sharpness of the monitor. Over the years I used DP on dozens of monitors. There were 2 or 3 that were VERY hard to read, because they just weren't very sharp. I've stuck with Apple monitors at home for that particular reason.

That said, I'd normally support asking any developer to make possible larger fonts, but this time I have reservations that prevent such a recommendation. Allow me to explain. Adjustable fonts in the interface means that ALL the interface elements would have to be redesigned to allow for the larger fonts. If you haven't noticed, DP's interface is extremely well balanced. Make certain fonts larger, and you'd completely mess up the proportions and relationships between various elements of the interface that simply must be a certain size in order to work with other elements. You can't just make the font bigger. You also have to make the container bigger. When you do that, you screw up the interface.

If you were to double the size of every font in DP, you'd end up with about 75% of the interface. It just wouldn't fit the way it was designed to fit, and again, that "fit" is like a puzzle.

So, let me suggest something. I use it every day, and it provides instant magnification of anything you want to see. Turn on zooming in the System Preferences/Accessibility/Zoom. This works for EVERYONE. Not just me, not just MIDI Life Crisis, but every single person reading this on a Mac. From that point on, all it takes is a quick scroll with the scroll wheel or a two-finger drag on the Magic Trackpad (one finger on the Magic Mouse) while holding down CONTROL.

Instant zoom. You can see menus, lists, notes, interface elements, control points, or anything else that might require a closer look.

With this tool at your disposal, I think every argument that takes the indignant stand against MOTU suddenly loses its steam. You CAN see anything you want... instantly. Zoom in. Zoom out. Very easy. Once you have seen it, you know what it is, where it is, what it says, and what it does. If you forget... zoom in and zoom out. It's that easy.

So, which will it be? Demand that MOTU create a user interface that shrinks and expands, such that you can never depend on any other studio's copy of DP working the way your own copy works, such that the whole interface gets warped and bent because you use a huge font or a tiny one?

Or just turning on your Mac system's zoom? Zoom in; zoom out. Takes maybe ⅛ second each way. Oh... look at that. A fraction. Can you tell what it says? Zoom in; Zoom out.

MIDI Life Crisis gave the answer way up the thread. I'm expanding on it so that you will see how quick & easy it is.

Shooshie

I love this post. So helpful. 1000 gold stars.

I use picture-in-picture zoom. It really is very helpful and becomes second nature so that after awhile you don't even realize you're using it.

One word of caution, under "More Options," I can't remember if the default for "Speak Items Under Mouse After Delay" is on or off, but if it's set to on, and you don't know or remember that, and the OS audio is coming through your studio system, it can scare the heck out of you. People will want to check how that's set. Also under "More Options" is "Adjust Size and Location," which should be set to the individual's preference.

Great going, Shoosh, and MLC who first mentioned it. I missed that.