Toolbar Icons and Menu Fonts Are Unusually Tiny!!!!

[hanover.john]

I download the Pro version but the toolbar icons and menu fonts are unbelievably tiny. You would have to put a magnifying glass to my screen just to see what the images on each toolbar are.

Has anyone tried opening multiple PDFs? The file names on the tabs are so small that your eyes will go crazy from the workout!

I'm on Windows 7 Ultimate and all my other programs look fine. Before I go back to Foxit Reader, I thought I'd post here to see if you guys have a fix!

Help!

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

Please export the following parts of the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Appearance
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

And also, if you can provide screenshots of our application and any other application which looks good for you would be very helpful.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi hanover.john

we sure appreciate you're giving us a change to respond before returning to "Those who shall not be named..." :p

Can I ask you to send a screen shot of the UI like this? From your description it isn't something I've seen before. To allow the file to be uploaded it will need to be archived in a zip file or referenced from a public URL.

The image here (click to see full sized) shows the Viewer in Windows 7 on the left and Vista on the right. Both are at 1440x900. Does yours look very different?

[hanover.john]

Ivan: I have no idea how to get the registry settings for you. But I can tell you I am on a Dell 17" laptop, 1920x1200, 150% dpi.

Paul: I've enclosed screenshots of Word 2010, and xchange viewer on the same screen.

Let me know...

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi again hanover.john,

in the Windows 7 (and Vista for that matter) start menu is a text field "Search Programs and files" where you can type a program name to run it. Type

Code: Select all

regedit

say yes to UAC if prompted and the Registry Editor will open.

Do exercise some caution here as changes are instant and can damage your installation of Windows if you make changes you do not understand. We do not want you to make any changes - simply use this tool to "export" the settings already in there.

To export the keys Ivan has asked for please click the small triangles next to Computer on the left panel, then HKEY_CURRENT_USER, then Control Panel and finally click on the folder Appearance (still the left panel).

At the bottom of the Registry Editor you should see the path as Ivan has asked but with Computer prepended to it.

Code: Select all

Click File --> Export 

name it and save it. Repeat for the other key, zip them up and post them p[lease.

[hanover.john]

here you are...

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

thanks for that - we'll take a look.

[Vasyl - PDF-XChange]

Hi, John.

We will try to resolve this issue.
Please wait for new build(upcoming).

Best
Regards.

[hanover.john]

Hi Vasyl,

WHEN will it be ready? Is there a temporary fix?

[Vasyl - PDF-XChange]

The new build will be available in this evening or tomorrow morning.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

The new build will be available in this evening or tomorrow morning.

Or maybe yesterday afternoon?

You are consistently over-optmistic with release times for updates. Its really not very helpful.

I don't recommend adding automatic-update support because initial releases often have new bugs that are best ironed out by those who upgrade voluntarily rather than by people trying to use PDF-XChange Viewer for work.

Keeping the viewer up-to-date is important though, especially when a security vulnerability is discovered. In my opinion, an RSS feed would be the best solution. Those who want to be informed of updates can subscribe to the feed and learn about the latest beta or final releases of all your products when they are actually on the server and ready for download, rather than when they hope to be released.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Thanks for the input Bhikkhu, and for keeping us honest...

Your suggestion for an RSS feed to announce update releases is interesting. We will have a conversation here about that.

So in light of this I would like to say that it is our intention, last minute issues not withstanding, to release the new build today.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

The new build is available, but the menu font is still tiny.

[Vasyl - PDF-XChange]

The menu-font is inherited from the system by default.
But you can try to use one new(undocumented) feature.
The attached .reg file changes UI-font size to 10pt exactly.

[Kilmatead]

...you can try to use one new (undocumented) feature.
The attached .reg file changes UI-font size to 10pt exactly.

Thanks for this... though for the larger resolutions it works better with 11pt or 12pt settings.

Which brings me to two points:

1. If you go back into the registry to change the value after adding it, for some reason the application has decided to convert it from a DWORD to a REG_BINARY value. After many years of programming, I can more or less do Hex conversions in my head, but Binary is a different story. (Yes, I know, just delete/re-create the key and use another value, but I just thought I would point this out anyway, in case anyone else also finds 10pt too small.)

2. The text in the Ctrl-Shift-F search box remains tiny, even though the entry-box itself is expanded for height. The normal search box adjusts fine, except it's not really long enough... at 11pt value you can only "see" 10 characters at a time. Not the end of the world, but again, just thought I'd mention it. There's a lot to be said for sesquipedalianism.

Thanks again for this, I was just about to "complain" about it myself - though it probably should be in the options by default, given the advent of larger LCD's and resolutions. It's off-putting for users when applications don't obey custom DPI's.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

The menu-font is inherited from the system by default.

If it is, then why was my menu font still tiny? I have my system menu font set to 11 point Verdana.

The registry hack works to change it to 10 point, which is OK, but the menu font should respect the user's system font settings — whether that's 8 point Tahoma, or 14 point Verdana.

[Vasyl - PDF-XChange]

1. If you go back into the registry to change the value after adding it, for some reason the application has decided to convert it from a DWORD to a REG_BINARY value. After many years of programming, I can more or less do Hex conversions in my head, but Binary is a different story. (Yes, I know, just delete/re-create the key and use another value, but I just thought I would point this out anyway, in case anyone else also finds 10pt too small.)

It occurs because the viewer stores here the floating point number. In the future you will be able to specify the 12,5 pt for example. As you know, the system registry does not support the double data type, and we store it in binary format(8 bytes). May be you know some other preferable method so - please do feel free to come back with a suggestion.

RE: other issues: some will be fixed in the next build. Thanks.
And NOTE: this feature is not implemented fully (as mentioned - its currently undocumented). This registry hack - is a temporary workaround.

If it is, then why was my menu font still tiny? I have my system menu font set to 11 point Verdana.
The registry hack works to change it to 10 point, which is OK, but the menu font should respect the user's system font settings — whether that's 8 point Tahoma, or 14 point Verdana.

This issue will be fixed in the next build.

Best
Regards.

[Kilmatead]

This issue will be fixed in the next build.

Hmm, as of .51 it seems to be even worse, as not only is the system font ignored (Win7 x64 Aero & Basic themes), but the registry fix no longer works either.

Other fonts (those used within the Preferences menus) are fine, but the main toolbar and sub-menus are stuck at tiny.

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

I'm working on Windows7 x64 and haven't such problem - under Vista/Win7 default UI fon is Segoe UI, and Viewer uses it.
Can you provide me screenshot of the viewer on you system?

[Kilmatead]

As of Build 51 this is how it looks now (the toolbar font size is supposed to be Segoe UI size 11, but it seems stuck at 8 or somesuch):



As comparison, in Build 50 (using the aforementioned registry fix to set Font Size to 11):



(As cropped screenshots tend to be relative to whatever display size you are using, I provided both, as on 1920x1200 Size 8 looks "relatively" tiny - 11 is where it "should" be. )

I should add that when I increased the system font size to Segoe UI 11 any other programs' toolbars increased appropriately - just not PDFX's.

Perhaps I should ask how you increased the system font under Win7 Aero? (I used the usual method of Control Panel -> Appearance -> Personalization -> Window Color -> Advanced -> Active Window -> Menu Item set to Segoe UI 11)

Like I said before, unfortunately the Reg Fix no longer has any effect as of Build 51 so it can't be adjusted at all now.

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

I agree, there is a mistake - problem is into the routing which chooses the font/fontsize to be used for the menu - system's or custom from settings.

A Fix will be available in the next build, but for now there is workarround: in the registry:

Code: Select all

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tracker Software\PDFViewer\View

you can add the following values:

MenuFontSize - add it as DWORD value (application will recreate it later in ithe correct internal format) - font size, in points, for menu and toolbars
MenuFontName - string - font name which should be used for the menu and toolbars.

HTH

[Kilmatead]

That works perfectly. My eyes thank you very much.

[giszy]

In Windows XP (Simplified Chinese), the Dialog fonts are still unusually tiny. I tested the software in many PCs.

[Ivan - Tracker Software]

In Windows XP (Simplified Chinese), the Dialog fonts are still unusually tiny. I tested the software in many PCs.

For dialog and UI elements there are options UIFontSize, and UIFontName which you can add into the registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Tracker Software\PDFViewer\View, similar to the options for the menu's font as described above.