3 ms·

not a good idea for designers and people that need to ensure what they see on their screen is what everyone else sees.

by there 17y ago

zokier 17y ago
Thats why we have PDF. 1 inch on a PDF is on 1 inch on my screen. And it will be 1 inch on all properly configured readers. And as a bonus point it will still be 1 inch when I print it out. Yes, techically HTML/CSS should be as scalable when used in a scalable way, but I'm not sure of current web browser situation. If someone has better info please reply.
- blasdel 17y ago
  1 inch on a PDF is on 1 inch on my screen. And it will be 1 inch on all properly configured readers. Not on your life. Despite pretensions to the contrary, DPI has been completely meaningless on the screen for several decades. If you're writing an application, never pay attention to DPI metadata unless you're placing the item on a printed page, and never add DPI metadata to files unless they came from a scanner. it will still be 1 inch when I print it out This is true in an ideal setting. Unfortunately, there's a lot of shitheads out there that think '72 DPI' or '96 DPI' on files is meaningful because that's what the platform uses. I hope their heads fall off.
  - zokier 17y ago
    Are you familiar at all with the PDF format? Its specifically engineered so that it looks equal everywhere. It doesn't embed "DPI metadata" on files, but uses real-world units (millimeters, points) in most, if not all, measurements instead of pixels. And Adobe Reader (almost defacto reader for PDF) has the option specify custom PPI value, or use the value operating system supplies. Therefore my original claim that 1 inch is 1 inch on all properly configured readers still holds true, as all properly configured readers have correct PPI setting set either by OS or by user. And if current operating systems wouldn't be so crappy at scaling stuff, PPI could be set system-wide at installation, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. It's actually quite baffling that there isn't more noise about the insanity that 1 inch rarely (in other software than PDF) is 1 inch
    - blasdel 17y ago
      Are you familiar at all with the PDF format? ...uses real-world units (millimeters, points) ...and has an obnoxious dimensional limit of 5.08 meters on each side. It would have been so much better to be based on no units at all, just ratios or floats. Besides, the PDF viewer generally has no fucking idea what size your screen is. Therefore my original claim that 1 inch is 1 inch on all properly configured readers still holds true You're begging the question in the classical sense. Your original claim holds true given that you assume that it's true. Nobody has their display resolution configured correctly in Acrobat except by accident or anal-retentiveness. I'd bet you $5 that it's not correctly set on your computer -- go ahead, zoom to "actual size" and hold a matching piece of paper up to the screen. It's actually quite baffling that there isn't more noise about the insanity that 1 inch rarely is 1 inch It's not 1984 anymore, noone gives a shit. Users rightly care more about being able to see what they're looking at than some hypothetical WYSIWYG benefit.

not a good idea for designers and people that need to ensure what they see on their screen is what everyone else sees.

by there 17y ago

not a good idea for designers and people that need to ensure what they see on their screen is what everyone else sees.

Thats why we have PDF. 1 inch on a PDF is on 1 inch on my screen. And it will be 1 inch on all properly configured readers. And as a bonus point it will still be 1 inch when I print it out. Yes, techically HTML/CSS should be as scalable when used in a scalable way, but I'm not sure of current web browser situation. If someone has better info please reply.

blasdel 17y ago
1 inch on a PDF is on 1 inch on my screen. And it will be 1 inch on all properly configured readers. Not on your life. Despite pretensions to the contrary, DPI has been completely meaningless on the screen for several decades. If you're writing an application, never pay attention to DPI metadata unless you're placing the item on a printed page, and never add DPI metadata to files unless they came from a scanner. it will still be 1 inch when I print it out This is true in an ideal setting. Unfortunately, there's a lot of shitheads out there that think '72 DPI' or '96 DPI' on files is meaningful because that's what the platform uses. I hope their heads fall off.
- zokier 17y ago
  Are you familiar at all with the PDF format? Its specifically engineered so that it looks equal everywhere. It doesn't embed "DPI metadata" on files, but uses real-world units (millimeters, points) in most, if not all, measurements instead of pixels. And Adobe Reader (almost defacto reader for PDF) has the option specify custom PPI value, or use the value operating system supplies. Therefore my original claim that 1 inch is 1 inch on all properly configured readers still holds true, as all properly configured readers have correct PPI setting set either by OS or by user. And if current operating systems wouldn't be so crappy at scaling stuff, PPI could be set system-wide at installation, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. It's actually quite baffling that there isn't more noise about the insanity that 1 inch rarely (in other software than PDF) is 1 inch
  - blasdel 17y ago
    Are you familiar at all with the PDF format? ...uses real-world units (millimeters, points) ...and has an obnoxious dimensional limit of 5.08 meters on each side. It would have been so much better to be based on no units at all, just ratios or floats. Besides, the PDF viewer generally has no fucking idea what size your screen is. Therefore my original claim that 1 inch is 1 inch on all properly configured readers still holds true You're begging the question in the classical sense. Your original claim holds true given that you assume that it's true. Nobody has their display resolution configured correctly in Acrobat except by accident or anal-retentiveness. I'd bet you $5 that it's not correctly set on your computer -- go ahead, zoom to "actual size" and hold a matching piece of paper up to the screen. It's actually quite baffling that there isn't more noise about the insanity that 1 inch rarely is 1 inch It's not 1984 anymore, noone gives a shit. Users rightly care more about being able to see what they're looking at than some hypothetical WYSIWYG benefit.