Adobe Photoshop CS6 - How to Increase the Font and Text Size of the User Interface Menu

Come on, Adobe!! Why you gotta do us so wrong?! Honestly, how it is a GRAPHICS PROGRAM like Adobe Photoshop CS6 not allow the user to easily update the GRAPHIC SETTINGS to increase the the size of the font displayed in the user interface?? Major Fail.

Hey there graphics groupies, and welcome to another Hack Daddy instructional article on how to fix the sadistically small font Adobe Photoshop CS6 forces on us when using  high resolution or 4k screens. Whats worse is every help article you've read on the topic tells you to go to the preferences and simply change the default font size which DON'T WORK. It doesn't take long for the microscopic print start causing problems with your strict production schedules...well, that or coming out with the latest and greatest meme to take the internet by storm. 😎

Ok, so that meme is kinda lame...just like the Adobe Execs that decided to leave us all high and dry! F'n bastids...I should send them my Optometrist's bill! Alright, let's get on to fixing the problem of CS6's ridiculously small menu items. I wish I could say it's as easy as updating a simple setting, but it's slightly more involved then that. 

Update the Windows Registry to Help Increase the Size of the Photoshop CS6 Menu Text

Step 1: To update the size of Adobe Photoshop CS6 menu font size, start in windows registry:

A) Open Windows Registry: Go to your search or run prompt (in your start menu), type regedit, and hit enter.

B) Navigate to the following folder once the windows registry is open:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide

C) We'll create a new registry key. Right click the area that houses the present keys and select, "New" and then click "DWORD (32-Bit) Value". When prompted to enter a new key name, enter "PreferExternalManifest".

D) Next we need to update the new key we just created. Right click "PreferExternalManifest" and select "Modify". Change the value from "0" to "1" and the Base category to "Decimal".

With the registry updated and ready to look for a manifest file, it's time to create...well, the manifest file!

Creating the Manifest File that will fix the Adobe Photoshop CS6 Menu Small Text Issues

E) We'll be correcting the issue by using a manifest file. What is a manifest file? Think of a manifest file as a sort of read me file for your operating system. It's loaded with meta data - basic settings and descriptors for your program - its name, license, version, and accompanying files. Creating a manifest file all you need to do is name the file the same name as the executable and add '.manifest' to the end of the file name. So in this case, our executable name is 'photoshop.exe', and the file we'll be creating is called 'photoshop.exe.manifest'. All we did when we updated the registry in our previous steps was telling windows to look for a manifest file when the exe file is run. Simple enough, right? Here's the manifest file code:

Open notepad as an administrator (right-click the file after typing notepad in windows search bar and click 'run as administrator'), and copy and paste the following text into a blank document. The last thing to things are VERY IMPORTANT:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns:asmv3="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity
type="win32"
name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
version="6.0.0.0" processorArchitecture="*"
publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
language="*">
</assemblyIdentity>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
<dependency>
<dependentAssembly>
<assemblyIdentity
type="win32"
name="Microsoft.VC90.CRT"
version="9.0.21022.8"
processorArchitecture="amd64"
publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b">
</assemblyIdentity>
</dependentAssembly>
</dependency>
<trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
<security>
<requestedPrivileges>
<requestedExecutionLevel
level="asInvoker"
uiAccess="false"/>
</requestedPrivileges>
</security>
</trustInfo>
<asmv3:application>
<asmv3:windowsSettings xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">
<ms_windowsSettings:dpiAware xmlns:ms_windowsSettings="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SMI/2005/WindowsSettings">false</ms_windowsSettings:dpiAware>
</asmv3:windowsSettings>
</asmv3:application>
</assembly>

1) Make sure you save the file with the right name - 'photoshop.exe.manifest' and as the right file type - 'All Files' and encoding as 'UTF-8'. 

2) Make sure you save the file in the right place - in the same folder as your 'photoshop.exe' executable file. (For default installations, that's usually: C:/Program Files (x86)/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS6, but your installation may vary)

Not quite as easy as changing zoom or display settings in photoshop itself, but it should get the job done. If for some reason it doesn't work, let me know in the comment section below and I'll see what I can do to help.