DPI setting on OSX

When I open my Excel spreadsheets or Word docs on my MacBook Pro 15" (in MS Office 2008), I always need to zoom in to 125-150%.

Since the zoom settings are saved with the document, I'd rather not have to change the zoom level back and forth when opening the same docs on my Windows computer and my Mac.

I'd expect there to be a setting for this somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.

How can I set the system DPI on Mac OSX 10.5.7? Or how can I set the DPI for MS Office on the Mac?

Arjan Einbu

Posted 2009-07-17T23:19:44.453

Reputation: 131

1Not qualified to answer, hence just the comment, but my suspicion here is that MS Office is not respecting system DPI accurately and rendering fonts much smaller than they should be. I am a Linux user with a properly set DPI, so it's very noticable for me when I see Windows apps. – Mark Renouf – 2009-07-18T01:12:39.550

Answers

And remember that the two systems display fonts quite differently. For best cross-platform results, stick with 11-point helvetica. Won't alter the need for a change in zoom, necessarily, but will ensure that your careful pagination in one isn't totally destroyed in another.

gyffes

Posted 2009-07-17T23:19:44.453

Reputation: 11

Assuming you're using the 15.4" screen at its native 1440x900 resolution, then that works out to 110dpi:

enter image description here

Even if Word were mistakenly using 96ppi instead of 110ppi, you'd get a magnification of only 115%.

What it's probably doing is using the traditional (as in, mid-90's Mac OS pre-X) 72ppi, which would give a magnification of about 150%. So its completely ignoring the system setting, sorry.

derobert

Posted 2009-07-17T23:19:44.453

Reputation: 3 366

You could always use Applescript. While Word 2008 is open, run the code below in the Script Editor.

  tell application "Microsoft Word"
    set percentage of zoom of view of active window to 200
  end tell

hanleyp

Posted 2009-07-17T23:19:44.453

Reputation: 6 519