user0 wrote: Tue Apr 15, 2025 5:24 pm
https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/100-vs-print-size-vs-actual-size-something-stays-unclear/m-p/12074307/page/2#M547713 wrote:
100% is simple - it is 1 screen pixel mapped to 1 image pixel.
Print Size - is calculated from the document resolution and the monitor resolution as manually entered in Preferences.
Actual Size - is calculated from the document resolution and the monitor resolution as reported by the operating system which in turn gets it from the monitor itself using Extended Display Identification Data (EDID). Whilst this needs no manual entering of values by the user, it only works correctly if the correct value is returned from the monitor and OS. Hence print size is also in the menu for cases where an incorrect value is returned.
That's very interesting information, user0, and it would be great to hear from Pierre as to what XnView MP actual does with "Real size."
Indeed, one thing I have noticed, is that XnView MP's "Real size"
on-screen does not correspond to the print size reported by my post-processing software, Affinity Photo.
For example, for an image 3728 pixels wide and set to 300 dpi, Affinity Photo reports a print width of 12.427 inches, i.e., 31.56 cm. The enlargement factor for my monitor, i.e., the zoom percentage at which an image's size on-screen corresponds to its printed size at 300 dpi, is
31%. So, when the image is set to that zoom percentage in AP and measured with a physical ruler, one gets 31.56 cm, more or less (as close as one can determine measuring in this way).
Now, when I set that same image to "Real size" in XnView MP and physically measure it with the ruler, I get something close to 32.6 cm.
HOWEVER, XnView MP's status bar correctly reports 31.56 cm for the width, but a zoom percentage of
32%.
All I have to do to get the right width in XnView MP is to set the zoom percentage to 31%, and, boom, I get ≈ 31.56 with the physical ruler.
So, I do wonder if XnView MP's "real size" is more so the equivalent of Photoshop's "Actual size," that is, a calculation depending on what the computer and monitor are saying, which, indeed can be imprecise.
Anyhoo, "Real size" and "Actual size" remain nonetheless unclear... Maybe "Print size (system calculated)"? IDK.