Some applications display very small text on high-resolution monitors. The original article mentions Adobe Photoshop and describes an external-manifest workaround for Windows.
Microsoft explains that an application's manifest can declare its DPI awareness in the DPI-awareness documentation. That does not establish that the historical workaround below works with every current application or Windows release.
Historical, advanced procedure: the source modifies a machine-wide registry setting and adds a file beside an executable. Back up the relevant settings, record their original state and test only in an authorised, non-critical environment. Prefer an application's supported display or compatibility settings when available.
The six steps in the original guide
1. Locate the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide2. Identify the DWORD value
The original procedure adds a DWORD (32-bit) named PreferExternalManifest. If it already exists, record it first instead of blindly replacing it.
3. Set the value described by the source
The guide uses 1. This is the historical procedure, not a claim that this setting is appropriate for every computer.
4. Obtain the manifest
The original download is file.manifest.zip. Review the extracted file.manifest before placing it beside the executable whose text is too small. The archive has not been changed for this translation.
5. Match the executable name
Rename the manifest to match the executable plus .manifest. For example, the source uses Photoshop.exe.manifest for Photoshop.exe. Do not overwrite an existing application file without understanding and backing it up.
6. Reopen and check the application
The original author reports that reopening the application then produced larger, easier-to-read text. Treat this as the source's result, not a guarantee. If you test the change, verify the display and retain a way to restore the original settings and files.
Related tool
The site also offers ResolutionFix, described in the original article as automating this workflow. Read its page before use; no program or registry change was executed while preparing this translation.
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