Scaling Adobe apps on Surface Pro 4

You can fix this with an external manifest file. It's complicated:

1. Windows needs to look for an external manifest file. You can do this with  reg file or manually:

REG FILE - copy the test between the dotted lines into notepad and save it as prefer-ext-man.reg

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide]

"PreferExternalManifest"=dword:00000001

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MANUALLY:

Open regedit and navigate to the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > SideBySide

Right-click, select NEW > DWORD (32 bit) Value

Type PreferExternalManifest, and then press ENTER.

Right-click PreferExternalManifest, and then click Modify.

Enter Value Data 1 and select Decimal.

Click OK. Exit Registry Editor.

1. Create a manifest file for your app. Copy the text between the dotted lines and save it with the same name as the executable_name.exe as your program and with a .manifest extenstion. Example, Photoshop should be photoshop.exe.manifest :

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<?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">

<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>

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1. SAVE the manifest file in the same directory as the program's executable (you will probably need to acknowledge the UAC prompt to do this).
2. Restart your computer for this to take effect.

If you want to remove the capability to use external manifest files, you need to reverse the registry edit. Here are the reg file contents

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Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SideBySide]

"PreferExternalManifest"=-

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you'll need to restart after running the remove external manifest preference.