Everything on Web Pages too Small

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Using Safari or Firefox, the content on web pages isn't big enough to read or view easily. On every new Tab I need to enlarge the display using the Command + keys.

On my old Win 7 machine using IE there was an adjustment to display the pages at a larger percentage. I had it set to 150% and it was perfect. I love my iMac, but this is a real pain to have to do all the time. I looked in Preferences for the two browsers, but didn't see any adjustments available.

Under the Apple Display Preferences, I have it set to Best for Built-In Display. Am I missing an adjustment somewhere?

Thanks.
 

chscag

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No, you're not missing anything. I suggest switching to Chrome as it has the same configuration options as IE. I have my copy of Chrome set to display at 125% on my 21.5" iMac. That makes viewing most pages just right for me.
 
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Thanks. Downloaded Chrome and so far so good. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
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To make Safari or Firefox easier to read set the minimum[FONT=Hevetica, Arial, sans-serif] font size in their Preferences.[/FONT][FONT=Hevetica, Arial, sans-serif]In Safari go to the Advanced tab and you will see Accessibility, set the font size you like there.[/FONT]
[FONT=Hevetica, Arial, sans-serif]In Firefox go to the Content tab and click on Advanced and set the size there.[/FONT]
[FONT=Hevetica, Arial, sans-serif]In Safari you can use the 2 finger pinch to zoom in and out on images. [/FONT]

Screen Shot 2012-10-14 at 12.25.24 PM.png

Screen Shot 2012-10-14 at 12.26.03 PM.png
 

chscag

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That doesn't work in Safari. If you set the minimum font too large, some web pages will overlap and actually be garbled. The only real way to enlarge the view in Safari is to use command + or the enlargement icons in the top menu. I can't speak for Firefox because I don't use it. However, the setting in Chrome (% view) is permanent until changed again and does not cause overlapping. Windows IE has that same setting which is convenient.
 
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That doesn't work in Safari. If you set the minimum font too large, some web pages will overlap and actually be garbled. The only real way to enlarge the view in Safari is to use command + or the enlargement icons in the top menu. I can't speak for Firefox because I don't use it. However, the setting in Chrome (% view) is permanent until changed again and does not cause overlapping. Windows IE has that same setting which is convenient.
That use to be true in Safari and Firefox, but not anymore I switch back and forth between them now and a larger font works perfect in both.
 

chscag

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Doesn't work here. If I set the minimum font in Safari larger than 14 points, many web pages including Google News show overlapping lines. Try setting your minimum font in Safari to 18 points (that will give a 125% view) and see if you can view all web pages normally.

I can do the same in Chrome without any distortion or overlapping. As I stated above, the same setting works likewise with MS IE in Windows. I have Safari set as my default browser because it's faster than the others, but its viewing ability in my opinion is not the best.
 
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Doesn't work here. If I set the minimum font in Safari larger than 14 points, many web pages including Google News show overlapping lines. Try setting your minimum font in Safari to 18 points (that will give a 125% view) and see if you can view all web pages normally.

I can do the same in Chrome without any distortion or overlapping. As I stated above, the same setting works likewise with MS IE in Windows. I have Safari set as my default browser because it's faster than the others, but its viewing ability in my opinion is not the best.

I went up to 18 points and still works perfect, at 24 point I do get a slight over lapping on Google News first page, on the Articale pages not as much.
 

chscag

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Probably the difference then is the display resolution. I'm on an iMac 21.5" (mid 2011) where the resolution is set to 1920 x 1080. I definitely see overlapping on font sizes larger than 14 points.
 
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Probably the difference then is the display resolution. I'm on an iMac 21.5" (mid 2011) where the resolution is set to 1920 x 1080. I definitely see overlapping on font sizes larger than 14 points.
That's what I'm thinking too. I'm using a 22" monitor on a Mac Mini at 1680 X 1050
 
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there is also the Command+Shift with + or - to change the font size. I don't think it does it permanantly though.
 

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there is also the Command+Shift with + or - to change the font size. I don't think it does it permanantly though.
It does and it doesn't. Safari doesn't retain zoom settings when you quit it but Chrome does. However, you'd have to do this with each and every page so, although it works, it's a pain.
 
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As was explained (with pictures!) above, you can in fact set a permanent minimum font size.
 
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It does and it doesn't. Safari doesn't retain zoom settings when you quit it but Chrome does. However, you'd have to do this with each and every page so, although it works, it's a pain.

I just surfed on the boards here after using the command+shift and +, then went to some yahoo sights with the zoom retained. I'm using Safari and OS X 6.8
 

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Hmmm, it didn't retain the settings here last night. I just tried it again and indeed, the settings were not saved. Perhaps this is a 'feature' of Safari 6?
 

chscag

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Same here. The settings are not saved and it's quite annoying having to re-zoom pages each time. And as I mentioned several times, the minimum font setting is inadequate since a point size higher than 14 causes overlapping on some sites.

Not sure why Safari can not be made to save the zoom setting much like Chrome does or even Windows IE?
 
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You can also use a custom page template with a preset zoom. I've done this and it works great. Here are the instructions from a post over at Mac OS Hints:

In this post on Apple's discussion site, user dearlt posted a great tip on how to get Safari to use a default zoom level of your own choosing (instead of the standard 100%). I've edited the post a bit to make it clearer, but the basic instructions are unchanged.

1. Create a file (using a pure text editor) named defaultzoom.css, or any name you like -- just make sure it has a .css extension.

2. Copy and paste the following code into the file:

body {
zoom: 130%;
}


Change 130 to whatever number suits you. Anything greater than 100 means zoom in; less than 100 means zoom out. Don't forget the % percent sign!

If you're using TextEdit on a Mac, be sure to have it create .txt documents by default (not .rft) before copying and pasting the above text. You can set this by going to Preferences » New Document » Format. When you save the file, a warning will come up stating that .txt is the standard extension, but you will be given the option of .txt or .css.

3. Save your file and close the editor.

4. In Safari, go to Preferences » Advanced. Under Style Sheet, select Other, and point it to the file you created. You may need to restart Safari for the change to take effect.
 

chscag

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Thanks for the tip. Am going to give it a try right now and will let the thread know if it works.....
 

vansmith

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That should work - I've used user stylesheets before with Safari. The problem with that CSS is that it zooms the body of the document, not just the text. I suppose the question to ask is "do we want the text enlarged or everything?". It would almost be better to set the font property of the body tag instead.
 

chscag

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It worked! After a bit of experimentation to reach the zoom level I'm comfortable with and forcing the *.css file to be edited with TextEdit rather than Safari, it works just as you said.

Very nice tip and a good rep! :D
 

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