# Multi screen support
**URL:** https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536
**Category:** Features
**Created:** [January 11, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536 "2019-01-11T02:26:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Forrest\_Lowe](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Forrest_Lowe)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/1 "2019-01-11T02:26:53Z")
When is multi screen support coming?
I want to put my preview window on another monitor. Idc how much work it takes, do it. I want it.
Be superior to piskel yo, multi screen support. Do it.
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Do it.
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/2 "2019-01-11T14:25:56Z")
Hi @Forrest_Lowe, actually the “do it” thing doesn’t work for developers. Even more, it works in the reverse direction: the more “do it” I hear, the less I want to work on it.
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### Author:  [@Forrest\_Lowe](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Forrest_Lowe)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/3 "2019-01-11T16:33:32Z")
Well that would be valid if I wasn’t also a developer. I am a strong believer in listening to my audience, if you don’t believe in that then why charge for your product? Because you’re gonna make allot more sales going FTU if you don’t give a shit what people think.
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/4 "2019-01-11T16:53:41Z")
Just in case, this feature was thought long time ago: [Make all elements on screen dockable/movable/resizable · Issue #518 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/518)
The feature can be implemented after doing the full switch to our back-end + Skia (removing Allegro library completely, which is still active on Aseprite v1.2.9 on Linux). You can see the ongoing efforts along all these years to implement this feature here: [https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139) It’s not related to “I don’t give a shit about the users”, it’s that it required years of work to be able to implement the feature and just in this year we’ll be able to start working on this.
What I find a little harsh from your side, is the imperative tone to ask for features, sounds like developers are slaves or something like that.
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### Author:  [@Forrest\_Lowe](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Forrest_Lowe)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/5 "2019-01-11T17:11:25Z")
It’s more of a suggestion, I am happy to see that it is indeed being worked on. I do not mean to tell you how to do your job, I only mean to express how I feel the product should continue. I want a feature, and to know that it will be implemented in a couple of years (as it sounds from the way you put it) just makes me joyous.
Side note: I don’t mind being harsh if it means you’re listening. I like to be playful and ask for something in a joking manor “Do it” being the punchline(poor though it may be.) But I don’t care to be talked down to for not being on the project. If you were to start your responses with “That feature is actually already in the works” like you have done now, I would have responded very differently.
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/6 "2019-01-11T23:13:38Z")
Don’t worry, eveything is fine 👍
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### Author:  [@vegeta897](https://community.aseprite.org/u/vegeta897)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/8 "2019-08-07T04:24:29Z")
Developers everywhere hate attitudes like yours, Forrest. You being one of them isn’t a free pass, it makes us ashamed to share an occupation/hobby with you.
Edit: Just a note, there was an even nastier comment from our friend Forrest that was removed that prompted my response, but my remark still stands.
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [August 7, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/9 "2019-08-07T14:52:11Z")
Just in case for future reference I’ll leave here some comments about this feature and why it’s hard to implement in the current design of Aseprite (but it’s not impossible, but it will take some time):
1. The original version of Aseprite (ASE, Allegro Sprite Editor) was developed with the Allegro (4) library, which was a library to program games on a MSDOS-style (one thread, sequential logic, without events). Remember that I started developing ASE in 2000~2001. (We still have the modified Allegro version that we used for Aseprite in a [separated repository](https://github.com/aseprite/allegro) for historical reasons.)
2. Allegro 4 library never supported multiple windows, so the program UI was never thought to be used in multiple windows of the operating system (that’s is why the `ui` layer uses only on `ui::Manager` with one display).
3. Then we refactored everything to a new layer ([`laf`](https://github.com/aseprite/laf)) instead of using Allegro directly.
4. Then we switch the back-end of `laf` to our own implementation using events to handle user input, and using Skia to draw graphics in-memory.
5. Now the `laf` library supports multiple windows, but the `ui` module of Aseprite doesn’t. So now we have to change the `ui::Manager` impl to handle multiple [`os::Display`](https://github.com/aseprite/laf/blob/398bcf8ed588c63027beb80b107243e530f3a955/os/display.h#L25), and each `ui:Window` could be related to a specific `os::Display`.
Basically this is a _refactoring-problem_ vs. _avoid-introducing new bugs_, we choose to have a more stable Aseprite version in the short-term instead of adding something that will break everything. The actual bottleneck is the tilemap editor feature, once that is implemented on v1.3-beta, we’ll be able to start adding/refactoring more stuff on the beta version (the stable v1.2 is almost feature freeze and only bug fixes will be released from now on).
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### Author:  [@Alex](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Alex)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2019, 9:02pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/10 "2019-08-14T21:02:41Z")
Wow, I was googling for this and it turns out it’s been discussed just a few days ago. Well, if someday it’s implemented it will be really welcomed!. These kind of core refactors may be really, really painful. I prefer a single-windowed-bug-free software than a rushed multiwindow disaster. Take your time!
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### Author:  [@macroblitz](https://community.aseprite.org/u/macroblitz)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/11 "2019-10-01T01:01:58Z")
Just my two cents, I would rather have someone like this, than those who doesn’t participate in community. and yes, I also came here because I have multi monitor and would like to see the progress of this feature. Thank you.
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### Author:  [@JJHaggar](https://community.aseprite.org/u/JJHaggar)
#### Post date: [October 1, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/12 "2019-10-01T17:10:42Z")
@dacap Is there an ETA for this feature? (I’m also a multi monitor user, but I don’t really mind if it’s a pair of years or more, I’m more than happy with the development of Aseprite, it’s just my curiosity asking ^\_^)
> [@Alex](#):
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> I prefer a single-windowed-bug-free software than a rushed multiwindow disaster. Take your time!
I totally agree! 🙂
> [@macroblitz](#):
>
> I would rather have someone like this, than those who doesn’t participate in community
I’m not too sure of that, man. Maybe Forrest\_Lowe meant no harm with his original post, but sometimes users can create really toxic threads (even unknowingly) by asking for things and answering posts in that way (without caring about good manners and/or upsetting other users). Also, welcome to the community! @macroblitz 😃
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### Author:  [@Earl](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Earl)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/13 "2020-03-22T09:10:48Z")
1+ to this feature, I’m pretty new to animation and art, pixel or otherwise, but at least to me it seems very important to be able to have the same animation open on multiple stages of the animation and on multiple levels of zoom just to easily get an overview of the different states and how they relate to the part you are drawing. Understand it hasn’t been prioritised given the complexity though.
But instead of just complaining I’ll also come with a possible solution. It’s a bit of a hack but works better than nothing if you really want the second monitor (let me know if anyone has a better hack pls).
With OBS (streaming software) you can easily show different regions of a screen on another screen, so if you just duplicate tiny windows of what you would want on the other monitor, and then just blow up that region on your second screen, you can get more references of what you are currently drawing on your second monitor without taking up that much real estate in the main window.
Second monitor on the left:
[ ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/bfjourep5y6h8ls/Screenshot%202020-03-22%2009.58.42.png?raw=1)
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To easily crop the windows in OBS hold down ALT while resizing them.
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### Author:  [@briandavidson](https://community.aseprite.org/u/briandavidson)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2020, 7:42am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/14 "2020-11-27T07:42:24Z")
created account just to support this comment. when i read forrrest lowe’s words i dry heaved a little in my mouth…
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### Author:  [@orbatos](https://community.aseprite.org/u/orbatos)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/15 "2020-12-07T00:54:20Z")
@dacap Thank you for this, it’s really informative and surprisingly showed me I’m an old time user of ASE from ages ago.
Allegro really wasn’t designed for this scenario, I look forward to your future development.
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### Author:  [@dogboydog](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dogboydog)
#### Post date: [April 9, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/16 "2021-04-09T20:29:19Z")
Here is what I do by the way to get around this limitation when using Aseprite until it can be supported.
[Honeyview](https://en.bandisoft.com/honeyview/) will auto refresh when the open file is changed. It also supports nearest neighbor scaling (“No filter” in the menu). So if you keep exporting the image and have it open in Honeyview, you can get whatever size of preview you want. It can also preview animated images in addition to static images.
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### Author:  [@JSH32](https://community.aseprite.org/u/JSH32)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/17 "2022-05-26T16:56:49Z")
What did they say? I’m curious as to how horrible it is. Was it a “you make product so you have to improve the product even if it is at the expense of your own health because I paid for quality and I will get quality” dumbfucks or was it worse? I can’t count the amount of people messaging me weekly about an app I stopped developing years ago.
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### Author:  [@Leonardo\_Amora](https://community.aseprite.org/u/Leonardo_Amora)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/18 "2022-12-10T14:24:27Z")
Would be a great feature! I hope it’s possible @dacap !
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### Author:  [@justinpaulcyr](https://community.aseprite.org/u/justinpaulcyr)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/19 "2022-12-18T15:20:37Z")
Hi,
Curious to know what’s the status of this feature. I understand it’s very complicated but I’d like to know if there’s an update.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@dacap](https://community.aseprite.org/u/dacap)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/20 "2023-07-06T20:49:59Z")
> [@justinpaulcyr](#):
>
> Curious to know what’s the status of this feature
This is implemented in the [v1.3/beta](https://www.aseprite.org/beta) branch, you can [enable from _Edit \> Preferences \> General_](https://twitter.com/aseprite/status/1630944151402344448), but it’s disabled by default since v1.3-rc1 because there are a lot of issues to fix yet ([#3556](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/3556))
Some of the work done to make this work can be found in the following changes (but it’s not a complete list):
- Window resizing in real-time [#139](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139) [#2536](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/2536) [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/laf/commit/39ff91256cc64808bcf735c6d755a1746f841b3a)
- Support for multiple windows [#139](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139) [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/laf/commit/f4fd52cfeab6ce468887bf34bd272c9adeb7ab0f)
- Custom native frame for windows [#139](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139) [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/laf/commit/209cf3cd1f2e7f0540ec2a0b289594701c2cd981)
- Support for multiple windows in the UI layer [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/commit/c3d52f0bbe5242923c9e38495e1be1135ca0934f)
- Added multiple windows on UI layer [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/commit/8034b0cbcca80f9e300307d360f99bf6657b583f)
- Several fixes for multiple windows on UI layer [patch](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/commit/bcd69495ce65aa934a9410a23134117f5c60c870)
Issues:
- back-end refactor - [Complete back-end integration with OS · Issue #139 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/139)
- floating windows - [Multiscreen support · Issue #250 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/250)
- all dockable - [Make all elements on screen dockable/movable/resizable · Issue #518 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/518)
- real-time resize [Window resizes by scaling · Issue #2536 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/2536)
- preview in other window:
- [Multiscreen support · Issue #250 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/250)
- [Preview Window in second screen · Issue #962 · aseprite/aseprite · GitHub](https://github.com/aseprite/aseprite/issues/962)
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### Author:  [@levloskytov](https://community.aseprite.org/u/levloskytov)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2024, 11:43am UTC](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536/21 "2024-01-08T11:43:18Z")
ahahah, true 😃
[Next page](https://community.aseprite.org/t/multi-screen-support/2536.md?page=2)