In CS4 Use of File Place Does Not Center Images

Question

I have been using CS3 for about 1 1/2 years, so of course had to give CS4 a try. I downloaded the trial. I immediately had an issue with File > Place.
I often use File > Place to add additional items into a document. I believe the expected functionality of File>Place is that the file should then be centered in the document.
Here is what I have done:
+ Create a 12"x12" document at 200ppi (I have also tried to create a document at 2400x2400 pixels)
+ Use File>Place to add a square 2400x2400 pixel image (JPG file) into the document
+ The added layer is now offset ever so slightly in the new document.
+ Further observation shows that the horizontal reference point is at 1202 (screen shot attached), thus creating an offset from center. I change it to 1200 and sure enough the paper is centered perfectly. I thought maybe changing it once would make it the same next time, but that is not the case.
+ When I used the File>Place command, I was zoomed out (25%), and the entire image was viewable on screen. If I zoom out further, say 8.33%, the offset is 1206.
I am able to duplicate this on two different computers with the following configurations:
Computer #1
+ Windows XP Professional Version 2002 SP2
+ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (3.01GHz)
+ 4GB RAM
+ nVidia GeForce 8600 GT, driver version 6.14.11.5819
Computer #2
+ HP Pavilion dv9843cl Laptop
+ Windows Vista x64 SP1
+ Intel Core Duo processor T8100 (2.1 GHz)
+ 4GB RAM
+ nVidia GeForce 8600M GS with 512MB DDR dedicated graphics memory, ForceWare version 167.43
+ Video BIOS version: 60.83.4f.00.22
Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Browser: Firefox
Video display card / driver version: nVidia GeForce 8600 GT, driver version 6.14.11.5819
Screen shot (not sure if this works in these forums):
[IMG]http://cdn-1-service.phanfare.com/images/external/1466784_1419796_53071200_Full_3/0_0 _41325929f3d5a1780af10559af98d829_1[/IMG]
Any ideas?????
~ Kathleen

Answer 1

"Place" ..... It is not all the easy to understand how place works without studying its behavior.  Often it will work in a way your not expecting if you do not understand how it works. There is a setting in Photoshop preferences Resize Image during Place. Un Checking this setting does not mean the image will not be resize nor does checking  this setting mean that it will be resize. On top on top of that the seems to be something in Photoshop on My system that keeps changing the setting to the checked state.
What the heck am I writing am I trying to make this worse.  No I'm not.  To prove that I first tell you it is very easy to center position a placed layer in an action after the Place step add a step select all the two layer>Align layers to selection>Horizontal Center then vertical center. The deselect...
Place....
There is a lot going on remember in Photoshop a Layer can be any size  Larger/smaler/same as the canvas and can have any aspect ratio. If the placed image has more pixels them a canvas side size and the preference is checked the placed image will be transformed to fit within the canvas size. If not checked the placed image will transformed to the same dpi resolution so no pixels will be changed.    The only time a place image is not transformed is when the the preference is not checked and the placed image file has the same dpi as the current Photoshop Document.  In this cast the image is placed in at 100% size be it smaller/larger/same as canvas size.