(The Window > Workspace menu.)Photoshop Workspace Presets
When you're becoming familiar with Photoshop, you will discover that different palette layouts work better for different tasks. For example, when you're working on an image, you may find that you prefer to have the Brushes palette extend all the way down the right side of your workspace. Also you might find that hiding most of the other palettes is preferable. Also, when you are painting, you might prefer to place your Color, Swatches, and Brushes palettes along the right portion of your screen. While having these presets, you can also save it so that Photoshop will remember where exactly you place your palettes at the time you saved the preset. Saving a preset is just choosing Window > Workspace > Save Workspace. Then you can give it a memorable name. Also, you can switch between different saved presets, just choose the name of the workspace you want under the Window > Workspace menu. The feature that will let you save presets is great for those who have to share computer with others because each user can have different preferences on where to place each palettes. In that way, every user can quickly swap between workspaces.
(The Window > Workspace menu.)
(The Window > Workspace menu.)
Stacking the Palettes
Palettes can be stacked one on top of another. Moving the top palette by dragging the bar at the top of the palette will also move together with it the palettes that are stacked below it. You can stack two palettes by dragging the name tab of one palette to the middle of another palette and then drag down until a black rectangle appears across the bottom of the palette you are dragging onto. Depending on your personal preference, you can drag to the top or bottom edge of a palette. Other Photoshop users like to stack the Character and Paragraph palettes together so that all the type settings in one convenient area. You can also drag other palettes into the grouping so that it might become a group of palettes.
Sometimes you might mess your palettes after moving and regrouping them. You may find out that one or more palettes are missing. But don't panic. You can always put it back through the Window menu. This Menu lists all the palettes that are currently available.
Dragging the name of a palette to the top or bottom of another will stack two palettes.)
Sometimes you might mess your palettes after moving and regrouping them. You may find out that one or more palettes are missing. But don't panic. You can always put it back through the Window menu. This Menu lists all the palettes that are currently available.
Dragging the name of a palette to the top or bottom of another will stack two palettes.)
The Palete Well
At the top portion of the Photoshop window, there is an options bar. Within that options bar you should notice a dark gray area on the far right. That area is known as the palette well. The palette well is a special area where you can drag the name of a few palettes to store them until they're utilized. Every time you want to access to the palettes in the palette well, all you have to do is to click the name of the palette and it will drop down from the palette well. When you're done, you can click anywhere outside of the palette and it should collapse itself again back into the palette well.
(Clicking the name of the palette will expand it.)
(Clicking the name of the palette will expand it.)
How to Regroup the Palettes
Regrouping the palettes in Photoshop is relatively easy. To maximize your screen real estate you can change the way palettes are grouped. Take for example, suppose your favorite palettes are the Color and History palettes and you are using them more frequently, you can group them into one so that you will have one palette open at any given time instead of two. If you want to regroup the palettes, drag the name tab of the palette you want to move (in this example, Color) into the palette group you want to move the palette into (History in this case). You can also remove any palettes you want to get rid of by dragging the name tab of that palette onto an open area of the screen.
(How to regroup Photoshop palettes.)
(How to regroup Photoshop palettes.)
Collapsing Photoshop Palettes
Sometimes you may want to optimize your Photoshop workspace. To do this, you simply collapse photoshop palettes when they are not used. By double-clicking any of the name tabs at the top of the palette, you can collapse a Photoshop palette window. You can also reposition a palette by clicking the little bar at the top of the palette and then drag it around your workspace. When you move a palette close to the bottom of the screen, it should nap into place.
(Collapsing Photoshop Palettes.)
When repositioning the palettes, be sure that you don't position any palettes too close to the right edge of the screen. This edge that is affectionately known as palette alley can cause you great trouble when you zoom in on your images. If you have a palette that is too close to the right edge of the screen and you press Command-+ (Mac) or Alt-Ctrl-+ (Windows), Photoshop cannot resize the document window to the screen width. It instead, leaves the palette alley open and does not allow the document window to intrude this space. In other words, the effort you have made in repositioning the palettes in order to save space are useless.
To access any of these palettes, double-click the palette's name tab. By doing that, you will instantly open the palette. To collapse the palette, again double-click its name.
Each time you open Photoshop the palettes will be at their default places if you turn off the Save Palette Location check box in the File > Preferences > General dialog box.
(Collapsing Photoshop Palettes.)
When repositioning the palettes, be sure that you don't position any palettes too close to the right edge of the screen. This edge that is affectionately known as palette alley can cause you great trouble when you zoom in on your images. If you have a palette that is too close to the right edge of the screen and you press Command-+ (Mac) or Alt-Ctrl-+ (Windows), Photoshop cannot resize the document window to the screen width. It instead, leaves the palette alley open and does not allow the document window to intrude this space. In other words, the effort you have made in repositioning the palettes in order to save space are useless.
To access any of these palettes, double-click the palette's name tab. By doing that, you will instantly open the palette. To collapse the palette, again double-click its name.
Each time you open Photoshop the palettes will be at their default places if you turn off the Save Palette Location check box in the File > Preferences > General dialog box.
Controlling Photoshop Palettes
In Photoshop, the first thing you must learn is how to get enough space for you to work with your images effectively. This can be done by organizing the palettes so that they don't obstruct your view of the document. The default position of the palettes is effective on a 36-inch screen. The palettes take up too much valuable screen real estate.
(How Photoshop palettes take up a large screen space.)
(How Photoshop palettes take up a large screen space.)Tool and Palette Introduction
It can be a dizzying experience when you open Photoshop for the first time and seeing all the tools and palettes scattering arround your screen. You might be amazed but still asking the Photoshop creators why they forgot to leave room in there for you to work! Some of the more fortunate Photoshop users who have "the money" get to have a second monitor, just to have more space for their palettes. Still the rest of us do find ways to make our screens neat and arranged.
Finding places to put your most important tools and palettes in Photoshop is almost as important as knowing how to use them. You will discover this later as you work more with Photoshop. On the other hand, it is also very important to know how to effectively manage your workspace and get acquainted with the oodles of gadgets and gizmos found in your Photoshop software.
Before going into the different functionalities of Photoshop, it is inevitable to learn also how to control the prodigious profusions of palettes in Photoshop. However, there's a word of advice: No matter how many times you feel like nuking a palette the way you like it, no matter how many times your screen turns into a blinding jumble of annoying little boxes, just remember that you can organize the clutter into an elegant arrangement like a magic. Yes, just a few seconds away!
(Opening Photoshop for the first time.)
Finding places to put your most important tools and palettes in Photoshop is almost as important as knowing how to use them. You will discover this later as you work more with Photoshop. On the other hand, it is also very important to know how to effectively manage your workspace and get acquainted with the oodles of gadgets and gizmos found in your Photoshop software.
Before going into the different functionalities of Photoshop, it is inevitable to learn also how to control the prodigious profusions of palettes in Photoshop. However, there's a word of advice: No matter how many times you feel like nuking a palette the way you like it, no matter how many times your screen turns into a blinding jumble of annoying little boxes, just remember that you can organize the clutter into an elegant arrangement like a magic. Yes, just a few seconds away!
(Opening Photoshop for the first time.)
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