Last month, we focused on general preferences for Adobe Photoshop
CC. This time, we’ll talk about setting up a more personalized
workspace. Many of us digitally scrapbook for quite a while using the
default workspace without even thinking to customize it at all, or
knowing that we could. I know when I first started scrapbooking using a
laptop computer there weren’t many ways to change up my space just due
to the limited amount of visibility on a smaller screen. Often, we now
have widescreen monitors and you can definitely make the workspace a lot
more scrap friendly with just a few steps.
Let’s start with the default workspace:
If
you pull down the Window tab at the top, you’ll notice the items with
checkmarks are the ones that appear in the panel along the right hand
side.
You’ll
notice a small strip on the right docked next to the main long panel
with a couple of icons in it. Hovering over the icons, you’ll see it’s
the History panel and the Properties panel. I like scrapping with the
History panel open but the Properties tab isn’t necessary (for me). Now
that you can undo multiple times with Ctrl Z instead of just one,
perhaps I’ll stop using the History panel but for now I’m used to it.
NOTE:
It used to frustrate me that the Properties panel would pop back up
whenever I drew a shape and I would have to hide it again. There is a
fix for that! WITH A SHAPE DRAWN on a layer, you can click on the little
three line/option menu and uncheck Show on Shape Creation, then close
the tab group and it won’t automatically reappear.
Because
I have a wide screen monitor and I scrap in a 12 x 12 square format, I
have plenty of screen “real estate” for another wide panel on the right
instead of just the skinny strip holding the extra panels. So using the
Windows tab at the top I’ll open up several other panels that I use all
the time like Styles, Actions, Brushes and Settings, as well as
Characters and Paragraphs for text.
Notice
the little dividing lines between every icon or two. Those dividers
show how the panels will be displayed. Those with two icons between
dividers will be “nested” together in one panel such that you can switch
back and forth. I use those when it makes sense to do it like with
Characters and Character Styles. You can move them up and down and
change the order to your preference.
Now, I’ll expand the small
strip into another large vertical panel by clicking the two tiny arrows
at the top of the skinny strip. I could even make these two vertical
panels thinner and add a third if I wanted to open more panel options.
Now
THAT’S better! I’ll have a much easier time scrapping when I can see
everything I use most often. I just have one problem… that Layers
palette is WAY too small! You end up with so many layers in a psd/tif
file and scrolling up and down is tedious. So I’ll move the Styles panel
over into the other tools panel.
This will make it much easier to navigate around on a scrapbook layout!
My
last step is to move the Tools bar from the left hand side over and
dock it next to the rest of the panels. Now, the entire left side of my
workspace is dedicated to my layouts and all of my tools etc are on the
right. No more going back and forth across the screen.
9full screen tools moved by
Stacia, on Flickr
One
other customization that I’ve made in order to see my layers better is
to change a couple of those panel options. Click on the three
line/option menu and select Panel Options.
I
like the largest thumbnail size but that is totally personal
preference. I also LOVE the layer bounds option checked. That way I can
see much more clearly what layer that I’m on by seeing the shapes on
layers more easily. I also use the add “copy” to duplicates option so
that it’s easier to differentiate between original elements like flowers
and their copies when I start resizing and moving them.
I
hope you picked up a few helpful tips that you can use for your own
customization. Note that HOW you set up your workspace is totally
dependent on your workflow and which tools you use most frequently. So
move things around, try out different options. You might even consider
having a workspace for digital scrapbooking AND another workspace
configured differently for photo-editing if that’s your thing. The
important thing is to
SAVE your customized workspace so
that you can get it back in case your system is somehow reset during an
update. { Not like that ever happens, right…? ;) }
To
save your customized workspace - under the Windows tab, selecting
Workspace, pull down to New Workspace. You’ll get a dialog box asking
you to give your new workspace a name. You’ll also have the option to
save customized keyboard shortcuts and tool options as well if you so
choose.
Tell me, have you customized your workspace? What’s the thing you love the most about it?
