Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [11]
Panels can be organized into groups by mousing down on a panel tab and dragging it across to another panel (Figure 1.22). When panels are grouped in this way they'll look a bit like folders in a filing cabinet. Just click on a tab to bring that panel to the front of the group and to separate a panel from a group, mouse down on the panel tab and drag it outside the panel group again.
Figure 1.22 To group panels together, mouse down anywhere on the panel header and with the mouse held down, drag the tab across to another panel, or group of panels (a blue surround appears when you are within the dropping zone) and release the mouse once it is inside the other panels. To remove a panel from a group, mouse down on the Panel tab and drag it outside the panel group.
Panel arrangements and docking
The default ‘Essentials’ workspace arranges the panels using the panel layout shown in Figures 1.3 and 1.4 (seen at the beginning of this chapter), but there are quite a few other different workspace settings to choose from. It is also easy to create custom workspace settings by arranging the panels to suit your own preferred way of working and save these as a new setting. Panels can be docked together by dragging a panel to the bottom or side edge of another panel and in Figure 1.23 you can see how an example of the thick blue line that appears as a panel is made to hover close to the edge of another panel. Release the mouse at this point and the panel will become docked to the side or to the bottom of the other panels.
Figure 1.3 This shows the Photoshop CS5 Application Frame view for Mac OS X. To switch between the classic mode and the Application Frame workspace, go to the Window menu and select or deselect the Application Frame menu item.
Figure 1.4 The Photoshop CS5 interface for the Windows OS, showing the default Essentials program workspace.
Figure 1.23 As you reposition a panel and prepare to dock it inside or to the edges of the other panels, a thick blue line indicates that when you release the mouse, this is where the panel will attach itself.
When panels are compressed (as shown in the middle and bottom examples in Figure 1.21), you can drag on either side of the panel to adjust the panel's width. At the most compact size, only the panel's icon is displayed, but as you increase the width of a panel (or column of panels), the panel contents expand and you'll get to see the names of the panels appear alongside their icons (see Figure 1.24).
Figure 1.21 Photoshop panels can be collapsed with a double-click in the empty panel tab area (circled in red), while a double-click on the dark gray panel header (circled in blue) shrinks the panel to the compact panel size shown here.
Figure 1.24 When panels are docked you can adjust the width of all the panels at once by dragging anywhere along the side edge of the panels.
Just remember, if you can't find a particular panel, then it may well be hidden. If this happens, go to the Window menu, select the panel name from the menu and it will reappear again on the screen. It is worth remembering that the key shortcut (also indicated as on some keyboards) can be used to toggle hiding and showing all the panels, while toggles hiding/ showing all the currently visible panels except for the Tools panel and Options bar. These