PL Editing Window & Panel Setup

[Alan9940]

To all you PL users on Mac:

I've got the Toolbox on the left, the panels I need setup on the right, and, of course, the editing window is in the center. But, I don't like seeing the desktop below the Toolbox and around the editing window; I prefer neutral to darker grays like PL looks on Windows side. Is there any way to setup the Mac workshop like it is on Windows? I've tried full screen mode (which does eliminate the desktop peeking around the panels), but I don't like how the image goes behind the right-side panels when viewed at magnification levels that I commonly use.

As always, thank you for any help provided.

Best regards,
Alan

[bkh]

Is there any way to setup the Mac workshop like it is on Windows? I've tried full screen mode (which does eliminate the desktop peeking around the panels), but I don't like how the image goes behind the right-side panels when viewed at magnification levels that I commonly use.

You could move PL to a second desktop (or "Space", via Mission Control) and just assign another bg image to that desktop. I think you can even get PL to always open on that desktop, although I don't recall the details – I don't really use multiple desktops myself and things keep changing with each version of OS X.

(Another simple solution is choosing a different background image – the default images are impressive, but imo too distracting for real work.)

Btw., I've arranged toolbox and all the panels I normally need in a solid vertical strip at the right side of my desktop, thanks to the new tabbed interface, so expanding a document layer to maximum size (by Alt-clicking the fullscreen button) essentially covers all the screen.

panels.jpg

Full screen mode isn't for me, either, but that's probably an OS X problem since its concept of "fullscreen mode" seems to be to display a single window fullscreen, not the entire application. Imo, this only makes sense if an application uses just a single window.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[TT1]

On a similar note, it seems the top toolbar (File, Edit, View, Layout, ...) is now white instead of matching the rest of the border chrome. It there a way to switch this back to the previous non-contrasting color?

Also, is there a way to turn off all the icons that are displayed on the pulldowns from that toolbar, perhaps as an option? Because so many of them are missing, I find it more of a distraction than a help to have them there at all. BTW, I don't seem to remember seeing them on the previous WinXP-sp1 computer I just replaced. I'm noticing all this on a new Windows 7 laptop.

Thanks.

[Alan9940]

(Another simple solution is choosing a different background image – the default images are impressive, but imo too distracting for real work.)

Exactly! I have my desktop set to a solid color, but even that is too distracting. I could set it to a middle gray value, but then I'd be playing this delicate balance between the grays of the PL interface and the gray background. And, I really don't want a gray desktop as my normal environment for other things I do.

Btw., I've arranged toolbox and all the panels I normally need in a solid vertical strip at the right side of my desktop, thanks to the new tabbed interface, so expanding a document layer to maximum size (by Alt-clicking the fullscreen button) essentially covers all the screen.

After 15 years of using PS, I could never place my toolbox on the right!

Where does one find this "fullscreen button" to which you speak?

Best regards,
Alan

[bkh]

Where does one find this "fullscreen button" to which you speak?

I meant the green button on the top left corner of every window (next to the "Close" and "Minimize" buttons, used to be the "Maximize" button). Alt-Clicking changes it to the old "Maximize". Btw., you can also use Window -> Zoom in PL.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[Alan9940]

I meant the green button on the top left corner of every window (next to the "Close" and "Minimize" buttons, used to be the "Maximize" button). Alt-Clicking changes it to the old "Maximize". Btw., you can also use Window -> Zoom in PL.

Ah, now I understand why you have the toolbox clustered with the other panels on the right! Since I'd rather not see any of the desktop in the background, I've moved the toolbox over; though this will take me some time to get used to! I do like it that the Tool Settings are now directly under the tools. Maybe now I won't forget to review/set things in this panel when choosing a tool to use.

Thanks for your help.

Best regards,
Alan