Do you use all of the one you have in there on a regular basis? If not, remove the ones you don’t access very often. I usually only keep Layers and one or two others in the well. If I’m working on a project that requires something else, I trade. Increasing the resolution of your monitor will also increase the space available for all of those little tabs. Of course, it’ll also increase your need for new glasses, too. 🙂
Michael,
What is your screen res? At 800×600 the palette well is pretty useless.
Rich
My screen res is 800 x 600. Tried increasing it but end up with a very difficult to read screen. Mike
I had to increase resolution and buy new glasses – you do get used to the smaller size after a while – now 800 x 600 looks really clunky if i have to switch to it for any reason.
Susan S.
My mil keeps hers low cause she can’t see well and i’m here to say that our challenge images look kind of ‘yuck’ on her screen. Then again, alot of stuff looks ‘yuck’ on her screen ’cause it’s not calibrated. Although, we have to assume that most people’s screens look like my mil’s which is a real bummer for people like trying to sell my talents.
Susan S. wrote:
I had to increase resolution and buy new glasses – you do get used to the smaller size after a while – now 800 x 600 looks really clunky if i have to switch to it for any reason.
Tee hee, I used to hate high resolutions. 🙂 Always used 640×480. Everyone thought I was nuts. Started using higher resolutions when I got sick of only seeing, like, one button on a screen. Even though I need glasses, I have gotten so used to higher resolutions that I now run my screen at 1280×854, and I don’t use my specs. (would love to get a second screen. yum, more space)
I find that the screen quality really makes a difference, though. What works for me is a high quality LCD panel. Much better than a CRT. Less eye fatigue, for some reason. (although with this powerbook, I had to actually change the calibration so that everything is darker – maybe that’s gamma, not sure, all I know is that the apple default was burning my retinae. Luckily, apple has a bunch of presets that you can choose from so that even if you make the screen darker, colour balance will still come out right)
Jodi, I’ve noticed that older monitors are like that. A lot of newer ones that I’ve seen are pretty good. Even when not calibrated, they still display graphics fairly well (you just have to get used to the difference, and sometimes, the difference brings out something in the image you didn’t see before). So, as long as your future customers are using reasonably new equipment, your stuff will probably still look great. 🙂
Mike, as long as you’re using the low res, your only option will be paring down the number of items in the palette well. Hopefully a revision of Elements will allow people to change the amount of space available for those palettes.
Vicky, geeze her computer isn’t even a year old…DELL. Flat screen LCD. Thanks for the compliment though. 😉
Jodi, wow, really? It’s an LCD? I’m surprised. Although, i *have* seen some that don’t look quite right. They are usually the smaller and cheaper ones, though, at least so I’ve noticed. Maybe Dell cut corners on her. I know that Apple does that with their cheaper notebooks, unfortunately.
You’re welcome for the compliment. I enjoy looking at *everyone’s* stuff around here. Everyone here is so good and produces such interesting work. I love it. Makes me scared to participate in the challenge, though. 🙁
Vicky,
Ah go on…just jump in on the Challenge, it is not a competition which is graded. Variety is what makes it such fun and your participation would great.
This is something I have been wondering for a while;
I dislike my old powerbook’s screen, I love my old View Sonic 17” with my G4, my brother’s eMac, 17" flat panel CRT is really nice.
So shouldn’t I like the new iMac’s 17" LCD better than the others? I can’t really tell the difference! And I wonder why, yes, I do have old eyes.
I will be purchasing a new Mac sometime this fall, and I have to pay attention to this monitor choice. The eMac looks darn good. If I like the CRT, then it is by far the best ‘value’.
That is why I am very interested in watching what you people have to say on this subject. Also I will have to spend a bit of time at my Mac store on this decision.
Thanks, Jane
Jane, you’re the only one who can make that final decision, but notice that many people who have LCD screens do have to become rather creative in achieving the color matches they are after for digital imaging. LCDs are said to be much easier on the eyes, but CRTs are able to be calibrated using free utilities. I don’t happen to advocate one way or the other. I continue to use a CRT and will for a while, but since you’re in the decision making stage, it is one more thing to keep in mind. In a perfect world, you’d have a computer with two video ports so you could have the images on one monitor and all the tools on another. Now THAT’S the way to travel!
Thankyou and good morning!
I think that I shall go to both our local Mac retailers and just spend time looking at all the choices. Sunny days, cloudy days, and evenings.
I just haven’t seen a monitor yet that equals my old ViewSonic. That also could be the way I have it set in my room, with the lighting exactly OK.
I know that once I actually buy the new Mac, that I will love it and OS X, but I have to push myself into change. I’m not that young,,,,,,,
thanks again for the encouragement,
Jane
Yes really, Jane, we can discuss the logic of what to get till the cows come home, but if you are like most people you will find that you prefer one machine to another based more on some kind of visceral reaction.
For the average mac buyer, there’s just one particular model that ‘feels" right to them, no matter what whether their heads tell them otherwise.
That is sure the truth! Maybe that is why I really don’t want to get anything new, I love my old G4 and all its goodies. Just like I love our old vehicles, don’t see the need for a new fancy truck.
Jane
Jane i agree but those new little nissans could change my mind 😉 vrooooom !
Jane, would you please e-mail me? I seem to have misplaced your address. 🙁
SONY Trinitron flat CRT !! 22 or 24 inch …holy smokes ! Where did ya play with that ? Is it new ? Sounds prrrty cool.
I still love my 17" View Sonic, that Sony Trinitron-monitor-monster is quite a, ah what should I call-it a—– Television? It is too big for me, but the resolution is way way beyond what I would expect for the size. This is a senior computer set up, and this monitor is used for people who have vision needs. The PC that was running it was a bit funky and gave me the ~~~~BlueScreen~~~Ewwwww~~~ a couple of times, so I shut it off and came home.
As far is calibration(at home), I tried the Apple thing, followed the instructions, then the Adobe thing, following their instructions. Didn’t see a real difference, so went back to the Apple instructions, fiddled with the brightness, and a few other of their many settings, then left it alone. It is happy.
Jane
I just started reading in this forum area. The help is great. I noticed in this topic however that the question was not really answered and got off on a very interesting tangent. No problem there! But just in case someone is still interested in the palette well problem….
I find that I simply go to the toolbar and click in the window dropdown area. The layers option is very easily available and I can then drag it out of the palette if I want to. Other things are selectable to like filters etc.
It helps a great deal if you have your monitor resolution set to 1024×768 or better also.
Yea!!! Just got my computer glasses today. Now I can see clearly at 1024×768. Life is good
