WHY DID THEY TAKE THE PALETTE WELL AWAY?

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Posted By
fornus
Sep 7, 2007
Views
504
Replies
21
Status
Closed
I really don’t like the new Photoshop interface. It takes up a lot more screen space, and it seems like IĀ’m constantly clicking to open and close palettes. Meanwhile, I stare longingly at the open, AND WASTED, space near the top right hand corner of the screen where the Palette Well once sat.

Most of my files have dozens if not hundreds of layers, so I like to keep my layers palette open. I experimented with having the layers palette collapse into icon mode, but it seemed like I was constantly clicking to open the palette. Furthermore, when the layers palette opens up from its icon it takes up way more screen space than it did in CS2.

See screenshots:
Layers Palette in CS3: <http://www.fornus.com/CS3-LayersPalette.jpg> Layers Palette in CS2: <http://www.fornus.com/CS2-LayersPalette.jpg>

The most frustrating aspect of the new interface is trying to find a place to put the palettes that once sat in the Palette Well. I am currently putting these palettes to the left of the layers palette, but as you can clearly see from the screenshots below this is wasting a lot of screen space.

See screenshots:
Wasteful CS3 Interface: <http://www.fornus.com/CS3.jpg> Efficient CS2 Palette Well: <http://www.fornus.com/CS2.jpg>

The new dock opens palettes into the center of the screen where they typically cover up the image I am trying to work on. The old Palette Well opened palettes down the side of the screen away from the image.

For the final insult, Adobe changed the background color of the palettes to a very light shade of gray. This makes the new palettes more prominent thereby making it even more obvious how much screen space they are wasting.

Thanks Adobe. You have over-engineered an otherwise excellent product, and created a problem where there was none. Congratulations!
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chrisjbirchall
Sep 7, 2007
my files have dozens if not hundreds of layers, so I like to keep my layers palette open…

And that, MeLud, sums up the prosecution’s case for having TWO MONITORS! šŸ™‚

Seriously. If you’re going to stick with a single monitor, give the new palette arrangement an chance. You can customize to suit YOUR way of working – and it really IS more efficient than the previous versions.

HOWEVER – do give some thought to running dual monitors. You can have all your palette open on the second screen leaving the whole of the primary screen for your image.

Once you’ve worked this way you’ll wonder how you ever managed before.

Enjoy.
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fornus
Sep 7, 2007
Sure, having two monitors would be great. Heck, why not have three? However, having a bunch of new monitors doesn’t make the new interface any better, and it doesn’t change the fact that I never before had a problem working with one monitor.

If the new palette arrangement IS so great and it allows me to customize to suit MY way of working, then I could simply dock palettes where the Palette Well used to be and we wouldn’t be having this discussion.

Also, I resent being called a Luddite. You don’t have to be a textile artisan to see the wasted space in the screenshots I posted above.
C
chrisjbirchall
Sep 7, 2007
Just think of the new "collapsible" dock as the new palette well. A bit a lateral thinking and accustomisation will have you loving it as much as CS3. šŸ˜‰
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fornus
Sep 7, 2007
Yes, It is the new Palette Well that opens palettes into the center of the screen where they cover up your work. A magnificent improvement!
EH
Ed_Hannigan
Sep 7, 2007
Is it worth shouting about?

I think I will stop reading posts where the title is in all caps.
DM
dave_milbut
Sep 8, 2007
fornus

Fornit Some Fornus!!! šŸ™‚
RB
Robert_Barnett
Sep 8, 2007
Here is something that should help keep the palettes off your images a bit. On the tool palette just below the icon that turns on/off the Quick Mask mode is another icon. Click on this and choose from the flyout the Maximized Screen Mode option. What this does is seperate the palettes from the image area. I have found this mode to be very useful.

My only complaint with it comes when you have more than one image loaded you have to go to the Windows drop down menu to switch images because there is no window to choose. I would like to see them add tabs in this mode at the top of the screen for easier image switching.

Also, I will add a vote to bringing back the palette well. I like the new interface but I see no reason what-so-ever as to why we can’t have the palette well as well.

Robert
DM
dave_milbut
Sep 8, 2007
yup.
F
fornus
Sep 8, 2007
Thanks for the advice Robert. It would be cool if there was an image switching tab in the new screen mode. I usually just press the F key three times to reveal the other images.
DM
dave_milbut
Sep 8, 2007
get a cheap monitor and a cheap 2nd card if you main video card won’t support 2. it’s well worth it and you’ll never go back to using photoshop on one monitor! (and you’ll hate it if you have to for some reason!)
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Sep 8, 2007
Learn to use saved workspaces.
DM
dave_milbut
Sep 8, 2007
that too. since version 7…
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chrisjbirchall
Sep 8, 2007
when you have more than one image loaded you have to go to the Windows drop down menu to switch images…

Or use Ctrl+TAB
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chrisjbirchall
Sep 8, 2007
See here: CS3 Palette Wellscreen shots </cgi-bin/webx?14/7> showing how the CS3 workspace compares with the CS2.
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fornus
Sep 8, 2007
Mathias & Dave,

Thanks for the advice. I really do appreciate it, but I don’t understand how saved workspaces can solve the problem. The ability to save different workspaces is great. I currently have five different spaces saved, but I don’t think it would be very efficient to switch workspaces every time I open the Brushes palette.

By the way, I checked out your website Mathias. You have some excellent work. I also enjoyed Ed and Chris’ websites. Great work guys.

I apologize for double posting and writing my title in caps. I didn’t mean to offend anyone’s eyes or virtual ears. I am just frustrated by this change. I’ve been using CS3 for several months and I still haven’t adjusted. Ironically, I initially thought the new interface would be great, but, for me anyway, it is an idea that works better in theory than practice.

One solution that has worked fairly well is to use keyboard shortcuts to open and close palettes. This works great because I am able to place the palettes anywhere I want, and I can open and close them with one keystroke. However, I haven’t found a way to assign a shortcut to frequently used palettes like the History palette. I am currently grouping these palettes with ones that do have shortcuts, but then they require multiple actions to open or close.
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chrisjbirchall
Sep 8, 2007
Thanks for the kind words Fornus, glad you liked the work.

Did you check out the link in post #14 to the CS2 vs CS3 screen shots? Where they of any help?

I am currently grouping these palettes with ones that do have shortcuts, but then they require multiple actions to open or close…

The TAB key will toggle all the active palettes (open and close) in one go.
MM
Milo_Miller
Sep 9, 2007
I totally agree ….the pallete wall SHOULD HAVE STAYED!

It was useful for keeping certain windows that you didn’t need open all the time, but wanted to see them clearly on the screen and only had to move the mouse to them to bring them out, make a few changes etc and then there were out the way..

why on earth they removed the whole thing is just stupid stupid, did I say stupid?

maybe if they have any sense they’ll bring it back and or put something usefull in that wasted space. Ijiots.
BL
Bob Levine
Sep 9, 2007
The point that seems to be being missed is that no other app in the suite has a palette well and the whole idea is to get the apps more and more in synch.

I don’t see how they could have kept that well and still had the panels conform to the rest of the suite.

Bob
MV
Mathias_Vejerslev
Sep 9, 2007
I dont miss the Palette well at all. In fact I never used it much. I prefer to work in ‘expert’ mode with the palettes hidden from view (TAB+ff). In CS3, the palettes fly-in when moving the mouse to the edge of the screen (quite cool). I can also assign shortcuts to any saved workspaces, so I can bring up a configuration with a single key click. And then there’s the new icon mode for palettes, which is kind of the same thing as a palette well, I’d say.
RB
Robert_Barnett
Sep 9, 2007
I will have to try that. Thanks.

Robert
JJ
John_Joslin
Sep 9, 2007
Just to expand (no pun intended) on Mathias’s "auto-fly-out" palettes Ā– if you hide the palettes with Shift + Tab, you get to keep the toolbox visible.

Quite handy!

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