Photoshop Palette and Workspace Questions

Posted on 28/06/2010 by Eric Renno

From time to time some strange things happen in Photoshop. Here I look at a couple of the things I’ve been asked about regarding the workspace, both of which are meant to happen and can be of benefit depending on how you work.

“Why are the rulers and work area behind my palettes?”

There’s two possible reasons;

The first thing to check is if are you are viewing the screen in a different mode than you are used to. Its easy to scroll through the different views, just push the F key.

If that wasn’t the cause then it could be because your palettes aren’t docked to the side of Photoshop’s window. To dock them, click and hold that palette and drag it over to the side until you see a blue line. When you release, the work area will reduce and the palette will be as you expect.

This doesn’t just happen with the tools palette, you may also find that your other palettes on the right float too. This isn’t always a bad thing, floating pallets can be quite helpful.

“Does the palette layout have to follow a certain pattern?”

No. That’s the great thing about Photoshop’s palette system, you really can design it how you wish. Did you know, for example, that you can dock palettes to the tool palette on the left?

One handy tip is to dock the brushes palette to the tools palette, this means that if you go to choose the brush tool, the options are right there for you.

This may not be of any help if you use the keyboard short cut (B) to to choose the brush tool, but if you’re using a graphics tablet this can save you moving from one side of the screen to the other.

“My picture is at an angle, what’s happening?”

CS4 introduced a really handy feature for those that sketch with Photoshop. By being able to rotate the image it can simulate the angle of your graphics tablet.