Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
In addition, when you're using the Custom Workspace, you can put floating panels into the
Panel Bin. Where you drag the panel determines where it appears in the bin. If you want to
see a panel's tab with the other tabs at the top of the bin, then drag the panel's tab onto the
other tabs at the top of the bin and let go when you see a blue outline. Since the Panel Bin al-
ways fills the entire right side of the screen from top to bottom, you may also prefer to stack
panels vertically so that you can see more than one at a time. You can't really do that, but
you can get the same effect by dragging a panel's tab onto the tab of a panel already in the
bin. This creates a multi-tabbed panel in the bin. Then grab the tab of the panel you want to
see lower in the bin and drag it straight down. The panel is actually floating, but it will posi-
tion itself within the confines of the bin, below the contents of the first panel, so that it's ef-
fectively the same as if it were docked below the first panel.
One thing that's a bit tricky about the Custom Workspace is that you may wind up losing the
Panel Bin completely. If you pull all the panels out of it, the bin disappears. This can be
handy because it gives you more space to spread out when working on photos, but if you
want the bin back, you may find yourself dragging a panel all over the right side of the
screen trying to make it dock back into the main window. The trick is to move the panel over
the
far right
edge of the main Editor window. When you do this, the blue line appears along
that edge. Let go of the panel, and the Panel Bin returns with your panel in it.
All this panel organizing isn't as complicated as it sounds, and it's easier to learn by doing
than by reading about it. So try dragging some panels around in the Custom Workspace. If
you don't like the results of your handiwork or you move the panels around so much that you
can't remember where you put things, just go to Window→Reset Panels, and Elements puts
all the panels back in their original spots.
Image Windows
You also get to choose how you want to view the images you're working on. Old versions of
Elements used floating windows, where each image appears in a separate window that you
can drag around. Elements now starts you out with a tabbed view—which uses something
like the tabs in a web browser or the tabs you'd find on paper file folders; see
Figure 1-8
,
top—but you can still put images into floating windows, if you prefer (
Image Views
explains
how).
The advantage of tabbed view is that it gives you plenty of workspace around your image,
which is handy when you're working near the edges of a photo or using a tool that requires
you to be able to get outside the image's boundaries. Many people switch back and forth
between floating and tabbed windows as they work, depending on which is most convenient.
All the things you can do with image windows—including how to switch between tabbed
