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Resolved Photoshop - Layers panel\palette minimum size?

Discussion in 'Other PC Software' started by masonite, 2013/07/21.

  1. 2013/07/21
    masonite

    masonite Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Just trying to remove the clutter from my PS CS5 screen.

    Found out how to get rid of the unneeded panels at right (open, drag to main screen area, X shut) but it seems that the Layers Panel (which is the only one I really want to see) has a minimum size. In other words, I can't make it any narrower than some kind or preset minimum.

    (It's docked to right edge of the screen, BTW)

    I read somewhere that this 'minimum size' (if it exists) might be dependent upon screen resolution. In other words, if the screen res. is 1280x1024 (say), the Layers Panel will have a minimum width that's related to the res.

    Anyone know if this is so?
     
    masonite,
    #1
  2. 2013/07/22
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The Layers palette has a minimum width below which you cannot go - you can however extend the height of the palette beyond the minimum of 2 layers to fill the entire height of the screen if you so wish by dragging the bottom of the palette down.

    Screen resolution will clearly affect the minimum size, but it will also affect all the window details so the relativity will be unchanged.

    As you probably know the size of the image can be increased with Ctrl + + and reduced with Ctrl + - (Hold down Ctrl and press + or -).

    You can also type a magnification into the little box in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

    Best solution - 2 monitors - image on main screen, palettes on secondary screen - that's my setup :)
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2013/07/22
    masonite

    masonite Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks PeteC, I thought that might be the case. I'll stop trying to reduce the palette width, then. The minimum width still seems a bit of a space-waste, but just about everyone these days has a bigger screen than my old 19" Philips 109P4 CRT. Two monitors is a good call but I don't do enough PS work to bother (even though I have another two old 109P4s stashed away. Bought 'em for beans 4 or 5 years back from people moving up to LCD. Still haven't seen an LCD with resolution to match these old clunkers).

    I guess you're using software KVM, then? Multiplicity looks like a good call.

    Seems like you might be a PShop guru, so maybe you can answer this: What does Bridge do? I've never intentionally installed it and always thought it was optional, but I was reinstalling CS4 for a friend recently and I found I couldn't deselect it at the beginning.

    Something else: I seem to recall that it used to be possible (in Layers) to see every step that had been taken in building the image. That doesn't seem to be available in CS5 and CS6. Or have I just got it set up wrong?

    Cheers :)
     
    masonite,
    #3
  5. 2013/07/23
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Actually 2 monitors are not exclusively for PS - it is often handy to have different apps open on each screen - Word/Excel, Manual or Help file/main app, etc.
    No - my graphics card has 2 monitor connections as do most these days.
    Bridge is an integral part of PS - it is a file browser/file organiser in which you can see thumbnails of all the images in any folder together with the EXIF information for each image. Double clicking on a thumbnail in Bridge opens the image in PS - there are also facilities to open an image preview full screen & scroll through the images and compile a slide show plus more. I 'live' in Bridge and would be totally lost without it.
    The Layers palette, which as I noted earlier can be extended vertically to show all layers, shows the layers added to the image. If you make adjustments - Levels, Curves, H & S etc. directly on the image via Image > Adjustments - and I do hope that you do not follow that practice :), these adjustments are applied destructively to the Background image and do not show up in the Layers palette. Adjustment Layers, which are shown in the Layers palette, are non-destructive and can be subsequently be altered, turned on/off or removed entirely.

    The History palette shows every step made in processing the image, but be aware that the number of History states is limited, although you can take a Snapshot from time to time. I don't rely on History - if I need to go back on a particular adjustment layer I simply reset it to defaults and start over.
     
    PeteC,
    #4
  6. 2013/07/23
    masonite

    masonite Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    PeteC, thanks again. Interesting stuff. I think I need to delve a little deeper into the innards of PS - incredibly useful software.

    Now you mention it, it was the History Palette I was referring to. And yes, I've been in the habit of making direct adjustments, which explains the paucity of backward steps.

    Cheers :)
     
    masonite,
    #5

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