The default Photoshop workspace

By default, Photoshop uses a workspace known as Essentials . If you haven't chosen a different workspace before, you're using the Essentials workspace. It's also the workspace we use in our tutorials. Essentials is a general purpose workspace suitable for many different tasks. It includes some of the most used Photoshop panels, such as Layers و Adjustments و Properties , along with paintings Color و swatches (Image of flowers from Adobe Stock):

Virtual boards

Let's take a closer look at virtual panels. As we learned in the Managing Panels tutorial, Photoshop panels are located in columns along the right of the screen. in Libraries The panel, new in Photoshop CC, gets its own rightmost column. The boards we use most ( layers ، Characteristics ، the color , etc.) in the main column in the middle. To the left is a narrow column containing panels History and Device Preview . By default, the panels in the left column collapse into icons (what Adobe calls The iconic show ). You can expand a panel into an icon view by clicking its icon. Click the icon again to collapse the panel:

Other Photoshop workspaces

It may be the default space, but Essentials isn't the only workspace built into Photoshop. There are other workspaces to choose from as well. One place to find these other workspaces is in the menu bar along the top of the screen. Go to list Window in the menu bar and select Workspace . All workspaces included in Photoshop ( The basics ، and dimensions Triple ، graphics and the web ، and movement ، and drawing ، photography) at the top of the list. If you've saved any custom workspaces (we'll learn how to do that later), they will appear as well. A check mark next to the essentials means that it is currently active. To choose a different workspace, just click on its name to select it:

Another way to access the Photoshop workspaces is to click Workspace icon In the upper right of the interface (just above the panel columns):

Here, you will find the same list of workspaces. The check mark indicates the currently active workspace. You can choose a different workspace by selecting it from the list:

Choosing a different workspace - Photography

With the menu open, let's try a different workspace. I will choose a workspace Photography . As its name suggests, the Photography Workspace is a good choice for editing and retouching photos:

Switching between workspaces changes the panels displayed on your screen. Let's look at the differences between the default Essentials workspace in Photoshop and the Photography workspace. Notice, for example, that the plate Libraries , which used to be in its own column on the right in the Essentials workspace, is now grouped into a panel Adjustments in the middle column. This provides more space for displaying the image in the document window.

In the Essentials workspace, my board is grouped Color و swatches together at the top of the center column. However, it has been replaced in the Photography workspace On my Histogram board و Navigator , which are two more useful panels for editing and retouching work. Also, the narrow column on the left contained only two panels in the Essentials workspace ( History and Device Preview ). While the Photography workspace retains the History panel, the Device Preview panel disappears. In its place are three new panels ( Apps ، information  , And Source clone ) along with The propertiespanel, previously located in the center column. In fact, the only thing that hasn't really changed between workspaces is that layers ، Channels و tracks The panels are still grouped together at the bottom of the main column:

Drawing workspace

I won't go into every workspace here as you can easily do this on your own. But let's try another one. To choose a different workspace, I will again click on Workspace icon top right of the interface. after that , I will choose workspace Draw From the list:

Like the photography workspace well-suited for image editing, the drawing workspace is also streamlined for a specific task. In this case, it's a digital painting. on graph The panel, formerly at the top of the main column in the Photography workspace, has been replaced with pregnant painting. Under it, the panels have been swapped Libraries و Adjustments for the board Brush Presets . The narrow column on the left still bears a panel History and plate CloneSource . But Apps ، The properties و information The panels from the Photography workspace have been replaced by my panel B و Tool Presets . in Libraries The panel, formerly in the middle column, has not completely disappeared. Instead, it has been moved from the middle column to the left column where it now takes up less space:

Restore the default workspace

To return to the default workspace in Photoshop, go to the menu Window , and select workspace , then choose Essentials . or click on Workspace icon Top flaps and select The basics From the list:

Now back to the default panel layout:

Customize the board layout

Let's make some quick changes to the default canvas layout in Photoshop. When we're done, we'll learn how to save the new layout as a custom workspace. I covered moving and arranging panels in the Managing Panels tutorial, so I'll go through this quickly.

moving plate

First, let's go over one of the existing panels. I will group the Libraries panel into the Layers, Channels, and Paths panels. To do this, I will click on Tab Libraries are at the top of the column on the right. Then, with my mouse button still held down, I'll drag the Libraries tab into the Layers, Channels, and Paths panel group at the bottom of the center column. when it appears blue highlight box About the collection, I'll release the mouse button to drop the Libraries panel into place:

Open a new panel

Next, let's add a panel that isn't already open on the screen. I will open the Styles panel by going to List the window in the menu bar and choose styles :

By default, Photoshop groups the Styles panel into the Properties and Adjustments panels in the middle column:

I prefer to group the Styles panel with the Color and Swatches panels. For that, I'm going to move the Styles panel around by clicking and dragging its tab up in the Color and Swatches group above it. When the blue highlight box appears around the group, I'll release the mouse button to drop the Styles panel into its new home:

close panel

Finally, let's close one of the panels. to Hardware preview And the team in the left column collapsed to its icon. But even though it doesn't take up much space, I don't really need it on my screen. To close the panel, you will Right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) directly on the panel icon. Then, I will choose Close From the list:

After making the changes, I'm left with a custom board layout. Before we continue, keep in mind that we've made these changes to the default Essentials workspace in Photoshop. Why it's important to remember this will become clear in a few moments:

Save a new workspace

To save your custom layout as a new workspace, go to List Window , and select workspace , then choose New Workspace . or click on Workspace icon And choose New workspace :

In the New Workspace dialog box, name your custom workspace. I'll call it Steve's Workspace. Unless your name is Steve, you may want to choose something different. At the bottom of the dialog box are options to include custom keyboard shortcuts and menus, as well as a custom toolbar layout. We didn't create any of those, so leave them unchecked. Finally, to save the new workspace, click save :

With the workspace saved, I'll click on the workspace icon again to bring up my list of workspaces. And here, we see my new workspace at the top of the list, ready to be selected anytime I need it:

Update a custom workspace

If you make more changes to the canvas layout, you can save the changes by refreshing the workspace. You won't find the actual "Update Workspace" option anywhere. Instead, the steps for updating the workspace are the same as the steps for saving the workspace. We just save it using the same name as before. Go to list Window , and select workspace , then choose New Workspace . or click on Workspace icon And choose New workspace . In the New Workspace dialog box, enter Exactly the same name Like the current workspace. In my case, it would be "Steve's Workspace". Then click save" . Photoshop will resave the workspace with your changes.

Reset the default workspace

Earlier, we knew that to go back to the default Photoshop workspace, we simply select Essentials From the list:

But note that even after selecting the Essentials workspace, my panel layout didn't change. Instead of seeing the default layout, I still see my custom layout:

Why do we still see custom layout? Well, if I remember back when we created our custom layout, I said keep in mind that we created it by making changes to the Essentials workspace. The problem here is that the board layouts are 'sticky'. This means that Photoshop remembers the changes we made to the layout. It also keeps these changes active until we specifically ask it to revert to the default layout. So, since we've made changes to the Essentials workspace, it's not enough for us to select it again. To go back to the default panel layout, we need to reset the workspace.

To reset the Essentials workspace, first make sure that it is selected as the active workspace (which we have already done). Next, go to List Window And choose workspace , or click Workspace icon Top flaps, and choose Reset essentials From the list:

Now that we've reset the Essentials workspace, we're back to our original default canvas layout in Photoshop:

Delete a custom workspace

Finally, let's learn how to delete a custom workspace. I will delete "Steve's workspace". But before you do that, it is important to know that Photoshop will not allow you to delete the currently active workspace. So first, you will need to choose any other workspace from the list to activate it. In this case, we're already back in the Essentials workspace, so we're good to go. To delete your custom workspace, return to the Workspace menu, by either going to Window > workspace or by clicking Workspace icon , choose Delete Workspace :

In the Delete Workspace dialog box, choose the workspace you want to delete. I'll select "Steve's Workspace". Then click delete :

Photoshop will ask if you are sure you want to delete the workspace. Click نعم :

Now that I've deleted my custom workspace, if we look again at my workspace list, we see that "Steve's workspace" is no longer in the list: