Today’s Question: I clicked on the button below the magnifying glass on the toolbar with all of the tools in Photoshop, and the toolbar below the menu says “No options for the edit toolbar”. Is this supposed to be a tool I can use with my photos? It doesn’t seem to do anything.
Tim’s Quick Answer: The button you’re referring to is actually the “Edit Toolbar” button, which provides access to the Customize Toolbar dialog. As suggested by the title of both the button and the dialog, this feature enables you to customize the arrangement of the tools on the toolbar. You can also move infrequently used tools into the slot where the “Edit Toolbar” button is found.
More Detail: Many photographers find there are a number of tools they simply never use in Photoshop, and other tools they use very regularly. With the Customize Toolbar dialog you can rearrange the buttons for the various tools in a way that is more efficient in your workflow.
To bring up the Customize Toolbar dialog, start by right-clicking (or clicking and holding) on the Edit Toolbar button. This will bring up a flyout menu with an “Edit Toolbar” option. Click on “Edit Toolbar” on the flyout menu, and the Customize Toolbar dialog will appear.
Within the Customize Toolbar dialog you can drag-and-drop the tools into a different order. The groupings of tools determines which tools are assigned to each of the buttons. So, for example, by default the Lasso tool, Polygonal Lasso tool, and the Magnetic Lasso tool are grouped together on a single button.
You can group the various tools in any way you’d like, which in turn can affect the order in which the tools appear on the toolbar. In addition, you can drag tools you don’t use very often over to the Extra Tools section to the right of the Toolbar section. All tools you place in the Extra Tools section will then be placed together at the bottom of the toolbar, where the Edit Toolbar button is found. When you’re finished arranging the tools for the toolbar, you can click the Done button to close the Customize Toolbar dialog.