Today’s Question: I watched your presentation on customizing the interface in Photoshop, but ran into a problem right away where I couldn’t move any of the panels around. How to I enable that capability?
Tim’s Quick Answer: It sounds like you have the workspace in Photoshop locked, so all you need to do is choose Window > Workspace > Lock Workspace from the menu to turn it off. You’ll then be able to move panels around to reconfigure the workspace.
More Detail: One of the more helpful features of Photoshop is the ability to customize the interface based on your own preferences and the tools you tend to use most. You can even create more than one workspace to reflect different tasks, such as having one workspace for general image optimization and another for more advanced retouching work.
In addition to being able to save a custom panel arrangement as a workspace in Photoshop, you can enable the “Lock Workspace” option to ensure the workspace doesn’t get significantly altered. When you enable the “Lock Workspace” feature you can’t undock panels. However, you can still add additional panels via the Window menu, and you can move undocked panels around or close them. The menu command is found at Window > Workspace > Lock Workspace.
If you want to move panels around, such as to create a new workspace or modify an existing workspace, you can choose Window > Workspace > Lock Workspace first to unlock the workspace if it is locked. You’ll then be able to freely add, close, and move panels around.
Once you’ve configured the panel arrangement to your liking, you can save the workspace by choosing Window > Workspace > New Workspace from the menu. If you then want to make it so panels can’t be undocked, you can once again enable the “Lock Workspace” setting.
I covered the various options for customizing the interface in Photoshop in my “Ultimate Live Learning” presentation on “Configuring the Interface in Adobe Photoshop”. If you’re subscribed to my GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle you can sign in and then click the “Resume Course” button and find the lesson recording in the “Configuring Photoshop” chapter of the “Photoshop Ultimate Live Learning” course that can be found here:
https://www.greylearning.com/courses/photoshop-ultimate-live-learning
