Comments on: Less is more for the Control panel http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php InDesignSecrets Blog and Podcast Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:44:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Diane S http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-101449 Diane S Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:19:44 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-101449 Thanks Sandee. One tip is, move your toolbox down out of the way if you undock your control panel. Otherwise, the CP will cover your tools. ;) Thanks Sandee. One tip is, move your toolbox down out of the way if you undock your control panel. Otherwise, the CP will cover your tools. ;)

]]> By: vectorbabe http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-101441 vectorbabe Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:36:46 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-101441 Diane, The pull-down is fixed at the very right of the Control panel. But if you undock the Control panel, by pulling the little gray bar on the left down. Once the Control panel is undocked, you can then resize the whole panel so that it is shorter. I suppose, with a combination of customization settings, you could make a very short panel with just what you want. Diane,

The pull-down is fixed at the very right of the Control panel.
But if you undock the Control panel, by pulling the little gray bar on the left down.
Once the Control panel is undocked, you can then resize the whole panel so that it is shorter.

I suppose, with a combination of customization settings, you could make a very short panel with just what you want.

]]> By: Diane S http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-101437 Diane S Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:17:46 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-101437 Anne-Marie, so when you turn off features, does the pull down move closer to the left in your laptop window? Even with all features turned on on my super huge monitor, I find the pull-down too far away. I wish it was closer and there wasnt so much wasted space. Right (control) clicking does not give you all the choices as the pull-down. I wish it did. Anne-Marie, so when you turn off features, does the pull down move closer to the left in your laptop window? Even with all features turned on on my super huge monitor, I find the pull-down too far away. I wish it was closer and there wasnt so much wasted space. Right (control) clicking does not give you all the choices as the pull-down. I wish it did.

]]> By: Anne-Marie http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-98268 Anne-Marie Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:26:05 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-98268 I do a lot of InDesign work on my travelling Mac laptop with a 15" screen. Its res is 1440 x 900, so it can't fit all the Character and Paragraph short cuts in one panel. For example when it's in Character mode, there's room for Paragraph Alignment icons but not for the Paragraph Styles dropdown menu, which I use much more often. (You can see what I'm talking about in <a href="http://indesignsecrets.com/images/control-textdefault.gif" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">this screen shot</a> which will open in a new window.) So with some careful pruning of the shortcuts I seldom use (e.g., character scaling) and the ones I normally apply from the keyboard (paragraph alignment), I was able to fit all the Character and Paragraph formatting shortcuts I wanted into a single panel (<a href="http://indesignsecrets.com/images/control-text.gif" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">see example</a> in new window). Now, switching between Paragraph and Character mode in the Control panel just swaps the order of what the panel displays, so I don't bother doing that. I just keep it in Character formatting mode. Jane, the Control panel menu in CS3 lists all the Paragraph and Character formatting commands in one (<a href="http://indesignsecrets.com/images/control-textmenu.gif" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">example here</a>) so there's no need to memorize the keyboard shortcut for Paragraph Rules. Sandee, great post! I do a lot of InDesign work on my travelling Mac laptop with a 15″ screen. Its res is 1440 x 900, so it can’t fit all the Character and Paragraph short cuts in one panel. For example when it’s in Character mode, there’s room for Paragraph Alignment icons but not for the Paragraph Styles dropdown menu, which I use much more often. (You can see what I’m talking about in this screen shot which will open in a new window.)

So with some careful pruning of the shortcuts I seldom use (e.g., character scaling) and the ones I normally apply from the keyboard (paragraph alignment), I was able to fit all the Character and Paragraph formatting shortcuts I wanted into a single panel (see example in new window). Now, switching between Paragraph and Character mode in the Control panel just swaps the order of what the panel displays, so I don’t bother doing that. I just keep it in Character formatting mode.

Jane, the Control panel menu in CS3 lists all the Paragraph and Character formatting commands in one (example here) so there’s no need to memorize the keyboard shortcut for Paragraph Rules.

Sandee, great post!

]]> By: Bob Levine http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97326 Bob Levine Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:28:36 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97326 Greg, surprisingly, yes. I know quite a few people that like it. Personally, I hate it but one nice thing is that the prefs in one Office app carry through to all the rest. Greg, surprisingly, yes. I know quite a few people that like it. Personally, I hate it but one nice thing is that the prefs in one Office app carry through to all the rest.

]]> By: Jane Pellicciotto http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97225 Jane Pellicciotto Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:29:41 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97225 Wow, this is cool. I could definitely see turning off a few things I never use, like, select next object, previous object, fit content to frame, to name a few. I have barely had a chance to identify some of them what with deadlines and all. I, too, wish I could have a drop down for text wrap amounts and also paragraph rules, which I will have to remember the keyshortcut for, now that I've ditched the paragraph panel. Wow, this is cool. I could definitely see turning off a few things I never use, like, select next object, previous object, fit content to frame, to name a few. I have barely had a chance to identify some of them what with deadlines and all. I, too, wish I could have a drop down for text wrap amounts and also paragraph rules, which I will have to remember the keyshortcut for, now that I’ve ditched the paragraph panel.

]]> By: David Blatner http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97175 David Blatner Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:39:45 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97175 Note that the Control Panel customization is remembered in your current Workspace, so you can create different workspaces with different control panel setups. Note that the Control Panel customization is remembered in your current Workspace, so you can create different workspaces with different control panel setups.

]]> By: Greg http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97142 Greg Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:30:11 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97142 BTW, has anyone ever met anyone who *likes* that feature in MS Office apps? It seems to be one of a long line of "features" that MS adds to their programs that just make your life more difficult. I've never met anyone who didn't want to turn that off. BTW, has anyone ever met anyone who *likes* that feature in MS Office apps? It seems to be one of a long line of “features” that MS adds to their programs that just make your life more difficult. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t want to turn that off.

]]> By: Greg http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97141 Greg Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:28:56 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97141 Fred, I think part of the problem with that "feature" in Word is not just that it's turned on by default, but that it always seems to take forever to find it again when you have to reinstall (or work on a new machine). That's always one of the first things I turn off in MS Office apps (it's not just Word, it's all of them) and it seems like I always struggle to find that check box again. So if you don't know you *can* change it, I can't imagine how long it might take to stumble onto the check box to turn it off. Fred, I think part of the problem with that “feature” in Word is not just that it’s turned on by default, but that it always seems to take forever to find it again when you have to reinstall (or work on a new machine). That’s always one of the first things I turn off in MS Office apps (it’s not just Word, it’s all of them) and it seems like I always struggle to find that check box again. So if you don’t know you *can* change it, I can’t imagine how long it might take to stumble onto the check box to turn it off.

]]> By: Jennie http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php/comment-page-1#comment-97119 Jennie Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:24:29 +0000 http://indesignsecrets.com/less-is-more-for-the-control-panel.php#comment-97119 I wouldn't take things off the control panel! It may take a moment to spot an infrequently used option, but at least I know where to look. I wouldn’t take things off the control panel! It may take a moment to spot an infrequently used option, but at least I know where to look.

]]>