InDesign Poll Results: Custom Workspaces
In our own version of “Who Wore it Best?” the latest InDesign Secrets polled asked, “Which workspace do you use most often?” Do you like to dress up your InDesign panels? Do you go with something off-the-rack or custom-made?
The majority of the respondents went with the latter, as nearly 60% said they create a custom workspace. It makes sense, since one of the great purposes of workspaces is to make them fit your workflow and work style perfectly. A custom workspace (Window > Workspace > New Workspace) lets you group panels in a logical-to-you layout, as well as color code menus if that’s your thing. Make it your own!
Following in a very distant second place was the Essentials workspace, getting 13% of the votes. A bare-bones workspace, it includes color options such as the Color and Swatches panels as well as Links, Layers, and Pages. The Essentials workspace also features the CC Libraries workspace rather prominently. If you’re new to InDesign and don’t want to be overwhelmed by an abundance of panels, Essentials is a good option. And 13% of respondents agree!
The remaining six options—ranging from Typography to Interactive for PDF to Printing and Proofing—cumulatively took about 30% of the vote. One of InDesign’s greatest strengths is the ability to customize its settings. Preferences and workspaces fall into that realm…and apparently most of us choose to take advantage of that fact.
New Poll: Which tool(s) would you vote off the toolbar?
This month’s poll is a real doozie of a hot-button topic: “Which Tool(s) Should be Removed from the InDesign Toolbar?” We InDesigners are a passionate bunch and we either love or hate many of the tools. It should be interesting to see which tools top the most-hated list. Note that you can vote for more than one tool. Now I’m going to quietly back out of this space, before things heat up in the [announcer voice] InDesign Tool Smackdown.
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Custom, if for no other reason, because I use two monitors! InDesign has always had an achilles heel in that one needs a monstrous number of panels visible even for ordinary page-layout work. Type styles, colours, pages, layers, etc. etc. etc. That second monitor is key.
Great point, Prescott.
I agree with Mr. Perez-Fox, but as to this month’s poll, I can’t vote for any of them! WHY would we give Adobe a reason to get rid of something? I use keyboard shortcuts and accelerators for almost everything, but I certainly am glad all those tools are there, for when I forget that key or key-combination for something I don’t often use.
Having said that, I should probably also tell you that I use one of those “two-headed monsters”; not only that, but I use BIG monitors—a 43″ as my main, and a 40″ as my panels/palettes monitor. Since I have plenty of space, I’ll hope Adobe leaves all of the current tools in the toolbar.
Cheers!
Rather than remove a tool from the Toolbar, there should be an option to turn it off, as in Menu Customisation. Under Edit\Menus, you can make an item invisible, or give it a color.
Invisibility has a downside, though. I once turned off a menu item and forgot about it. Later, when I wanted to use it, I couldn’t find it. How frustrating! Fortunately, I did remember what I’d done and could reset the item back on.
It would be enough to may use the panel “Pages” when i open InDesign (last update). Everytime i open it, this panel is hidden and i had to open it from the menu. A little frustating too :-)