Jun. 18, 2008
Get the most viewing area from your screen
When designing, I always look for ways to get more viewing area on my screen. I’ll hide my dock (on a Mac), maximize screen resolution, and make the document window as big as I can. Indesign also has inbuilt interface options for hiding some, or even all of your panels, allowing you to get the most viewing area out of your screen. Let’s take a look.
If you press “Tab” on the keyboard, all the panels on the left and right sides of the screen disappear, including the Tool bar and Control Panel, however the Menu bar remains. If you want to bring all the panels back press “Tab” again, and they will appear.
If you feel that you are pressing tab all the time to hide and reveal the panels, there is another option available once you have hidden your panels. You simply hover your mouse over the far left or right side of the screen where the panels are normally displayed, and they spontaneously reappear. You can proceed with any necessary changes within a panel, and when done, the panel hides itself again. If you would like to bring all the panels back permanently press “Tab” once more.
You may want to hide your panels and keep the Tool bar and Control panel, if so press “Shift” “Tab”. Now all the panels on the right disappear and the Tool bar and Control panel remain. If you want to access the panels on the right of the screen you can hover over the far right of the screen and they will reappear. To bring all the panels back permanently press “Tab” again.
Video Instructions (all videos are quicktime movies): 1. Click on the “CLICK HERE TO WATCH TUTORIAL” hyperlink, a new window appears, once the video has downloaded completely (speed varies depending on internet connection) the video will commence. 2. Right click on the “CLICK HERE TO WATCH TUTORIAL” hyperlink and choose “DOWNLOAD LINKED FILE AS” to save the video to your computer. Once downloaded open the .mov file in Quicktime to watch. 3. Subscribe to the creativementor.com.au now Podcast through iTunes.
4 Responses to “Maximize your screen real estate”
Dear Neil,
Thank you so much for taking the time and making the effort to post these video tutorials. Keep them coming.
They are short and clearly demonstrate one specific feature or technique. I appreciate that kind of focus.
Best,
Steve
By Steve Bretschneider on Jun 26, 2008
Steve,
Thank you very much! Im fortunate to be able to contribute to so many people through this resource. I have been offline for a week due to other commitments, however new posts will start appearing from today.
Do you have anything specific you would like covered in a tutorial?
All the best.
Oh, you have a great website.
Neil
By Neil Oliver on Jun 27, 2008
Hi Neil,
Two recent jobs I completed had a lot of tables throughout the documents, so any insights or tips you have on speeding up that workflow would be appreciated.
And thanks for your kind words about my website.
Now, I’m off to watch your two latest tutorials.
Take care,
Steve
By Steve Bretschneider on Jun 30, 2008
These short tutorials are very helpful. I’ve been away from Apple for 5 long yrs. I’m new to CS4 and have a lot more to learn than I thought I would. I am VERY thankful for help such as yours. Now my hair can start to grow out again. tee hee
By M Joan Breining on Jun 10, 2010