How to Customize Your Panels in Photoshop

By Linda Sattgast

All versions of Photoshop

A convenient workspace is worth setting up. Here’s how to set up your own custom panel arrangement.

Default Panel Arrangements

The default panel arrangement is called Essentials.
You can access different panel arrangements, such as Photography, from the menu above the panels.

Note: Accessing panel arrangements may vary slightly in different Photoshop versions, but your version should, at the very least, have access to panel arrangements is in the Menu Bar. Choose Window > Workspace to see a list of panel arrangements.

Working With Panels

To view a panel, click on its tab, or click on an icon to expand it. Click on the icon again to collapse the panel.
To remove a panel, click and drag it by its tab to the desktop. Then click the close button.
To rearrange the tabs of panels that are nested together in one panel compartment, click on a tab and drag it left or right.
To nest a panel with another panel, move the tab over the tab of the other panel until you see a blue outline around the
entire panel. Let go of the mouse, and it will nest with that panel.
To create a new panel compartment, move a panel by its tab to the top or bottom of another panel, or in between panels, until you see a single horizontal blue line. Let go of the mouse and the panel will become a new panel compartment.
To create a new panel compartment along the side of the panels, move a panel by its tab to the side of your panel
arrangement until you see a long blue vertical line along the side. Let go of the mouse to create the new compartment along the side.
To create a collapsed panel with just a small icon, move a panel by its tab under one of the little side icons until you
see a small blue horizontal line. Let go of the mouse to dock it along the side.
You can open additional panels from the Window menu in the Menu Bar and add them to your panel configuration.

Sample Panel Configuration

Here’s how I configure my panels. As you develop your own workflow, you’ll want to modify this to a configuration that works best for you.

I like the Histogram panel at the top in its own compartment so I can quickly analyze a photo, if I’m working on photos.
In the main compartment I have the Layers, History, and Styles panels.
At the bottom I have Channels, Paths, Adjustments, and Properties
Along the side, collapsed into small icons, I have the Actions panel, Info panel, Brush panel, and Character and Paragraph panels.

Save Your Custom Panels

To save your panel arrangement, in the Menu Bar choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace, or you can choose New Workspace from the menu above the panels.

You’ll get a dialog box where you can give your workspace a name. There’s no need to check any of the other options in the dialog box. Click Save.
You can change your panel arrangement at any time, but if you ever want to get back to the original way you set up your panels, simply choose the option to reset your personal panel arrangement.

Working with a personalized panel arrangement will make your workflow a lot easier!