Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 Design Premium All-in-One for Dummies®

Chapter 3. Exploring Common Panels

In This Chapter

• Exploring the synchronized workspace

• Manipulating panels in the workspace

• Discovering different kinds of panels

• Getting to know the common panels in Adobe CS4

Panels are an integral part of working with most of the programs in Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4) because they contain many of the controls and tools that you use when you're creating or editing a document.

The basic functionality of panels is quite similar across the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite, and the purpose of all panels is the same. Panels offer you a great deal of flexibility in how you organize the workspace and what parts of it you use. What you use each program for and the level of expertise you have may affect what panels you have open at a given moment. This chapter gives you an overview of how to work with the panels you find in Adobe CS4.

Understanding the Synchronized Workspace

One thing that you immediately notice when opening the applications in the Creative Suite is the synchronized workspace. All the applications look very similar and have the same set of features to help you organize your workspace.

The tools in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop appear as a space-saving, single-column toolbar, and panels are arranged in convenient, self-adjusting docks that can be widened to full size or narrowed so that the panels are collapsed to icons.

Here are some pointers to help you navigate the workspace in the Creative Suite applications:

• Expand your tools to two ...