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In Adobe Photoshop you have the ability to create a custom workspace. By default Photoshop has built in workspace options that you can choose from, but you can easily rearrange to organize and create your own custom workspace.

In this tutorial I am going to show you how to organize and save your own custom workspace in Photoshop.

Selecting a default workspace

To select a default workspace in Photoshop go to the top right hand side and click on the Workspace Icon (which is to the right of the search icon).

A menu will appear listing the default workspaces: essentials, 3D, Motion, Painting, Photography, and Graphic and Web. When you select any of these workspaces you will see the menu panels change. They have been designed to include the windows that are most relevant for those certain design purposes.

Below the default workspaces you also have the option to reset current workspace, create new workspace and delete a workspace.

Ways to Organize Your Workspace

Move the Tools panel

The first thing I like to do to my workspace is move the tools panel from the default left side and move it to the right. This way I don’t have to go back and forth from the right and left side of my screen. Everything will just be on the right side.

To move it just click on the top of the tools panel and drag it to the right side next to your working panels. It will snap in place.

Create more than one column

You can select an existing panel and drag it to create a second column. I like to see multiple panels at once so I use two columns to hold the various tools and windows.

Open New Tool Windows

If you don’t see a window currently open you can access all the windows by selecting Window from the top menu and choosing the asset panel that you want.

The panels that I like to have open in my workspace include:

  • Layers
  • Swatches
  • Patterns
  • Actions
  • Properties

These are the panels that use all the time.

How to save your custom workspace

After you have arranged your workspace to how you like it you can now save it as a custom workspace. Click on the Workspace icon in the upper right hand side again and select > New Workspace from the menu.

A dialogue box will appear where you can give your custom workspace a name and click to save it.

After you have saved your workspace when you click on the Workspace icon you will see your new workspace listed in the menu. If you ever change around your workspace items and want to get back to your custom workspace just click on the name and it will transform your workspace back into your custom settings.

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