Arrange panels, workspaces and preferences
Dock, tab, float and tuck panels, switch between workspaces or save your own, and set interface size, density and touch mode.
Intermediate4 min readUpdated 25 September 2026Editor · Workspaces
On this page
The panels on the right of the Editor can be rearranged to suit the job: a few for quick edits, many for detailed retouching. Your layout, interface size and preferences are saved in this browser for you, never inside a design, so every design opens the way you like.
Workspaces
A workspace is a saved panel layout. Switch with Window, Workspace.
| Workspace | Docked panels |
|---|---|
| Simple (the default) | Properties, and Layers. No icon strip. |
| Essentials | Properties, History and Swatches in one group; Layers, Channels and Paths in another. Other panels in the icon strip. |
| Photo | Adjustments and Properties; History on its own; Layers, Channels and Paths. |
| Design | Properties, Character, Paragraph and Layer styles; Layers, Swatches and Brand kit. |
| Minimal | Layers only. Everything else in the icon strip. |
Simple suits most jobs. Move to Essentials, Photo or Design when you want more panels to hand, such as History or Character.
Dock, tabs and groups
The dock is the column of panel groups on the right. Each group has a row of tabs.
- Click a tab to show that panel.
- Drag a tab onto another group's tab row to join that group.
- Drag a tab to the strip at the bottom of a group to give it its own group there.
- Drag the thin line between two groups to share the height between them.
- Drag the left edge of the dock to make it wider or narrower (240 to 520 pixels).
- The arrow collapses a group to its tab row. The × tucks the panel into the side strip.
The icon strip and floating panels
In workspaces with an icon strip, tucked panels sit there as icons beside the dock. Click an icon to open the panel as a flyout; click Dock in the flyout to add it to the dock. You can also drag an icon into the dock.
To float a panel, drag its tab or icon and let go over the canvas. It becomes a window you can:
- Move by dragging its title bar.
- Resize from its bottom-right corner.
- Add more panels to, by dropping tabs on its title bar.
- Send back with Dock, or tuck away with ×.
The Window menu lists every panel: Properties, Layers, Channels, Paths, History, Colour and swatches, Adjustments, Character, Paragraph, Info, Brand kit, Navigator, Layer styles and Brief. A tick shows which are docked or floating. Choosing one brings it to the front, or opens it from the icon strip.
Floating tools
The tool rail can float over the canvas too. Drag its grip onto the canvas, or choose Window, Floating tools. A floating tool panel can be reshaped from one column to a grid or one long row by dragging its corner, collapsed to the current tool by double-clicking its handle, and docked on the left again from its header.
Save and reset your own workspace
- Arrange the panels the way you want.
- Choose Window, Workspace, Save workspace…, type a name and click Save.
- Your workspace now appears in Window, Workspace beside the built-in ones.
Window, Workspace, Reset workspace puts the current workspace back to how it was saved. If you lose a panel, reset or switch workspace.
Preferences
Open Edit, Preferences… (Ctrl+,, Cmd+, on a Mac). There are four tabs.
| Tab | Settings |
|---|---|
| Interface | Interface size (80 to 160 percent), Density (Comfortable or Compact), Touch mode, the floating action bar above the selected layer, and the status bar. |
| History and saving | Undo steps kept, Memory for undo, and Automatic version every. See History and undo. |
| Guides and snapping | Rulers, guides, lock guides, snapping to the page, layers and guides, and the pixel grid past 800% zoom. |
| AI and privacy | Every on-device AI model with its size and licence, and a button to remove downloaded models. |
Interface size makes menus, panels and tools bigger or smaller without touching the canvas. It helps on sharp laptop screens and large monitors. Window, Interface size has quick steps from 90% to 150%, plus Compact and Comfortable.
Touch mode
Turn it on in Preferences or with View, Touch mode (bigger controls). Controls get bigger, and when you draw with a pen, your fingers pan and zoom instead of painting. Two-finger tap undoes; three-finger tap redoes.
On a phone, the Editor uses its own layout instead of the dock: a Layers button on the canvas, and short sheets for each mode along the bottom. See Designing on a phone.
Good to know
- Layout and preferences are stored per browser. A different browser or device starts from Simple.
- Clearing site data resets them, along with your designs. Export anything you need first.
- The dock and icon strip show on screens 768 pixels wide and up.