background for the adobe programs??

[djsound]

Hey there I am a graphic designer and at work we use only PC's. At home I use a Mac...anyways my employers finally bought me the Adobe Design Suite to finish some of my work at home but i'm a bit confused. With Indesign and Photoshop etc. there is no backgrounds in the program. I just see my desktop background. Maybe for some this is a good thing but it really annoys me....is there a way I can change this so I just see a grey background or something? thanks....

 

[bluetooth]

Sounds like your screen mode.

In your PS toolbar, the very last icon running vertically (under your "Edit in Quick Mask Mode" icon) is an icon called "Change Screen Mode". You can adjust it to "Maximized Screen Mode".

You can also switch the modes by simply pressing "F" on your keyboard once you are in PS, but that is on a Mac, so not sure if is the same for the PC.

 

[LeviG]

Sounds like the issue between windows and os-x programs. Windows has the program in a 'window' whle os-x has the floating over the desktop. Only way I know round it on a mac is to change the background of your desktop.

 

[digitalnicotine]

This difference is between OSX and Windows, not an Adobe issue. If your desktop background is distracting, you could easily minimize any programs you have running in the background, and use a solid colored desktop. I have grown to love this feature, because I can alter my desktop background with various solid colors, and it allows me to get a feel of the particular graphic I'm working on in relation to how it will look with whatever color I have my desktop background set to.

Besides, the dull grey window you're accustomed to with windows can get a bit boring over time, especially when you're doing intense detail over long periods of time.

 

[shecky]

exactly. which is why my desktop looks like this:

 

[GSMiller]

I have managed to make Photoshop CS2 be in 'one window' like it does on Windows, but I can't remember how

It is possible though.

 

[7on]

it is really annoying though to have two monitors and not be able to drag an illustrator doc in one window into the second monitor. Illustrator and Indesign in Windows won't let you drag docs out of the grey background if you have multiple monitors

 

[AlexisV]

You get used to it. It's an intentional feature though. If you're working in two or three programs, it's useful to see what your layout looks like in program B at the same time for example.

Windows is one program, one window at a time. Ok if you're a secretary working on just MS Word. But if you're doing design you might have 6 programs open at once and need to flick quickly between them and see what's open in the other program simultaneously.

OS X is more fluid. Windows is more rigid.

 

[djsound]

i understand why they did it.. but i don't like it. For me it actually takes more time... because I have like 20 windows laying around and you have to find what your looking for before you can use it.... in that amount of time i could have quickly just switched windows in XP... not a huge deal but kid of annoying. I think this is one of the ONLY things i like better with windows...

 

[Richard Flynn]

i understand why they did it.. but i don't like it. For me it actually takes more time... because I have like 20 windows laying around and you have to find what your looking for before you can use it.... in that amount of time i could have quickly just switched windows in XP... not a huge deal but kid of annoying. I think this is one of the ONLY things i like better with windows...

That's fine. Just switch screen mode like bluetooth wrote above:

Sounds like your screen mode.

In your PS toolbar, the very last icon running vertically (under your "Edit in Quick Mask Mode" icon) is an icon called "Change Screen Mode". You can adjust it to "Maximized Screen Mode".

You can also switch the modes by simply pressing "F" on your keyboard once you are in PS, but that is on a Mac, so not sure if is the same for the PC.

InDesign and Illustrator behave slightly differently, inasmuch as when you open a document, by default the document’s window expands to fill as much space as possible. In that way you have the maximum amount of pasteboard/viewing area available to you. I often find myself resizing Illustrator windows, though, depending on how I'm working at any given time.

 

[bluetooth]

i understand why they did it.. but i don't like it. For me it actually takes more time... because I have like 20 windows laying around and you have to find what your looking for before you can use it.... in that amount of time i could have quickly just switched windows in XP... not a huge deal but kid of annoying. I think this is one of the ONLY things i like better with windows...

If you find yourself with a lot of windows open in OSX in single or multiple Apps (ie. 20 windows laying around) you should use your Exposè feature in your System Preferences, found under "Dashboard and Exposè".

You can create shortcuts by simply hitting F9 or F10 (or whatever shortcut key you choose). This allows you to temporarily see all your open windows at once so you can easily click on any window to bring to the front. It also gives you the title of the window when you scroll over them.

Here is a screen shot of the preference window as well as the feature in action (I opened 20 windows in Safari, but the same would apply to all App windows)

 

[bluetooth]

Screen Mode Feature in PS OSX

Attached are screen shots of both Standard/floating Screen Mode and Full Screen Mode. You can switch back and forth by simply hitting "F" on your keyboard.