Moving from Two Displays to One

[IgnatiusTheKing]

At work, I'm pondering switching from two 20" (square) monitors to one 30" Cinema Display. Since the menu bar can only be on one display, I like the idea of having one huge display better than two, but my concern is with the Adobe CS3 programs, and more specifically, their tool pallets.

I like having Bridge open on one display and Photoshop, for example, on the other. On one display, is there a way to make the pallet windows in PS appear somewhere other than on the right edge of the screen?

The idea is to have both windows open on the same display, but have all of PS appear on the left-hand side, with Bridge taking up the right half.

Is this doable?

 

[barkmonster]

The palettes will all stay where you put them after you quit and line up with the top one in the stack once you move that.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

While that's true in CS2, I was hoping to keep the collapsed pallets in CS3, but have them not be attached to the right side of the screen.

 

[mBox]

While that's true in CS2, I was hoping to keep the collapsed pallets in CS3, but have them not be attached to the right side of the screen.

As a Motion Designer I can never go back to a single screen. Sadly I got too used to having Dual 30" with my MacPro. I will have to learn to deal with my upcoming 17" MBP with a single 24 or 30 depending on the upcoming lottery

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

As a Motion Designer I can never go back to a single screen. Sadly I got too used to having Dual 30" with my MacPro. I will have to learn to deal with my upcoming 17" MBP with a single 24 or 30 depending on the upcoming lottery

I love having the space associated with two displays, but my thinking is that a single 30" Cinema Display with the resolution set to 2560x1600 may be better than my current setup of two 1400x1050 displays.

 

[mBox]

I love having the space associated with two displays, but my thinking is that a single 30" Cinema Display with the resolution set to 2560x1600 may be better than my current setup of two 1400x1050 displays.

Almost want to agree but only if your using a single app most of the time. I need the dual 30s due to HD work. for Photoshop Im happy with a single 30 but my photo dude here likes his dual 24s due to Bridge use. as far as desktop clutter a single 30 will help that

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Almost want to agree but only if your using a single app most of the time. I need the dual 30s due to HD work. for Photoshop Im happy with a single 30 but my photo dude here likes his dual 24s due to Bridge use. as far as desktop clutter a single 30 will help that

Oh I would LOVE to have dual 30s, but I work for a non-profit, so that's never happening.

The Bridge issue is my main concern. I wouldn't mind having Bridge occupying half the screen most of the time (especially since I use Spaces liberally), but having the PS, ID, etc. pallets separated from the rest of the app (due to the inability to move them) is probably a deal-breaker for me.

 

[Winni]

I'm using two 20" Cinema Displays myself, but I also had had the opportunity in the past to work with a 30" Dell display - on a Dell Precision Workstation and also connected to my old 17" PowerBook G4 as a second display. It's an awesome experience to view your own photos on such a huge screen.

However, and that is the killer argument against a one-display-setup for me: Aperture was designed to be used with two displays. So for me it would have to be two 30" displays, and that is beyond my financial possibilities.

You don't use Aperture, but you use Adobe Bridge on one screen and PhotoShop on the other. So basically, you "emulate" my Aperture workflow and setup with two screens -- see the photo library on one screen, edit and preview on the other.

I generally prefer the clear separation of different tasks that you can do with two screens, even if I'm not using Aperture. For example, I usually open Mail or ecto or Flash on my left screen and Safari or VMWare Fusion with Vista on the right display.

In all honesty, and despite the fact that I really, really adore those 30" Apple Cinema or Dell displays, I wouldn't want to go back to using one screen only.