Holy Grail Discovered: PS Customized Toolbar

[Smokey2011]

You heard it here first.

I now have a customized Photoshop toolbar.

You can:

-Add any button you want to your toolbar (cut/paste, undo, zoom in/zoom out, brush tool, etc.)
-Make the size of your buttons any size you wish (big, small, square, rectangle, etc)
_Make each button any color you wish
-Design each button so it has an icon or picture (scissors for the 'cut' command for example
-The toolbar always 'floats' ontop of Photoshop, just like every other toolbar/pallet
-You can make it horizontal on the bottom (as seen in the pic), or run up/downwards like the normal toolbar, etc.
-There is no limit to the amount of buttons you want to add
-Works with all other software programs as well
-Works exactly like any other toolbar: just point n' click

it's easier to have large buttons as seen in the pic. Speeds up workflow instead of you having to navigate your mouse pointer to the small buttons that PS currently gives you

Here is a screenshot of my first customized photoshop toolbar:

 

[SeniorS]

LoL...comon...and shortcuts are for? They speed workflow and no need to move mouse anywhere so can continue doing what you are doing.

 

[Smokey2011]

LoL...comon...and shortcuts are for? They speed workflow and no need to move mouse anywhere so can continue doing what you are doing.

right, but do you enjoy always having to glance at your keyboard and then think about/search for the keyboard shortcut you need at that moment? you could end up with 50 different keystrokes on the keyboard for shortcuts.. it breaks your concentration big time


with this toolbar you just swing your mouse pointer quickly over to the bigger buttons and voila, your command is made


it's much much easier trust me

 

[TerryC]

right, but do you enjoy always having to glance at your keyboard and then think about/search for the keyboard shortcut you need at that moment? you could end up with 50 different keystrokes on the keyboard for shortcuts.. it breaks your concentration big time


with this toolbar you just swing your mouse pointer quickly over to the bigger buttons and voila, your command is made


it's much much easier trust me

All sounds cool BUT, I agree with Seniors, I have my shortcuts memorized and I rarely look down at the keyboard. A few of my favs, "X", "V", "M", "C".

 

[SeniorS]

right, but do you enjoy always having to glance at your keyboard and then think about/search for the keyboard shortcut you need at that moment? you could end up with 50 different keystrokes on the keyboard for shortcuts.. it breaks your concentration big time


with this toolbar you just swing your mouse pointer quickly over to the bigger buttons and voila, your command is made


it's much much easier trust me

Like TerryC said its so simple to memorize them.

Okey, if you use PS for about 1 time in week then maybe it usefull. But if you use PS 8hour per day then after while you don't even think about any shortcut, "things" just happens. You think that you need to invert selection and it "magically" gets inverted (if your finger not injured ).

All that zoom, save, brush size etc. have good default shortcuts.

But in general thats a matter of taste. If it works for you then maybe someone else will find it usefull.


P.S. "ou just swing your mouse pointer" slows down workflow dramaticly acctually (for me).

 

[4DragonsMedia]

I can't afford to lose that much screen real estate to another toolbar. This would work well for the handicapped that can't see very well though, especially at HD resolutions those tool buttons get mighty small.

 

[Smokey2011]

wow. Maybe I haven't explained this clearly enough.

Look at the attached picture I included in the initial post.

Look at the purple-colored "Brush +" button in the custom toolbar.

When you want to increase your brush size, all you have to do is hover your pointer on top of that particular button, you will hear a 'click' sound and your brush size will increase 1px. Keep your pointer hovered ontop of it and your brush will *instantly* increase by 1px repetitively until you move your pointer away from the button. With each increased size by 1px, you hear the 'click' sound to verify that it has enlarged your brush each time. You do *not* need to click on the button; simply hovering your pointer ontop of it increases your bush size immediately. The responsiveness is 100% accurate; there are no delays or slowdowns.

The same goes for zoom in/zoom out. Just hover your pointer quickly over these buttons and your image zooms in or out accordingly, with a 'click' sound each time it zooms a level. No need to actually click the button.

There are so many perks.

The toolbar allows you to design your buttons *any* way you want, *any* color you want. Just create a small icon in photoshop and you can use that as your button picture. You could draw a picture of an eraser any color you wish, then assign that as a button on your toolbar. Then just hover your mouse ontop if it and your tool will switch to the eraser, the same way as if you were using the stock toolbar that comes with Photoshop. Only difference is that you can make it look the way you want and the size you want.

The buttons can be as big as you like or as small as you like - no need to lose any precious desktop space. The toolbar can be big or small; you decide.

The toolbar allows you to assign only the tools you use the most. There is no limit to how many tools you want in it. You can place the toolbar anywhere on the screen.

In my experience, this has been *way* faster than using keyboard shortcuts - why?? Because you never have to look away from the screen and on to your keyboard to remeber which keyboard shortcut you're trying to look for. Just instantly hover your pointer ontop of your toolbar and your tool/command is selected immediately, with a click sound to confirm it. The button also blinks red when you hover your mouse on it to confirm that you selected that button. Your eyes never leave your picture; you never have to glance away to your keyboard and interrupt your workflow.

Basically what this toolbar does is override Photoshop's standard toolbar. It also allows you to include *any* command that you use regularly. For example, if you usually use the "Image/Adjustments/Posterize" command, all you have to do is design a little button which says "POSTERIZE" and drop it in your custom toolabr. Then everytime you click this button, it will automatically open up the posterize window. It is an amazing shortcut toolbar as well as a regular toolbar.

Give this a second thought guys, it has dramatically helped the way I work in photoshop.

 

[Paul]

me thinks theres a jibe a foot?

 

[Smokey2011]

I guess so, yeah

 

[Vafann]

Is there really some way to do this?? This sounds major cool to me, how is this done?

 

[Smokey2011]

wow.


someone on here is actually seeing the light on this? Send me a PM and I'll give you the exact details on how to get this.

 

[Vafann]

Ok! Thank you!