Photoshop CS3 interface changes

January 6, 2007 / Filed under: Photoshop, Software, Usability

I've been using Photoshop CS3 on my Intel Mac for almost a month now, and although there are dozens of new interface features, I've noticed a couple that stand out.

"Hidden" menu items

So far the biggest change I've had to adjust to in Photoshop CS3 is the "hidden" menu items.

Much like Microsoft Office products, when you click on a menu item, you aren't shown all of the options right away. You have to click Show All Menu Items.

Screenshot of Photoshop CS3

This is counter-productive, in my opinion. I have to click three times just to get to a hidden menu item (once on the menu title, once on Show All Menu Items, and once on the actual menu item). I suppose I could set up keyboard shortcuts for all hidden menu items, but that seems like a lot of extra work.

More importantly, unlike Microsoft Office products, Photoshop CS3 doesn't even seem to remember the most commonly used menu items, in order to display those as "unhidden," or on top.

And there's no obvious way of turning this feature off.

Collapsible palettes and toolbars

Photoshop CS3 seems to focus a lot on screen-space saving, as all menus, toolbars, and palettes are collapsible to various degrees - some down to tiny little boxes, with some icons that hardly make any sense to me, at a quick glance. For example below, can you immediately tell which icon is for Layers?

Screenshot of Photoshop CS3

I can't see what immediate benefit this offers, other than screen-space saving.

Personally, the ability to collapse my Layers palette down to a little box is too many extra clicks. If I need more screen-space, all I have to do is hit Tab once, and boom! - all palettes and toolbars disappear, leaving me with a uncluttered screen. Hitting Tab again brings everything back.

The "F" key also cycles between a full screen view - one with a gray background, or one with a black background. This is also useful when juggling screen-space.

Comments/Mentions

# Gabe at 1/9/2007 11:59 am cst

I was very frustrated by this as well, couldn't figure out the logic behind making it harder to get to certain menu items. For instance the Character/Paragraph palletes are hidden by default, so is the Curves function...WTF?? Anyway there is a simple solution: go to Edit>Menus...and from there you can choose which items are hidden/visible.

# Matthom at 1/9/2007 12:44 pm cst

I agree. The Character/Paragraph palette always seems to be hidden, even in previous versions. I always remember having to manually go to the Window menu, then select Paragraph - always a frustrating step when you need it quick.

It's nice to know you can customize the menus somewhat...

# Caydr at 4/22/2007 7:01 pm cst

To get rid of that gayassed "show all items" thing, you go into edit>menus... so the tutorial I just read says. HTH

# Photoshopper at 5/29/2007 4:49 am cst

This is indeed the solution to this annoyance. Thank You

# Designer at 8/22/2007 3:53 pm cst

The solution is worse than the problem? Do I have to go thru every menu item to fix this? It will take an hour. Isn't there a "Show all" button I can push to fix this thing?

(guess not)

# peter Pedaci at 8/27/2007 1:04 pm cst

i just found a preset, you can download, so you don't have to turn all menu items to visible by hand:

http://www.clkoerner.com/2007/07/23/show-me-everything/

# Rob at 10/12/2007 4:04 pm cst

Thanks for showing me how to rid this extra step I had to take every time I wanted to convert a file to CMYK in Photoshop CS3! I was really hating the new "show all menu items."

Just to restate it simply, if you want the menus in Photoshop CS3 just like they do in CS2 go:

Edit>Menus

Then change the "Set" from "Basic" to "Photoshop Defaults"

# WoA at 10/19/2007 4:33 am cst

Thank you all for the helpful comments. My Photoshop life has now gotten better!

# roy at 10/30/2007 1:17 pm cst

i like it a lot. though, i'm a younger user. try moving the boxes around near the main groups of menus. notice the blue line indicating the ways the box will associate itself with the other menus. clicking on different parts of the box will also change the behavior of how it joins different groups, or how it stays clear of them.

it's a handy to keep all of your tools in order but it requires a bit of customization on the part of the user. it hasnt really taken any of the old functionality away, its just added functionality for those of us who need to do things our own way.

# Sarah at 2/13/2008 11:47 am cst

Oh man, I hate the "Show All Menu Options" thing. I want to see them all initially, I don't want some of them hidden from me. I miss CS2.

# Gus at 4/5/2008 1:04 pm cst

In Edit>Menu there is a drop down for presets, "Photoshop Defaults" seems to turn on the visibility for everything. Just choose that one and hit OK

# Barbara at 8/5/2008 12:55 pm cst

Thank you (7 of 11): Rob for telling how to show all menu items by default. Yay for you!

# Simon at 9/11/2008 4:16 am cst

Finally I was able to turn that darn thing off. Thank you very much guys!

# Leprakawn at 8/27/2009 4:59 pm cst

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you²!!!!!!

"Show all menu items" is a bloody joke. Whoever came up with that decision should be demoted to cleaning restrooms and taking the trash out. That is my 02¢.

# smarter than you at 12/9/2009 3:38 pm cst

Apparently you don't use Photoshop that efficiently. The ability to have only the menu items that you use all the time is a nice break on the eyes. There is no way you use them all, unless you are a random clicker. I think it was a brilliant thing to add, especially since you can customize it, and turn it off by selecting the defaults. Sounds like those of you complaining need to crack open a manual now an again to find the solution. It's especially amusing that someone had to create a plug-in for a feature that is already there. (Photoshop Defaults)

# guilkato at 4/15/2010 10:20 am cst

To avoid this and have all the menus shown just go to: Window > Workspace > Keyboard Shortcuts & Menus... and on the "Set" menu choose: Photoshop Defaults.

# Stefan G. Bucher at 6/16/2010 10:20 pm cst

Oh, you have no idea how much this helped. I went so far as to reinstall the whole damn suite, because I couldn't explain where my scanners went. Who ever conceived of the idea that IMPORT is an optional morsel that should be hidden in the day to day?