I’m running a new Intel iMac with a dual dell monitor. I’m working in CS3 and all i want to do is move Photoshop onto my second monitor. Please please please tell me this is possible. I’ve come off a PC and want to love this Mac but i’ve already found out that i can’t even just scroll through type faces in Illustrator by using the up and down arrows!!!
If your second monitor is set to extend your desktop, rather than mirror it, you can designate your main monitor in your preferences, and you can simply drag whatever you want (such as palettes, panes, and windows) over to the other monitor.
As for scrolling through type, typically when you click on the blue down arrow adjacent to the active font or style, you get a flyout menu (and, as appropriate, style submenu) listing your fonts. You can easily scroll through the list with the wheel on your mouse, or by moving the pointer to the bottom or top of the menu list. Then just select the font and (if more than one) the style you want.
I know i can drag the palettes over separately but the header bar with File, Edit, Image, Layer etc… stays at the top of the main screen. On a PC i can just drag the whole application onto the second display. I have the monitors set up as extended and i am able to drag other programmes onto the second display just not Adobe programmes.
Regarding the type issue i know you can see a preview of the font and it’s name by clicking the blue arrow but it doesn’t show you how the actual text you’re changing on the page will look until you click and select that font type. This isn’t too big an issue- just a bit annoying really because this is a really nice feature on the PC version.
Found some links where other people are having the same issue with the dual displays and then with the scrolling through fonts thing (only a problem in Illustrator). Maybe they describe it better than me.
This link is to do with the dragging applications onto a separate window. I know the original post is old but the more relevant comments further down are from 2007/2008
Found some links where other people are having the same issue with the dual displays
If I understand your concern, in the broad context, it’s not an issue setting up your monitors and main menu bar. It’s setting up your monitor preferences. [blue apple logo] –> System Preferences –> Displays
Your setup for selecting monitor 1 (main display), resolution, etc. are there. I don’t have a two-monitor setup now, but in the past it was not much more than dragging the monitor icons and menu bar icon to where you want them.
If there is an Adobe-specific issue with moving palettes, I suggest you file a bug report with Adobe. Remember, we’re just your peers; not Adobe.
And I’m still not sure what the issue with fonts is. If you have a lot of fonts, you should manage them so that you don’t have a gazillion fonts activated at once. Check out Font Agent Pro — the best of the font managers for Macs. There’s a full-function demo to try. Or, Linotype has a free Mac font manager that is pretty decent.
Note that for best system performance, workflow, and your sanity, beyond required system fonts, just activate the fonts you need for the day’s session. You can organize them in sets, such as by job or client to make it easy. And then, no long scroll list.
In addition, Photoshop has a limit with how many fonts can be activated and displayed in its menus. I don’t know if that is also a Windows issue, but at least on Macs, if you have hundreds of activated fonts, you may not be able to select a font down near the end of the alphabet.
In any case, you should be able to call up an activated font you need by typing in just the first few letters of its name.
Cheers for the post. I’m not actually new to Macs but have been working on a PC for the last year at work and i basically know there is a difference between the two in what they can do regarding the above issues now.
I definitely 100% have my monitors set up correctly (not mirrored or anything stupid like that). I’ve done the whole detect monitors thing and sorted out the resolution, calibrated the colours blah blah blah…. so i know they’re working basically.
The problem is that the top main menu bar (not the palettes or tools etc) WILL ONLY OPEN IN THE MAIN DISPLAY. I can move the palettes and tools and everything else over to the second monitor independently but the main menu (File , Edit, Image, Layer, Select…etc) will only stay in the main monitor. This becomes annoying when you have to keep going between screens if you want to work on your second display. Coming from the PC environment you can literally drag the whole application (not just the palettes) onto the second screen if you like and work from there.
Right problem number two. If anyone still doesn’t see what i’m going on about regarding the fonts then please just try and do this and let me know if it works for you —–>
Open Photoshop, create a new file, type a word onto the canvas and select the word. Now go to the font palette but DO NOT PRESS THE BLUE DROP DOWN ARROW but simple click your cursor over the name of the font in the text field within the text palette (to the left of the blue arrow). Now scroll up and down using the arrows on your key board. As you do this you can clearly see the text that you wrote onto the page changes in accordance to you using the arrows to scroll through the fonts. This is obviously a nice feature since you can see exactly how that font type will look on a particular word (not just the preview on the font family name that you get when you press the blue drop down arrow).
NOW TRY AND DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING IN ILLUSTRATOR. I’m afraid it looks like it can’t be done after my best efforts and by other peoples mentioned in the link above.
Believe me i want this to work and i love Macs but it does look like the PC features are superior.
Jake
P.S I am aware that this isn’t Adobe that i’m speaking to but what i said before was just a general moan
Believe me i want this to work and i love Macs but it does look like the PC features are superior.
Mac 101…
Open the Displays prefs, select Arrangement and drag the title bar from one to the other display…you might want to LEARN how to use Macs before you presume they are inferior.
Oh come on- do i really need to explain to you what the problem is then?
THERE’S STILL ONLY ONE TITLE BAR!
Going on your logic i’d need to open system preferences, go to display, go to arrangement and drag the title bar over every time i wanted to switch between applications if i want to be able to see the whole interface.
Just imagine you’re working in Photoshop on one screen and Dreamweaver on the other building a website. You constantly need to flick between applications therefore it’s best to use a dual monitor if you can but it’s pretty frustrating if:
a) the title bar for BOTH applications stay in one monitor b) you have to go through systems preferences every time you want to move the title bar over
Many of are successfully using 2 and even 3 monitors. So you need to Pick a monitor designate it as your main monitor. Now place your panels on the second monitor. save your workspace.
Neil you can drag the options bar at the top onto any monitor you want it. The Mac version of Photoshop does not have a container like the Windows version(Thank god) if it did I would certainly disable it first thing. But that does not stop you from moving things around like the options bar. Now just save the workspace, once you save a workspace its there until you delete it.
The nice thing about workspaces is you can save as many as you want.
The main menu bar always stays on the MAIN monitor. This also means your OS titlebar, your hard drive icon(s), servers, startup icon, login window, etc are on the #1 monitor. You can change your Main monitor to be a second monitor, but then that means your menu bar of ALL apps goes to that second monitor. That’s just how Macs are, so Jake what you are seeking currently is not possible (real time access to both apps and all their menus).
Ok thanks for getting back to me about that SuperMacGuy. Glad i know it’s not possible to move the whole thing now. Not the end of the world- just a little frustrating!
Having transitioned to an imac in the past week, I know exactly where you are coming from. There are certain conveniences I was accustomed to and ‘assumed’ that they also existed for Mac’s. Hence I was chuckling as I read your post. It’s easy to see where the confusion is; what you are asking for simply does not exist in Mac-world, so users with little to no PC experience simply don’t have a basis for answering. You are just as likely to get the correct answer from a PC forum (at least they would understand the question, but wonder why this would not be available with Mac’s). So it’s up to us converts to stick together…
I too have been searching for a solution to this ‘problem’. Additionally, I wanted to have a keyboard shortcut to move a window from one monitor to the other — I use Ultramon on my laptop and it’s a fantastic app. I have the Cintiq 12 tablet by Wacom and hate how confirmations always seem to show up on the other side — Kinda like when you are carrying groceries and need to get your car keys. Inevitably they are always in the pocket on the other side from your free hand.
I created a shortcut with one of the buttons on my Cintiq to emulate the keyboard shortcut that brings up the DejaMenu (it displays the menubar for the application you are working on). It’s not exactly, what you were asking for, but I would give it a 9/10.
Also, incase you are interested, I use MercuryMover as my means of moving a window from one monitor to the other. I setup a configuration whereby I can flip a window around with a series of two keyboard shortcuts. I give it a 6/10 as there really should be a better solution…
While there are a few other things I would still like "fixed", I am very happy with my iMac and would be even without these workarounds.
Cheers for the really helpful feedback. Yea i kind of realised after a while that unless you’ve worked on a PC then you won’t really know what i’m on about.
I’ve tried out that Deja Vu link you sent me and i can see that being really helpful so thanks again for your message.
Thanks for the post (Jake) and thanks for your sensible response A!!an. I’m a new convert too – having worked on PC’s for 15 years I get a new job where I need to use a Mac.
Needless to say I’m having to look up numerous forums to find ‘how to do it on a mac’ type questions. I’ve noticed that Mac users seem to be very touchy when you imply that there may be a ‘better’ solution on a PC – no logic really, they just get all defensive.
I too am wishing i can move my entire app to my second monitor. The problem is not that I haven’t mastered my shortcuts, but that there are some things which are just quicker using the menu bar. For instance when I have 30 stock photos open that I’m using and i want to change to a specific one. Rather than using my Ctrl+Tab to scroll through 1 at a time, I can select the one I want directly. Just 1 example of when the "redundant top menu bar" is anything but redundant.
Cheers for the response. Yea i still find it annoying all this time on not being able to have the menu bar at the top.
The links A!!an put up are really helpful but unfortunately they aren’t exactly what we’re looking for.
Shortcut keys are the way forward for me now. Check out the link below for a list of all the shortcuts keys. I printed them off and have them stuck up on the wall next to me.
there are some things which are just quicker using the menu bar. For instance when I have 30 stock photos open that I’m using and i want to change to a specific one.
Reportedly CS4 now has tabs that allow that, a nice new feature.
