PS8: Can I get the hand to work in levels/curves/filter windows?

SF
Posted By
Scott_Falkner
Aug 13, 2004
Views
310
Replies
9
Status
Closed
I try to use the space bar to access the hand tool so I can scroll around my photo while the curves or levels windows or a filter window are/is open. Sometimes that is translated as clicking OK (huge problem when action includes a save). Sometimes I can see the hand tool, but can’t scroll.

Used to work fine in every version of Photoshop on a Mac. There must be too many buttons on my mouse.

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Y
YrbkMgr
Aug 13, 2004
When one of those dialog boxes is up, click in a data entry field (like one of the numbers fields), then you can use the spacebar.

Peace,
Tony
JJ
John_Joslin
Aug 13, 2004
Nice tip Tony, is it documented? Come to that, is Space bar as "dialog closer" documented?

Cheers – John
Y
YrbkMgr
Aug 13, 2004
As far as I have been able to tell John, the spacebar acts like a pseudo "enter" key in some PS dialogs, but not all.

For example, if you have a dialog box open and the focus is on the "Preview" checkbox, spacebar toggles it. If the focus is on the "Okay" button spacebar executes it. In these dialogs, the key is to take the focus off of a button or checkbox. In the Curves dialog, you have to put your cursor in one of the number fields first, since the default focus is on the "OK" button.

But the Levels dialog does NOT default to a focus on the "OK" button.

To add complexity, if a particular element does not have focus by default, once you move the focus to, say, the "Preview" checkbox, the spacebar toggles it on and off.

However, that doesn’t happen in all dialogs. For example, in the Layer Styles dialog, the hand tool is immediately available even without the spacebar, and it seems that no single item in the Layer Styles dialog has focus.

So in my experience, you have to watch a bit more closely to get what you expect, I guess.

That’s the nice thing about standards in computing: there are so many to choose from <grin>.

Peace,
Tony
TM
Trevor_Morris
Aug 15, 2004
Guys,

This is standard Windows behaviour. The space is equivalent to press the mouse button; so, whatever has focus is "pressed". Move the focus using the Tab key and press the space bar to activate the focus item. This is different than Enter which accepts and commits the changes for the current dialog – and, of course, Esc cancels.
JJ
John_Joslin
Aug 15, 2004
This is standard Windows behaviour. The space is equivalent to press the mouse button; so, whatever has focus is "pressed". Move the focus using the Tab key and press the space bar to activate the focus item. This is different than Enter which accepts and commits the changes for the current dialog – and, of course, Esc cancels.

Like everything in Windoze, it is valid in some dialogs but not all.

Check it out!
Y
YrbkMgr
Aug 15, 2004
Trevor,

Standard Windows behavior in Photoshop would mean that a button in a dialog always has focus by default. But that standard behavior wouldn’t make sense since some of the dialog boxes will do nothing unless you change settings within them. Thus, some dialog boxes do not have a default focus and others do. Further, some dialog boxes have the default focus on the Preview checkbox, and others on the buttons.

So, my point was… one has to watch where the focus is in order to use the spacebar/hand in dialogs.

Peace,
Tony
DM
dave_milbut
Aug 15, 2004
one has to watch where the focus is in order to use the spacebar/hand in dialogs.

<nodding>

IOW, (gasp!) pay attention to what you’re doing! 🙂
Y
YrbkMgr
Aug 15, 2004
All due respect Dave, but I don’t know that it’s immediately obvious what’s happening. The behavior is logical, but not expected/predictable. Most of the time when you’re editing, you’re trying to get to "G" – some point. But at "C" you get this dialog box and the spacebar/hand doesn’t work. I don’t know a lot of people that take the time to figure it out – rather, over time, after it happens time and time again, does one realize what’s causing it.

Anyway, that’s how *I* figured it out. <shrug>
JJ
John_Joslin
Aug 15, 2004
I suppose moving the cursor over the desired command and clicking the left mouse button is a good workaround.

🙂

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