Datasheet

Panels
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3
The Panel Dock
The dock is InDesign’s attempt to organize panels on single-monitor systems—or anywhere—
where space is at a premium.
Dragging panels to the side of the application window causes them to become labeled icons
in the panel dock, a top-to-bottom reserved area of the application window (see Figure 1.1). In
some programs, such as Photoshop and Illustrator, the icons initially appear unlabeled, result-
ing in a much slimmer dock (and consequently a wider document working area).
InDesign can have icon-only docks too; they just don’t appear that way in the default work-
space. To slim down an InDesign dock to icon-only mode and reclaim most of the horizontal space
for the working area, drag one edge of any collapsed panel in the dock toward the opposite screen
edge (refer back to Figure 1.1). When you get to within 18 or so pixels of the edge, the dock will
snap into icon-only mode. Conversely, dragging outward from the screen edge will widen the
dock, first making labels appear, perhaps truncated, and then increasing the space for them.
Adobe branded nearly all its applications and technologies with color-coded, two-letter signi-
fiers strongly reminiscent of elements on the periodic table. The kaleidoscope of icons makes for
a brighter desktop, Start Menu, or OS X Dock, while, as a counterpoint, the workspaces of Adobe
applications themselves become a cool cornucopia of grayscale icons—every panel now has its
own associated icon displayed within the application dock. For easy reference, Table 1.1 pairs
all the panels with their associated icons. Astute observers will note that the table includes only
53 icons. The Tool and Control panels cannot be collapsed fully, so they have no icons. Nor does
the Cross-References panel, which is permanently fused to the bottom of the Hyperlinks panel
despite having a separate Show/Hide command under Window  Type & Tables.
To use a panel in the dock, click its collapsed icon or icon and title. It will expand out to the
side, revealing the entire panel. Collapse it back into the panel either by clicking the double
arrows pointed toward the dock, by clicking on the title tab of the panel, or by clicking its icon
(or icon and title) again.
Only one panel per dock may be extended at once, and by default, the last-used panel will
remain extended until you collapse it. If you’d prefer that panels immediately collapse back to
their icon or tile state as soon as you finish with them, right-click the dark gray dock title or an
empty area of the dock itself and choose Auto-Collapse Icon Panels (you’ll also find the same
choice in the Preferences on the Interface pane).
Figure 1.1
The InDesign
panel dock
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