different color workspace

[Punkinsmom]

I hate, hate, hate the grey. I can't see the menu bar and the brushes are next to impossible for me to see. I've increased all my monitor settings. Is there a way to change the appearance? Having vision problems (macular degeneration) and this background don't work and play well together!

[Codebreaker]

I assume you mean version 6. Either way you can't change it and changing your monitor settings is a bad move because it's going to bias all your images as too light or the wrong colour - depending on how you tweaked it.

Colin

[Punkinsmom]

Yeah, I found that out...everything is back to normal and yes, I did mean PSE6. What were they thinking?

[Codebreaker]

It's a love hate thing. I downloaded the trial version and actually liked the new appearance although I wasn't too happy with the new layout of the Organiser. Eventually I decided there wasn't enough difference from PSE4 for me to buy it.

Actually if I could make PSE 4 the same colours I would :)

Colin

[efarnstrom]

Actually the only thing I've found that you can change is the workspace color in the Editor. That doesn't help out with the surrounding areas, though.

[Punkinsmom]

Yes, it's the menu bar that is giving me fits and what's with the brushes!?:(:mad::confused:

[SCRAPPYGIRL]

I'm with you Sherrie, I really HATE that dark interface. I just installed PSE6 yesterday and am I ever so glad I didn't take PSE5 off. I think I'll still be using that.

Those brushes. . . . . I absolutely cannot see them. I was doing some other things so didn't check out all the other menus, hopefully they aren't as bad as the brushes.

[Dooley S]

I agree that we should be able to change the dark interface. This isn't just a preference, some people just can't see the dark on dark (like the brushes).Sometimes I pick something off the menu and hope it's the right one.

[frank abramonte]

I suggest that you all register your complaint to Adobe.
The interest may prompt them to either re-do Elements of supply an upgrade to a new lighter work space.
Since they don't give support for Elements the only way you can lodge a complaint is by calling.

Technical support
800-642-3623
Monday-Friday
6am-5pm(Pacific time)

[ceecee60]

I must be one of the few who like it. I find it a great improvement and bought it before 30 day trial was up

[Tina_B]

the dark interface is what kept me from going to PSE 6 I will stick with PSE 5 until something better comes along.

Tina B

[TonyW]

I must be one of the few who like it. I find it a great improvement and bought it before 30 day trial was up

I don't think you're alone - I suspect there are quite a few of us that like it. I have 4 versions installed and PSE6 is the one I use all the time. I don't really have any problems with the color scheme even though my old CRT monitor (and my old eyes) aren't that great at distinguishing shades of dark gray.

Tony

[efarnstrom]

I really like the darker interface. Of course, because of aging eyes, I have special 'computer glasses' and a wide LCD monitor that is 15" from my face.:eek:

[Sepiana]

I use PE4 and was seriously considering upgrading to PE6, but when I saw the dark interface, I changed my mind.

Pros: It is very sleek, high-tech, 21st century. Cons: It's very hard on the eyes, makes it hard to read the menus.

Maybe Adobe can come out with a solution to improve the readability, while keeping the high-tech look. Would it possible to have a feature such as the one in Windows XP, which allows one to revert to the Classic View, with, in the case of PE, the classic view being version 4 or 5? In this way, people on both sides of the argument would be pleased.

[ThreeBrightLights]

I totally agree. I have a terrible time seeing the brushes etc. on that dark gray background. If I take my laptop outside, or near a bright window, it's almost impossible to work. Sure would like to see some options to change that!

[mattyboy]

I have to admit that I quite like the look of the 'darker' interface, although I admit it's a shame there's no way of adjusting it - that way everyone would be happy.

Sometimes, just for a few seconds, it can feel like I've stumbled into a new application - then bang..... I spot that big orange edit button and I snap out of it!

[Quag]

I like the look of the darker background to make the images stand out but now PSE 7 allows you to darken or lighten the background as you like so they were listening and now both sides can be happy.

Paul

[mattyboy]

Yeah good point! This option is all part of Elements 7, and it's always good to have the option there - no matter your preference!

[ChrisAnn]

I have Elements 7 and find that the workspace in the Organizer is very difficult to see - much too dark. Why can't we have choices of workspace colours as that would suit everybody's taste.

[Sepiana]

I have Elements 7 and find that the workspace in the Organizer is very difficult to see - much too dark. Why can't we have choices of workspace colours as that would suit everybody's taste.

Hi ChrisAnn, welcome aboard!

I got PSE7 and was happy to learn that I can adjust how dark or light it looks. Go to Edit > Preferences > General > Appearance Options and adjust the User Interface Brightness slider. You can adjust the Organizer and Editor independently, so you can have each at a different level of darkness. Moreover, the changes take effect immediately -- no need to restart PSE7.

[coaster]

I was really unhappy with the dark workspace at first, but I'm getting used to it. Though I'd really prefer the option to change it, as I read above is in PSE7. I'd even much more prefer the option of completely reskinning it, because I don't like a lot of the controls, either.....they're way too small and the labels on them are a strain to make out. For example, those teeny little sliders, like the one for zoom, are very difficult to use, and so I just usually use the magnifying glass tool or type the zoom into the text box (although that's pretty small, too). Maybe these things aren't a problem on different-sized monitors.....I don't know. I've got a 19-inch widescreen (HP w1907) which has a resolution of 1440x900.

[pinkchaos]

Is there anyway to make the workspace just go away? I only want the images I'm working on on my screen, not the big black thing that keeps me from using both my monitors

Nix

[Wendy]

Hi Nix ...

You can do this on the Mac ... but I am afraid that it isn't possible to remove the workspace if you are using Windows :(

Wendy

[coaster]

You can do this on the Mac
Make the workspace "go away?" I'm not sure what's meant here: are you saying on the Mac you can edit images using PSE directly on the desktop? :confused:

[Wendy]

Hi Tim ...

Most Mac applications don't have a "back" to them ... so you can see the desktop behind the application and anything else that you have on the desktop.

Its fantastic for doing tutorials as you can have them on screen and follow along with them.

All versions of Elements were made this way up to PSE6 ... but in PSE6 they gave the option (in the preferences) of having a solid gray workspace (like the one Windows has). Most Mac users make sure that this option is unchecked ... as once you get used to working without a solid workspace its hard to get used to having one there.

Thankfully Adobe listened and made this optional :)

Here is what mine looks like:

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1RVAkiJIsph5aQr0CTOlCDuFBSoh1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1RVAkiJIsph5aQr0CTOlCDuFBSoh1)

Wendy

[coaster]

Thanks for posting the picture, Wendy!! It looks like the PSE application "frames" the Mac desktop. It would be really cool if you could also get rid of the frame and just have your tools and other stuff you need floating on the desktop. Or can that be done? Also, I was wondering about the Mac "dock" (is that the correct term?) that's normally at the bottom of the screen. Do you have to make that go away in order for PSE to work like in your screen shot?

(PS - I still haven't got a new computer)

[RAB]

I am having a terrible time working with this dark workspace. I found a way in V7 to lighted the background but I can't seem to do anything with the title bar menus. Does anyone else have Elements 7 and have you found a way to fix this?

[TonyW]

Sounds like you may need to adjust your monitor - actually even the background in PSE7 I still have at it's default values.

Give this monitor calibration method a try - get it right and it should make PSE7 much easier to use:

http://www.photofriday.com/calibrate.php

Tony

[Wendy]

Hi Tim ...

Sorry I haven't replied before but I must have missed your message ...

You can close the Project Bin and the Palette Bin and just have the palettes floating on the desktop ... but you have to keep the tool bar, menu bar at the top and a small bar at the bottom. Elements is not as flexible as Photoshop in regard to this ... but you can still change some things :)

... as far as the Dock goes I have mine set to appear when you move the cursor towards the bottom of the screen and it still does appear when you have Elements open ..

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1SCNVoENx9A15qEelTudyV4Zkv8VZ3_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1SCNVoENx9A15qEelTudyV4Zkv8VZ3)

Wendy :)
PS ... So when are you hoping to get your new computer ??

[coaster]

Thanks for the description, Wendy, that clarifies it. I've been holding off hoping Apple might drop their prices in this weak economy. I need to do something soon because my keyboard is on its last legs and I don't want to have to buy a new one for my old computer. You can't see it in the posts I type, but some of the keys are giving me frequent double characters like thiis and I have to backspace frequently and correct. :rolleyes:

[Wendy]

Hi Tim ...

Oh my goodness that must drive you mad ... it really is awful when you have a keyboard problem.

Which Mac are you thinking of getting ... the iMacs are great, my husband has the 20" one.

Wendy :)

[coaster]

Well, I traditionally spend way more on computers than I ought to, so I suppose that means the 24 in. iMac. I'd probably get a Pro if it made even the remotest sense. I always end up keeping a computer a long time and upgrading it bits at a time, so the closed systems do concern me. But if I get the 24 in. with the faster processor and plenty of memory it should be so much more than I have now that I won't hit the limits for a long time.

The other thing that's got me waiting is Apple's next OS. Apple has a bad habit of making their new OS's hardware dependent. I need to do some more research. I'd hate to have the next OS come out and find out my closed-system iMac is just a hair short of what Apple requires to run it. Even if it's not the next iteration of the OS, it will happen some time down the road. I'd like some sense that it's going to be a while before I have to buy a new computer to run the next version of the OS.

[ladybug]

Hi Tim ...

Most Mac applications don't have a "back" to them ... so you can see the desktop behind the application and anything else that you have on the desktop.

Its fantastic for doing tutorials as you can have them on screen and follow along with them.

All versions of Elements were made this way up to PSE6 ... but in PSE6 they gave the option (in the preferences) of having a solid gray workspace (like the one Windows has). Most Mac users make sure that this option is unchecked ... as once you get used to working without a solid workspace its hard to get used to having one there.

Thankfully Adobe listened and made this optional :)

Here is what mine looks like:

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1RVAkiJIsph5aQr0CTOlCDuFBSoh1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1RVAkiJIsph5aQr0CTOlCDuFBSoh1)

Wendy


Now that is AWESOME! I have windows. But that is awesome.:D

[Wendy]

Hi Tim ...

The last time there was a big change on OS to Macs it was to Intel and that was hardware ... but now that is changed I really can't see anymore hardware specific changes coming up.

To give you some idea ... even with Intel many older programs would run on using Rosseta.

http://www.apple.com/rosetta/

Before that the change to Mac OSX from Mac OS9 ... older programs would run on OSX using the built in Classic.

http://www.apple.com/support/tiger/classic/

To put this into context OSX came out in 1999 .. so they don't change too often :)

One thing to watch is the screen sizes .. what looks OK in the shop can look too big in your own home :eek:. I looked at the 24 inch screen but eventually settled for the 20 inch cinema screen.

I did go over the top when I bought my Mac :o I bought the 2 X 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 4 internal drives.

Wendy

[coaster]

My thinking is I have a 19 in. wide-screen right now, and I'm already finding that just a bit confining doing artwork, so a 20 in. isn't much of a step up. But that's an excellent point and since you mentioned it, I'm going to be sure to measure my workspace here first, to get a good idea of how much space it takes uup.

[Punkinsmom]

I resent the fact that Adobe didn't offer some kind of patch for Elements 6. Instead they expect us to purchase PSE7, which I did with much misgivings. It can be adjusted but I still have problems seeing some of the menu items. I just think Adobe can be more pro-active with their loyal customers and provide a fix instead of a new release that has to be purchased.

[coaster]

Ummmmm.....that's pretty typical of most software vendors these days, unfortunately. I guess they figured it was such a major improvement that everybody would jump at the chance to pick up PSE7. :(