Creating Panel Trays
If you use LayOut for Microsoft Windows, you can create panel trays for the panels you use most often, or to keep the panels you need for different workflows organized and ready in a single click.
To create a custom panel tray, follow these steps:
- From the menu bar, select Window > New Tray. The Add Tray dialog box appears.
- In the Tray Name field, type a name for the tray, such as Adding Shapes for a tray that holds all the panels you use to add shapes to a document.
- Select the checkbox next to each panel that you want to include in the tray, as shown in the figure.
- When you’re done, click the Add button. The name of your new tray appears on the Window menu.
Tip: After you create more than one tray, here are a few tips for working with your trays:
- Switch among the open trays by clicking the tab for your desired tray at the bottom of the panel tray, as shown in the following figure.
- Rename a tray by selecting Window > Tray Name > Rename Tray from the menu bar. Type a new name in the Name box and click the Rename button.
- Delete a tray by selecting Window > Tray Name > Delete Tray. Your tray is deleted instantly, so make sure that’s what you really want to do.
For an introduction to displaying and hiding trays and more, see Introducing the LayOut Interface.
If you use LayOut for macOS, you can stick panels together and toggle them open or hidden or let the panels float on-screen.
To stick panels together, follow these steps:
- From the Window menu, select the panel you want to open. On this menu, a check mark indicates the panel is open, a line indicates the panel is on-screen but hidden, and no mark indicates the panel is not on-screen at all. Repeat this step for all the panels you want have on-screen.
- Click and drag a panel’s title bar to the bottom of another panel so that the panel you’re dragging sticks to the other panel.
- Repeat this process until you create the stack of panels you want to use.
Tip: After you create a stack, here are a few tips for working with your panels:
The following figure shows a panel stack with open and hidden panels.
- Toggle a panel in the stack open or hidden by clicking its title bar.
- Remove a panel from the stack and screen by clicking the Close button in the upper left.
- Separate a panel from the stack so it floats freely on-screen by clicking and dragging its title bar elsewhere in the LayOut interface. Then click and drag any panels below the one you want to float separately back into the stack.
To learn more about working with panels, see Introducing the LayOut Interface.
