Create New Workspace in Illustrator CS6

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Video: Create New Workspace in Illustrator CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we're going to show you how to create a new workspace in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7.

1. 1
   To begin, you should open Adobe Illustrator CS6 either from your desktop or by coming down to the bottom-left corner and clicking the Windows icon. This will reveal a list of recently used programs. You may find Illustrator on the list. It has a brown-and-orange icon with the letters "Ai".

   

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2. 2
   If you can't see Illustrator in the start menu, use the search bar along the bottom and start typing "Adobe Illustrator".

   

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3. 3
   Click "Adobe Illustrator CS6". It will immediately start loading and take you directly to the workspace. We don't need a document open to adjust and create a new workspace. The toolbars on either side form the workspace.

   

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4. 4
   Click "Essentials" in the top right-hand corner. A drop-down menu will be revealed.

   

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5. 5
   You can click

   • "Essentials". Currently, it is selected (checked). This is the default setting, which is mostly because the tools and options are balanced rather than being specific to a particular type of project. The whole point of changing your workspace is to make your job easier. This will save you time later on;
   • "Automation". It is supposedly quicker;
   • "Painting". This is used to paint pictures;
   • "Tracing". It works with pixel images;
   • "Typography";
   • "Web". It is used for uploading to the Internet.
     Let's click the "Painting" workspace. This will change the right-side toolbar.
     

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6. 6
   Now, let's click the workspace drop-down menu again.

   

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7. 7
   Click "Web". This will change the toolbar on the right.

   

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8. 8
   Let's click the workspace drop-down menu again.

   

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9. 9
   Click "Painting" again. You can adjust the tools that you'd like to see.

   

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10. 10
    If you work mostly with layers, then click and drag the "Layers" section up for more space.

    

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11. 11
    If you decide that you don't need the "Symbols" tab, then click and drag it onto the main workspace.

    

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12. 12
    Then, click the cross in the top-right corner to close the "Symbols" tab.

    

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13. 13
    Let's open a document quickly by clicking "File".

    

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14. 14
    Click "New...". For more information on how to create a new document, refer to our tutorials on how to create a new document and how to open documents.

    

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15. 15
    Let's click "OK". You'll have the "Color", "Swatches", and "Color Guide" panels activated. There are "Layers" at the bottom too.

    

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16. 16
    If you don't want to keep "Color Guide" when you have "Color" and "Swatches" at the top, then you can drag the panel out to the document.

    

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17. 17
    Then, click the cross.

    

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18. 18
    To remove empty space in panels, click and drag the borders to resize the panels. In this video, the "Swatches" panel is shrank. In this video, more space will be given for "Brushes" and "Layers".

    

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19. 19
    You can just adjust this toolbar area until you get it to a comfortable workspace for your projects.

    

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20. 20
    Then, click the button in the upper-right corner to show a menu. You can add tabs to the panel by checking options in the menu.

    

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21. 21
    Then, to save the adjusted workspace, click the workspace drop-down menu.

    

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22. 22
    Then, click "New Workspace...". A dialogue box will appear.

    

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23. 23
    Type a name for your workspace. Let's type "Painting Test".

    

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24. 24
    Click "OK". Illustrator will save the workspace toolbars and interface. Next time, you will be able to access it from the workspace drop-down menu.

    

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25. 25
    To open your saved workspace, click the workspace drop-down menu again.

    

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26. 26
    Click "Essentials". The workspace will reset.

    

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27. 27
    Click the workspace drop-down menu again.

    

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28. 28
    Click the name of your saved workspace. It is "Painting Test" in this video. The interface and workspace will be restored.

    

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This concludes our tutorial showing you how to create a new workspace in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or queries regarding this tutorial, just add them to the comment section below. Thank you for choosing VisiHow!

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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