Working outside the canvas in Photoshop.

Forum|Forum|7 months ago
August 29, 2025
3 replies
290 views

Hi all,

Is there a way to work outside the canvas in Photoshop? Much like you can in InDesign? You can quickly hide and unhide the objects or layers you move outside the canvas in InDesign. I desperately want this feature in Photoshop also. Is there a way to do this??

Thanks in advance.

Windows

Correct answer Stephen Marsh

An Image editing app like Photoshop is different to illustration or layout apps, the canvas is both the image and workspace. Artboards create the illusion of multiple "pages" by grouping and masking into different regions, however, the entire canvas is expanded to contain the "separate" artboards. As pixels arranged into a grid create a canvas, an artboard is one way to achive the extra working area.

Stephen Marsh

Correct answer

Community Expert

An Image editing app like Photoshop is different to illustration or layout apps, the canvas is both the image and workspace. Artboards create the illusion of multiple "pages" by grouping and masking into different regions, however, the entire canvas is expanded to contain the "separate" artboards. As pixels arranged into a grid create a canvas, an artboard is one way to achive the extra working area.

barbara_a7746676

Community Expert

As rayek.elfin said, not directly possible.

Before I temporarily enlarge the canvas, I first put in ruler guides so that I know where the original edges were.

J

JPG-DealerAuthor

Participant

Thank you, I've done this before, but it's an annoying step. Hope they implement the ability to work outside the canvas like in InDesign in the future.

rayek.elfin

Legend

Not directly possible, unfortunately.

Objects hidden outside the canvas can be revealed with Image-->Reveal All. (I forgot about that option) It will adjust the canvas size, though, so not comparable to InDesign or Illustrator.

One other workaround would be to use a second (temporary) artboard while working.

J

JPG-DealerAuthor

Participant

Thank you, I haven't worked with artboards before, but I will give it a try. Hope they consider allowing us to work outside the canvas in the future.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded