Toolbar Text

[anah63428022]

I'd like to view text instead of icons on the toolbar.  When I googled the question everone says "Enable Narrow Options Bar."  Unfortunately, I don't know where that is...

Any help would be appreciated.  I'm just learning illustrator and that simple thing, until I get used to the icons, would be amazing!

So, how can I view text on the toolbar instead of just icons, and where is the "Enable Narrow Options Bar" option?  I did try Edit, Preferences, but did not see it there.

I'm using Illustrator 2017.

Thanks!

[jane-e]

When I just now Googled "Enable Narrow Options Bar", all references were for Photoshop, then Prefs > Interface. The reason you can't find it is that you are using Illustrator.

[Bill Silbert]

First of all, I believe the Narrow Options Bar refers to the option to have the toolbar as a single row of icons rather than a double.

If you click on the double-arrows highlighted in red on my screen shot you can toggle that back and forth. Secondly, I've never heard of replacing the icons for the toolbar with words but I would think that using Tool Tips, as also shown above, should help. This option can be activated by checking "Show Tool Tips" in the General section of Illustrator's preferences. If you hover over a tool for a few seconds the tool tip should show up. I say should because it sometimes can be a little buggy. I found that if this feature isn't working right that if I toggle the toolbar back and forth from double row to single row back to double that somehow that kickstarts it and it will then work correctly.

[jane-e]

No. The options bar is the bar at the top that sets options for the tools. It is not the toolbar. It is in Photoshop only, in Preferences > Workspace (not Interface).

Here is more info on it:

https://photoshoptrainingchannel.com/tips/enable-narrow-options-bar-small-display/

[Debbie Keller · Accepted solution]

Here is a brief overview of the Illustrator workspace:

The Tool Bar and Control Panel can not be changed to "Text View" in Illustrator but the Panels on the right can be clicking on the Collapse/Expand icon and then dragging to resize the Panel groups you can view "text and icons" for the names of the various panels.

More information click here Illustrator workspace basics