We’re excited to announce that new contextual task bars are now available in Photoshop Public Beta. We know that finding the right tool, at the right time, can sometimes slow down a great workflow. Our new contextually aware task bars aim to help by providing common tools, actions and next steps right on the canvas where you’re working. We are currently launching five bars for importing new documents, making selections and using the Type Tool. Learn more below: Open Image or File This bar will appear when you open an image or file in Photoshop (i.e. not a new, empty document) New Document Workflow This bar will appear if you open a new, blank document from the Photoshop home screen If you choose to select “import image”, your image will be placed in the document as a Smart Object and the Free Transform bar will appear to help finalize placement Type Tool Workflow This bar will appear when you select the Type tool from the tool bar and draw a text box on the canvas Selections Workflow Once a selection is made, a selection edit bar will appear with options to refine the selection or create a mask Tips and Other Menu Functionality Pin bar position You can pin and un-pin any bar from the “more menu”. Pinning will hold your bar (and all subsequent bars) where it was placed on the canvas until un-pinned from the “more menu” performed Reset bar position The context bar moves with you as you work on the canvas, keeping relevant tools at your finger tips. If you would like to reset the position, you can do so from the “more menu” Hide bar You can always hide the bar if you’d like to remove it completely, or temporarily, from the canvas. If you’d like to re-open the bar at any point, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar We need your feedback! Please let us know what you think and how we could improve the new Contextual Task Bar.

OMG just fixed it!! You can always hide the bar if you’d like to remove it completely, or temporarily, from the canvas. If you’d like to re-open the bar at any point, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar And this is the link to where I found how to fix that: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-beta-discussions/contextual-task-bars-now-in-photoshop-beta/td-p/13658736

N

Noelle Shamroukh

Adobe Employee

Answered

Contextual Task Bars Now in Photoshop (Beta)

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 17, 2023
70 replies
101985 views

We’re excited to announce that new contextual task bars are now available in Photoshop Public Beta. We know that finding the right tool, at the right time, can sometimes slow down a great workflow. Our new contextually aware task bars aim to help by providing common tools, actions and next steps right on the canvas where you’re working. We are currently launching five bars for importing new documents, making selections and using the Type Tool. Learn more below:

Open Image or File

This bar will appear when you open an image or file in Photoshop (i.e. not a new, empty document)

New Document Workflow

This bar will appear if you open a new, blank document from the Photoshop home screen

If you choose to select “import image”, your image will be placed in the document as a Smart Object and the Free Transform bar will appear to help finalize placement

Type Tool Workflow

This bar will appear when you select the Type tool from the tool bar and draw a text box on the canvas

Selections Workflow

Once a selection is made, a selection edit bar will appear with options to refine the selection or create a mask

Tips and Other Menu Functionality

Pin bar position
- You can pin and un-pin any bar from the “more menu”. Pinning will hold your bar (and all subsequent bars) where it was placed on the canvas until un-pinned from the “more menu” performed
Reset bar position
- The context bar moves with you as you work on the canvas, keeping relevant tools at your finger tips. If you would like to reset the position, you can do so from the “more menu”
Hide bar
- You can always hide the bar if you’d like to remove it completely, or temporarily, from the canvas. If you’d like to re-open the bar at any point, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar

We need your feedback!

Please let us know what you think and how we could improve the new Contextual Task Bar.

Correct answer danielm77292327

OMG just fixed it!!

You can always hide the bar if you’d like to remove it completely, or temporarily, from the canvas. If you’d like to re-open the bar at any point, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar

And this is the link to where I found how to fix that:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-beta-discussions/contextual-task-bars-now-in-photoshop-beta/td-p/13658736

Show previous replies

Zacharias_Q

Participant

I use it sometimes, so it definitely can be practical. But please, for the love of god, make it dockable and STAY THERE even after closing and reopening Photoshop. Nobody needs a bar to constantly pop up in the middle of the workspace where it just gets in your way; and I don't want to have to pin it over and over. Let me dock it to the side of the screen, or on the second monitor where it's out of my way. Then it's useful. As for now I've deactivated it because it was hella annoying that it kept showing up in the middle of the canvas.

D

DavePinMinn

Inspiring

The new floating context bar is kind of useful, but it keep showing up and getting in the way. HOW do I make it permanently stay where I drag it to?

Ged_Traynor

Community Expert

@DavePinMinn at the moment there's no way to make it stick to the new location

C

C27618681pmp5

Inspiring

Post:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/using-pin-bar-position-for-contextual-task-bar-will-not-work-after-reopening-photoshop-24-5/m-p/13864180#M738478

After the Pin bar position to fixed Contextual Task Bar position and close Photoshop and reopened,the Contextual Task Bar will return to its original default position instead of the pinned position.

it would be nice if it stayed in the position that user pinned even closed or reopen photoshop.

C

csscms

Legend

If you're a designer (banners, TV graphics & other stuff that require PSDs) then this new bar literally stops you from doing your job - it's a constant frustration that gets in the way of designing sorry.

If this is the future (like generative full) it requires some serious docking flexibility. For me, it'd work if it was docked to the bottom of the window, next to the scrollbars. So it's still per document but not in the way.

A

AndrewBuckle

Known Participant

You can hide it via the window menu and contextual task bar, it doesn't re-appear. Well, certainly not in my version of Photoshop whether I open an old or new document or re-start Photoshop.

Maxwelp3

Participating Frequently

But then it is gone. Out of sight and therefore out of mind.

Let me dock it somewhere to grab it later if I need it handy.

J

jhghjgjhghjghj

Participant

Please let us dock this toolbar. What it does is great but please let me have it in a consistent place.

S

Sandy694

Known Participant

Please! Pin/dock/position/whatever where I want it PERMANENTLY! I do use it, but the way it is now it is almost always in my way until I move the !@#$ thing yet again. Pinning it temporarily, as it is now, just increases my frustration.

K

KGETscott

Participant

EXACTLY!

D

DavidMacDo

Known Participant

Although I am well aware that keyboard shortcuts are the fastest way to work I am a very keyboard dyslectic and, no longer a young man, have problems remembering all the multiple keystrokes. I love to work instinctively with the pen as much as possible and make extensive use of Wacom's on screen radial menus to help me do this. I just LOVE this new feature and hope it will be developed more.

A

AndrewBuckle

Known Participant

I agree, it is a very useful feature for people who can't recall all the shortcuts, it would be sad if this is removed, it is a very useful feature of Photoshop (I know, not for everyone). It does need a few more things (permanently pinning, perhaps a docking feature but for me the usefulness is that the commands I generally use are at hand, some customization etc)

A

andybatt studio

Participant

Hi! Please add another vote for "Please let us nuke this menu permanently." This feels like the Clippy of Photoshop. If I hide it, it comes back. Every single time. I get that Adobe is always making improvements, but SO MANY TIMES you guys turn on a "feature" with no way to turn it off. In the right context, sure maybe I will use it. Right now, all it does is get in the way.

K

KGETscott

Participant

I know the Contextual Task Bar can be pinned, but I think it would be really nice if you could dock it like other tool palettes. I would really like it to stay with the rest of my tool palettes; not covering the artwork but not floating in a pinned place either.

Personally, I'd dock it right above the Timeline - below, but central to the artwork.

Trevor.Dennis

Community Expert

I've finally stopped marvelling at Gen Fill long enough to take a closer look at the Contextual Task Bar, and it really is a useful tool.

What I am wondering about though`, is the point of the New Adjustment Layer icon? When first noticing it, I got very excited hoping it was going to be the perfect workaround for the dreadful new Adjustment Layer panel with its miniscual icons, but all clicking on it seems to do is make the Adjustment Panel visible in whatever location it happened to be. Am I missing something? Perhaps it is still under development and will have more functionality when it gets to full release.

This is what pops up when clicking on that icon. I'm waiting for it to play a little tune, and add some text along the lines of:

Today children, we will be looking at panels that start with the letter A.

What other panels start with an A? That's right children. 'Actions' also start with an A.

Carola_BHG

Inspiring

The contextual task bar adds nothing new, just most used shortcuts depending on your actions so you can click on them without browsing through the menus or hitting a keyboard shortcut.

My problem with this bar is that is always in the middle and too close to where I'm editing so I fix it in a position where is not really useful after all.

C

csscms

Legend

Why doesn't the new task bar ever go above the thing you're editing? If the layer you're editing is close to document bottom, the task bar covers it. See attached, this happens to me all day, every day because of the work I do - you can't see what you're editing which makes editing text impossible (see attached).

Also, is it just me or does the task bar randomly blink on/off for everyone when editing text? It's very distracting.

G

gpecu

Participating Frequently

The fact that the contextual menu bar always covers a sliver of the canvas is problematic. Programming the thing so that it automatically moves out of the way of whatever part of the canvas you're currently editing sounds prohibitively complex and probably unworkable.

Right now, the contextual bar forces the user in certain circumstances to manually move it aside, zoom and pan the canvas to work around it, hide/unhide it by clicking through menus, or create a custom keyboard shortcut to do the same thing.

In your screenshot, all of the visible options are available in the traditional options bar at the top of the screen anyway. Most users of any text editor are well-accustomed to looking toward the top of their screens to change those particular options, so in this case I'm hard-pressed to understand what tangible benefit moving them into a floating UI element offers the user.

Combined with the bar's limited usefulness (i.e., it seems to focus on what one must assume the devs have determined are the most common tasks for a given workflow), the floating contextual bar seems a lot like a solution in search of a problem.

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