Vertical Screen Real Estate

[razorpig]

I work mostly on a laptop so vertical screen real estate is always at a premium. I think it would be nice to have the option to dock the toolbar vertically either left or right, especially as the default buttons leave quite a lot of empty space on the toolbar and horizontal real estate seems plentiful. I realize many designers are working on large desktops so this probably isn't much of an issue, but I'd be curious to know how others feel.

PS : I'v posted this in the Designer forum but it applies equally to Photo and Publisher.

[AndyQ]

1 hour ago, razorpig said:

...I think it would be nice to have the option to dock the toolbar vertically either left or right....

Hell yeah. That's the first thing I tried to do when I got these apps (it took a while to figure that I couldn't just "tear it loose" and had to select a menu option to free it). The tools should be a dockable palette like any other - but adjustable in shape to a vertical or horizontal orientation, docked at the right, left, as a tool bar or as a palette alongside others (i.e. in a tabbed arrangement).  At least allow either-side docking (vertically) like Adobe CC, but preferably take the opportunity to offer greater flexibility. It may sound daft but as a right-hander with a Wacom tablet I'm more comfortable not having to swing my arm left and right but have all the tools and palettes on the same side and get to everything with minor wrist movements. It's not a major gripe; at least it can be a floating palette, but I don't understand why the limitation - if  was designing the UI I'd look what competitors offered, incorporate their advantages and think of ways to improve. 

[razorpig]

@AndyQ Cheers Andy - glad it's not just me !

You might also find this thread useful for reclaiming a bit of that vertical real estate - gets rid of the info bar along the bottom if you decide you no longer need it.