Understanding Workspaces
The tabs across the top of the Blender window (Layout, Modeling, Sculpting, and so on) are called Workspaces:
Figure 1.19 – Some Workspace tabs
Workspaces are just different sets of areas, configured for different tasks. For example, the Layout Workspace (the one we’re in currently) is set up for general Blender work.
Click through the different kinds of Workspaces and have a look!
Any Workspace can do anything
It’s important to understand that the Workspaces are only a convenience—and that any Workspace can quickly be configured to perform any task.
For example, switch to the Shading Workspace. You’ll see a bunch of stuff that you won’t recognize. But, just like the Layout Workspace, it’s all made up of areas. You can easily change the Editor Type of any of them, join them, and add new ones.
You could reconfigure this Workspace to look exactly like the Layout Workspace if you wanted. Workspaces are very useful, though. They save a lot of time by having things set up and ready to go.
But what if you want a different Workspace? Here’s how you can add your own Workspace.
Making your own Workspace
You can make your own Workspace if you want. There are two ways to do it: you can either change an existing one or add a new one. Changing an existing one is easy—just click a Workspace to switch to it, then double-click the name to edit it and name it whatever you want. Now rearrange all of the areas however you like—and you have your own Workspace!
To add a new Workspace, just click the + button at the end of the top bar (you may have to scroll to the side a bit before you can see it) and choose the Workspace you’d like to add (you can also choose to duplicate the current one). Once you have a new Workspace, you can rename and edit it just like any other.
Making your own Workspace is a great way to save yourself the trouble of continuously rearranging areas. However, any changes you make to the workspaces are file-specific. This means that if you open a new file, you won’t have any of the Workspaces that you renamed or created.
The next section will explain how to set up your own default Startup file.