About Toolbars

T-HFND-003-003

The Harmony user interface contains various toolbars, such as the Tools toolbar and the Edit toolbar, to give you quick access to various menu commands.

Author

Christina Halstead
2D Animator and Character Designer
shadowbrushcreations.com

Toolbars are separated in two main categories:

  • Workspace toolbars are toolbars that have a general purpose. For example, the File, Edit, Workspace, Advanced Animation and Deformation toolbars at the top, as well as the Tools toolbar on the left, are workspace toolbars. Those toolbars can be placed at the top, bottom, left or right edge of the application window. They can also be placed at the edge of specific views if preferred.
  • View toolbars are toolbars that are useful for a specific view. For example, the Camera view has a Camera toolbar at its top. View toolbars can only be displayed inside their respective view. They can be placed at the top, bottom, left or right edge of their view.

You can display or hide toolbars using the Windows > Toolbars menu. This menu contains all the workspace toolbars, as well as the view toolbar for all the views that are currently displayed in your workspace.

For example, in the default workspace, you have the Camera and the Drawing views in the same area, and you can switch between either view by clicking on the Camera or Drawing tab. If the Camera view is the one being displayed, then the Camera toolbar will be in the list. If the Drawing view is displayed, then the Drawing toolbar will be in the list instead.

Workspace toolbars can be added to either the general workspace or the inside of a view. For example, you can add the Edit toolbar to the top of the area occupied by the Camera view instead of the top of the application window, where it is by default. In the default workspace, the Tool Presets and Art Layer toolbars are placed in the area where the Camera and Drawing views are, even though they’re actually workspace toolbars.

When a workspace toolbar is added to a view, and several views are placed where this view is, then all those views will have this toolbar inside of them. For example, if you add the Edit toolbar to the Camera view, it will also be available in the Drawing view, as both these views share the same space. However, the Camera toolbar will not be available in the Drawing view as it is specific to the Camera view.

Some toolbars have buttons that are hidden by default to avoid cluttering. You can customize which buttons are displayed in these toolbars, and in which order they’re displayed—see Customizing Toolbars.

TIP

Many toolbar buttons have a keyboard shortcut associated to them. You can check which keyboard shortcut is associated to a button by leaving your mouse cursor over the button for a second. If the button has a keyboard shortcut, it will be indicated in the tooltip that appears.