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Design Photoshop Foundations Workflow Basics Setting Up Your Workspace

Daniel Politz
Daniel Politz
6,338 Points
Posted by Daniel Politz
Daniel Politz
6,338 Points

Why do web designers use two screens?

I am relatively new to learning web design. I work in a shared space for start-ups for work during the day and designers that work there tend to have two monitors. I am curious as to the benefits, reasons behind this practice.

The screens do not run from the same system I assume so it almost seems like it would be more work going back and forth from one to the other instead of using spaces feature on Mac or splitting the screen as I can on my ASUS.

Just trying to figure out best practices and this is always something I have been curious about.

Charlie Mudrick
Charlie Mudrick
9,221 Points

Daniel, I am curious about this as well. I've personally not done much design work in industry but I myself enjoy using 2 screens just for the ease of workflow, if nothing else.

For example, my primary screen has ample room to code and so I utilize the second monitor for displaying my content in varying screen sizes. This is for adjusting media queries, ultimately controlling the UI and UX across devices.

Another reason for 2 screens on 2 different machines would be graphic design. I tend to use a PC for coding pages but utilize a Mac for altering vector graphics. This again is just a personal preference that I've noticed works best for me.

When you say the screens don't run from the same system, I'm not sure of another reason to do so. Perhaps coding then testing for different browsers, but, I believe there are better, software implementations, to complete this process on 1 machine. Or perhaps one machine is equipped with a different programming language for separate development.

I too would be curious to others thoughts who work in the industry.

4 Answers

Laura Cray
Laura Cray
12,258 Points

Two screens is a life saver for me. I feel handicapped when I have to work without them anymore. One of the biggest advantages for me is that I can easily have multiple applications up at once to compare back and forth with. My monitors are all running on the same system, so for me it is more for the expanded workspace. If they are running different systems on each monitor, it is likely for testing under different platforms or switching between platform specific design applications.

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points
Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

Are you sure they are running two different machines with two monitors? I use 3 monitors but all 3 are running from a single graphics card on my computer, allowing me to drag programs from screen to screen easily.

Lauri Neuding
Lauri Neuding
13,525 Points
Lauri Neuding
Lauri Neuding
13,525 Points

In the first place, it is rare that I have only one program running. Having one or more spread between two screens is such a luxury. I wish I had three screens and I would use them. Secondly, some programs benefit from expanded workspace. With PhotoShop and Illustrator, for example, by workspace can be on one and all the palettes on the other. Third, the color display on the two monitors are a little different, which gives me an opportunity to have a more realistic sense of possible variations for users. Additionally, I can easily compare different browsers side-by-side. I also have two laptops available in my workspace with older versions of programs and browsers should I need them.

Tracy Trathen
Tracy Trathen
10,468 Points
Tracy Trathen
Tracy Trathen
10,468 Points

I use two screens on one machine and am getting ready to add a third. I also run my work laptop when needed along with my two screens. I find it's easier on my eyes because I don't have to try to fit everything on one screen. I'm fairly nearsighted, and the more "screen real estate" I have, the less headaches I get.

When I'm designing, I do what Lauri does -- my design is in one monitor, and some of my palettes are in another. When I'm coding, I typically have my code editor open in one monitor, my command line (for Sass compiling via compass), git command line, and my browser to test locally in another. And sometimes I have everything running (which is why I am going to add a third monitor).