Arrange your workspace

Move a panel#

Drag the panel header or grip. A highlighted target shows where it will dock. Portrait panels can stack on either side or occupy separate side-by-side columns. Landscape panels can sit between those columns or span the workspace above or below them.

Use the panel's three-dot menu for precise docking, Move Up or Move Down when applicable, Float in Studio, or Open in Window. A floating panel can be moved from its title bar. Close it or choose Float Back to Studio to return it to the workspace.

Resize between panels#

Drag the slim separator between adjacent panels. It resizes the panels on either side of that boundary. A docked panel has no resize boundary outside the last column. Content scrolls inside a panel when its controls need more height.

Portrait columns start at 340 px, including Light Stack. Light Groups uses one parent scrollbar for its rows and toolbar, without an inner membership-list scrollbar. Layout dimensions are measured before Interface Zoom. Adding more portrait columns increases the required width. At a smaller browser width, the desktop workspace can need horizontal scrolling; reduce Interface Zoom, stack panels vertically, or collapse a side column.

Full screen#

Render Preview, HDR Canvas and Light Magic have full-screen buttons. Opening full screen expands a collapsed panel. Docking and collapse controls are hidden while full screen is active. Use Exit Full Screen or Escape to return. The header also has an application full-screen button beside Interface Zoom.

Restore the starting layout#

Choose Studio menu → Reset Workspace Layout. This resets arrangement, not lighting. Layout is stored on this device independently of .lumen files.

If a detached window does not open, allow pop-ups for the studio. A preparation screen stays visible while its styles load; use Retry or Return to Studio if loading fails.

Resetting panel sizes and visibility from Studio menu → Preferences applies immediately, as does Studio menu → Reset Workspace Layout.

Header and contextual controls#

The Studio menu with yellow bars on a transparent button sits in the header. It replaces the old File label and contains the same file and Preferences commands. Click it to open; its three bars become a close icon. The bars and close icon occupy the same fixed-size button, so opening the menu does not shift the header. Click again, press Escape or choose a command to close. Keyboard navigation and existing command shortcuts remain available.

The wider Exposure slider and numeric EV field share Global Exposure with Scene Settings. Full-screen HDR Canvas and Render Preview show the same control in their top navigation. Changes update the shared scene value and use lighting Undo/Redo. See Scene Settings.

Light Properties changes to Mass Actions for [count] Lights or Mass Actions for [group name], retaining the same panel layout. Long group names truncate without widening the panel; hover the title for its full name. Old standalone Mass Actions placements are removed when a saved layout loads. The original panels keep their identities as the additional editors join the workspace.

The appearance button immediately after Help switches between light and dark interface themes. See Interface appearance. At larger Interface Zoom, the header wraps so its controls remain available.

Workspaces and panel tabs#

Panels → Workspace Types offers Lighting, Materials, Modeling and Review. Each remembers its own device-local arrangement. Changing workspace changes panels, not project content. An existing saved layout is retained on upgrade; choose a workspace preset to start using the new panel arrangements. Reset current workspace restores the selected preset.

Drag a panel header to another compatible panel. The central drop area groups it as tabs; the upper/lower edge stacks it vertically. The panel menu also offers Tab with… and Separate from Tabs. Portrait panels only group with portraits; landscape panels only group with landscapes. Original minimum widths and side/center/full-width rules remain in force. Arrow keys move between focused panel tabs. Drag a tab horizontally to reorder it; the insertion marker shows its new position. The active panel menu offers Move tab to first, left, right or last. Alt/Option + Left/Right moves a focused tab, and Alt/Option + Home/End moves it to an end.

Panels shows available editors and lets you hide or reopen one. Hidden panels retain their dock home. Ctrl/Command K searches panel, workspace and file commands. Float in Studio, Open in Window, return-to-dock and existing full-screen exposure controls remain available. Node Graph also supports full screen.

The new portrait panels are Materials, Material Properties, Geometry, Geometry Tree and Geometry Properties. Node Graph is a landscape panel. Related property tabs use compact visible labels—Light, Material, Object, Layer Properties—with full names in tooltips and accessibility labels. Dark and light themes use the existing Studio palette; the workspace bar and new editors use compact controls without changing your Interface Zoom preference.

Scene Settings adds Focus section. Choose one category to show its existing controls without scrolling through every expanded section; choose All sections to return to the previous expansion state.

Project tabs are separate from panel tabs. See multiple projects in a session.

Stable tab stacks and compact controls#

Tabs share their stack's user-adjusted height. Switching tabs preserves the stack position, split sizes, tree expansion and local editing state. Content scrolls within that space. Drag separators when you want a different height; a new workspace preset deliberately replaces the layout.

Tab strips fill their width. Previous/Next arrows appear only when tab labels overflow the available width. Each arrow disables at its respective end and updates after scrolling or resizing. Use those arrows, trackpad scrolling or keyboard focus to reach hidden tabs. Native horizontal scrollbars are hidden on both macOS and Windows. Panel headings, popup titles, context-menu text and icons use the compact interface scale. Command search has a full-height input. Selecting an entity never automatically switches or opens a panel. Contextual Properties follows the selection; dedicated inspectors stay available in the tabs you choose.

Check the 3D engine#

Open Studio menu → Preferences → 3D Engine → 3D engine & loaded modules. The tab lists the registered built-in and optional modules directly. Optional importers change from On demand to Loading, Loaded or Load failed when used. Loaded code is shared by the current browser session; it is not a list of installed third-party plugins or a guarantee that every optional decoder's separate WASM asset has initialized.

Layer and Contextual Properties#

Layer Properties is a dedicated tab for single or multiple object layers. Contextual Properties is an additional independently dockable panel that follows the most recent geometry, material, light layer, object layer or Light Group selection. Both join saved workspaces on upgrade; all existing panels remain. Use Panels or command search to reopen them. File-tab close buttons keep a compact fixed size on hover, and select menus use compact rows matched to their triggers.

Grouped panel headings#

In groups with more than one visible tab, the tab supplies the panel icon and name; the active panel does not repeat them in its heading. Header actions, dragging and menus remain available. Collapse is available while docked; floating panels remain expanded. Standalone panels retain their icon and title. Group headings avoid duplicating the selected tab in docked, floating and separate-window presentations.

Choose Float tab group in Studio or Open tab group in Window in the active tab’s menu to move the entire group together. Tab order, active tab and shared dimensions travel with it. Closing the group window returns its tabs to their dock home. Hiding one tab keeps the other window tabs available. Float Back to Studio returns a floating group to its dock home.

Create from panel headers#

+ Light, + Geometry, + Object Layer and + Material share the same compact header placement and yellow plus. The active tab shows its own creation action. These actions remain available in individually docked panels, tab groups, floating panels and separate windows, including when the panel body is collapsed. Search and tree Expand/Collapse controls remain inside their lists.

Instances panel#

Open Panels → Instances to manage imported Rhino definitions and Panels → Instance Placements to manage their placed copies. It participates in the existing portrait docking, tab, floating and separate-window controls. Existing layouts gain a tab beside Geometry Tree; the Modeling preset includes it. See Instances.

NURBS panel#

The optional portrait NURBS panel is available from Panels and command search. It supports the same docking and tab layouts as other scene panels. It starts hidden and provides its own enable control per project.

Inactive panels#

Unopened inactive tabs defer their content until opened. Opened inactive or collapsed panels keep their local state without continually rebuilding their content. Render Preview and HDR Canvas keep their existing graphics lifecycle.

Short windows and floating panels#

Menus and their submenus reposition within the visible window and scroll when their contents are taller than the available height. The same shared behavior applies to new dropdown and right-click menus, including detached windows and Interface Zoom.

Docked panels and floating Render Performance can collapse. Other floating panels and tab groups remain expanded, including old saved layouts with a collapsed flag. Floating frames are constrained to the available window area; their contents scroll. Separate windows retain their group's minimum content dimensions and scroll if the browser window is made smaller. Close or Float Back to Studio returns the group to its dock home. A collapsed docked panel hides its body entirely; a tab group keeps its tab strip and heading so it can be expanded again.

Contextual Properties follows definition selection, instance placement selection and multiple material selections, without opening another panel automatically.

Named workspaces and panel selection#

Open Panels to find Workspace panels and Workspace Types. Panel checkboxes and Select All panels keep the dropdown open so you can make several changes. Escape or a click outside closes it.

Workspace Types includes the built-in Lighting, Materials, Modeling and Review layouts. Save as named workspace… creates a device-local workspace from the current arrangement, with up to 20 custom workspaces. Subsequent arrangements are remembered independently. Reset current workspace restores the custom workspace's saved starting layout or the selected built-in preset. For a custom workspace, Update saved layout replaces that reset snapshot; Delete named workspace removes the saved workspace and returns to Lighting. These actions do not alter project geometry or lights.

Collapsed docked panels fit their heading and any visible tab strip. Floating Render Performance can also collapse; other floating and separate-window panels remain expanded. Panel menu labels refer to a tab group only when more than one tab is visible.

During project switches, the loader names the destination, reports actual restore stages and shows elapsed time. It does not estimate a percentage or completion time. Large models may spend longer restoring geometry. Render Preview retains its own rendering-readiness feedback after project data is restored.

Interface references and popup actions#

Choose UI Components from the Studio menu for the shared design-language reference at /ui-components.html. Actual UI Components at /actual-ui-components.html shows 37 popup and feedback contexts using the application components. Each dialog starts at its normal application width, marked dialog: Default; choose another width to inspect constraints. Panel examples cover all 20 panel types, minimum/maximum widths, populated and empty/no-selection states, long names and large lists. Geometry Tree and Instance Placements demonstrate their real pagination. Preview artwork is an illustration of layout, not a second renderer. Samples are isolated from your project, and export specimen buttons report feedback instead of generating files.

Name this workspace and Rename Object keep one clearly bordered, accessible input without a redundant Name label; Cancel and Save occupy the footer. Headers without descriptions center the title vertically. Confirmation descriptions occupy the body. The main Preferences window includes 3D engine & loaded modules. Preferences apply immediately; there is no unsaved-preferences confirmation.

Panel counts follow the drag handle in both standalone and tabbed layouts. Materials offers + Create Material and + Precious Materials, including white, yellow and rose gold and ceramic. In a tab group these actions share the heading row with the menu and collapse control. Shared field surfaces use neutral gray with a gold focus border.

Compact panels and component inspection#

Light Properties, Material Properties and Object Properties use their full names in tabs. Name fields align with adjacent action buttons. Disclosure rows are clickable across their width, with space before expanded controls. Import model & resources uses the shared yellow icon and readable text.

Clicking a visible tab preserves the horizontal tab-strip position. Use the arrows to browse overflow. UI Components uses visible radio choices for specimen width and panel state, so you can compare layouts quickly. Its viewport module forms are the real application controls. Actual UI Components includes the Dynamic Ground confirmation. Opening reference dropdowns preserves the page position.

Preferences and maintained UI references#

The main-menu Settings command is now Preferences. Workspace, Grid, Selection, Performance, Models and 3D Engine are separate icon tabs in one wider dialog. The 3D engine & loaded modules content is displayed directly in the 3D Engine tab. The same live dialog is available in Actual UI Components. UI Components adds Render Canvas, Camera Animation, Anti-aliasing, Edge Rounding and the unified Export Animation forms, including their narrow-width states. Export buttons in reference specimens demonstrate feedback rather than exporting a real scene.

Every left navigation item in both component references has a shareable URL, such as /ui-components.html#controls, /ui-components.html#panels, and /actual-ui-components.html#turntable. Direct links, reload, and browser Back/Forward restore the chosen category or popup. The panel gallery includes Camera Animation with empty, populated and long-list states at minimum and maximum widths. Reference size radios have padded hover targets.

Input and dropdown borders share one neutral color. Invalid required fields use a distinct red border and text; keyboard focus uses gold. List-count badges have a slightly brighter neutral background. Light Groups and Object Properties use left-aligned help content rather than a primary-action appearance. Materials uses a surface-circle icon, while Material Properties uses a palette; panel tabs and the Panels menu use matching icons.

Stable Preferences layout#

Preferences stays near the top of the window while switching tabs. Its full-width tab divider and selected underline follow the main panel style. Workspace settings are compact; Models and Performance avoid repeating their tab titles, and 3D Engine displays loaded modules directly. Selection fills its Sculpture preview rectangle with an overlaid orbit hint. The studio password field remains taller than compact property inputs.

The Camera Animation sample uses the same compact, full-width action bar and row context menus as the application. Actual UI Components includes Rename View at /actual-ui-components.html#camera-name. Section disclosure headers hide adjoining divider lines on hover or keyboard focus, preserving their space so the interface does not jump.

The Camera Animation panel uses a landscape workspace with an inset view list, sticky actions, timing/motion controls and a fixed preview/export footer. UI Components includes empty, populated and long-list states plus its export popup. Actual UI Components includes the direct Export Camera Journey popup context.

Foundation controls and numeric editing#

The UI Components reference includes an expanded Foundations catalogue: editable and mixed numbers, text/search/password fields, unit suffixes, coordinate groups, numeric presets, multiline/code entry, file selection, checkboxes, switches, radio groups, grouped and nested dropdowns, and disabled/read-only/invalid states. Examples use the studio's shared controls. The searchable source audit identifies where each control family appears.

Numeric fields can be cleared while entering a replacement. Valid in-range values apply as you type. Press Enter or leave the field to apply its minimum or maximum; leaving an empty or incomplete entry restores the last accepted value. Escape clears unfinished text without undoing values already applied. Slider and external value changes remain authoritative. Units such as %, seconds, degrees, EV and pixels remain outside the editable number.

Notifications & feedback, available in Foundations and Feedback, includes working success, information, warning, failure, neutral, loading and Undo-action toast examples. Complete or dismiss the loading example using its buttons. Inline alerts, validation, determinate/indeterminate progress, skeletons and badges are also represented. Sample actions do not modify a studio project.

Preferences has a clean title area with a move cursor and no dot grip. Drag the heading or unused space; focus the Move Preferences heading and use arrow keys for 10-pixel movement.

Reset only the active Preferences tab#

Each editable tab has a counterclockwise-arrow button labelled Reset Workspace, Reset Grid, Reset Selection, Reset Performance or Reset Models. The control sits inside the active tab and says which settings it affects. It is disabled when that tab already matches its factory defaults. The informational 3D Engine tab has no reset.

Reset applies immediately and includes conditional settings such as Selection fill opacity, even when their controls are hidden. Undo in the reset notification restores that tab's previous values and leaves other tabs unchanged. Undo is available for eight seconds while Preferences remains open; editing that same tab, changing documents, or another reset expires it. Changes received from another window for the reset tab also expire it.

Reset Workspace affects its theme, usage mode, tips, reduced motion, HDR canvas grid and environment visibility. Reset panel sizes and visibility remains a separate layout action. Tab resets preserve the selected tab, Preferences position, Interface Zoom and project content. Reset Performance also returns the current document's preview quality to 2K · Balanced and DPR to Screen DPR.

The Sculpture preview owns its drag-to-orbit gesture. Slider tracks and thumbs, color-picker surfaces and scrollbars keep their own interactions; they do not move Preferences. Drag the heading or unused space to move the window.

UI Components → Application forms → Preferences & contextual reset and Actual UI Components → Preferences · Selection use the real controls with isolated sample values.

Move one tab or a floating panel#

In a tab group, open the active panel’s options and choose [Panel name]: Float in Studio or [Panel name]: Float in Window. For example, Object Properties: Float in Studio detaches just Object Properties; its sibling tabs stay together. The existing group commands still move the entire group. Separate windows require browser pop-up permission.

Drag a floating panel’s title bar to reposition it without docking. Drag its six-dot grip when you want to dock or stack it with compatible panels. Escape cancels an unfinished drag. Render Performance uses the same panel system and theme; see diagnostics.

Preferences’ first tab icon aligns with the header icon and the body’s section headings. Dialog headers follow the rounded outer corners, including Export Environment.

Shared control refinements#

Floating panel header actions use square buttons with compact edge spacing. UI Components demonstrates muted disabled/read-only numbers, a wider Step preset trigger, the standard Help topic dropdown, padded password fields and spaced popovers. Its Tabs example uses the color picker’s real Color / My Palette / Presets labels; the same Tabs primitive also powers Light Magic. The compound Exposure specimen uses the application’s round slider thumb and keeps its value field inside its card. The Dynamic Ground confirmation no longer repeats an extra shape above its title.

Gem lighting settings#

Scene Settings → Gem Environment is a document-specific panel for gemstone HDR/EXR lighting. Its file and transforms are saved in .lumen and restored with each open document. Scene lighting remains in the Light Stack. The UI component references include the actual Gem Environment and expanded Diamond material controls.

Gem Environment controls appear only while Use Gem Environment is on. The upload card shows a tone-mapped panorama, filename and original/preview dimensions. Replace or remove the file without changing the Light Stack. Intensity, gamma, rotation, scale and offset use sliders with editable numeric values. Disabling gem lighting keeps its file and settings for later use. The Gem Environment section reset restores its controls; Reset All Scene Settings includes them and retains the uploaded file.

Gradient Creator and Preferences keep their tab strip above scrolling content. The shared component references demonstrate the same layouts, gold context-menu borders and pinned HDR previews as the Studio.