# How to get Logic to open editors in new windows by default.



## mybadmemory (Sep 1, 2018)

After returning to Logic after a break of ~15 years, im finding it really hard to get used to the way all editors now open in fixed panels instead of new popup windows.

Is there any way of getting the piano roll, mixer, library etc. to open in a new window at double click, instead of the fixed panels that keep changing the layout of everything?


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## Alex Fraser (Sep 1, 2018)

You can open the editors as separate windows from the "windows" top level menu. 
A


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## mybadmemory (Sep 1, 2018)

Yes, i know! What i wonder is if there is a way to get this behaviour as default, when double clicking something, instead of the panels.

I guess the panels might work fine on really large monitors, but on smaller (or even average sized monitors), or in multi monitor setups, windows just make much more sense.


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## dcoscina (Sep 1, 2018)

mybadmemory said:


> Yes, i know! What i wonder is if there is a way to get this behaviour as default, when double clicking something, instead of the panels.
> 
> I guess the panels might work fine on really large monitors, but on smaller (or even average sized monitors), or in multi monitor setups, windows just make much more sense.


You must be coming from Cubase eh? I found the same when I moved back to LPX this past year. However find selecting the Apple key-4 shortcut is now pretty fast for me. It's basically the same as hitting the Return key inCubase to get into the piano roll.


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## MarcelM (Sep 1, 2018)

mybadmemory said:


> Yes, i know! What i wonder is if there is a way to get this behaviour as default, when double clicking something, instead of the panels.
> 
> I guess the panels might work fine on really large monitors, but on smaller (or even average sized monitors), or in multi monitor setups, windows just make much more sense.



alt+double click will atleast open the piano roll fullscreen. there is no way to set this as default afaik.


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## Alex Fraser (Sep 1, 2018)

mybadmemory said:


> Yes, i know! What i wonder is if there is a way to get this behaviour as default, when double clicking something, instead of the panels.
> 
> I guess the panels might work fine on really large monitors, but on smaller (or even average sized monitors), or in multi monitor setups, windows just make much more sense.


Ah, got it. Then the keyboard shortcuts look like your best bet.


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## mybadmemory (Sep 1, 2018)

MarcelM said:


> alt+double click will atleast open the piano roll fullscreen. there is no way to set this as default afaik.



Wow, this is exactly what I want. Too bad you can't set this behaviour as default. I really can't stand the UI rearranging every time a fixed panel opens. :(


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## MarcelM (Sep 1, 2018)

mybadmemory said:


> Wow, this is exactly what I want. Too bad you can't set this behaviour as default. I really can't stand the UI rearranging every time a fixed panel opens. :(



yeah me too. i hope apple will add the option to let us make this the default. iam so used to this because of using cubase and studio one for quite some time.

i have a gaming mouse where i mapped alt+double click to one of the side buttons. works for me as workaround.


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## Vik (Sep 1, 2018)

I have the function 'Show/Hide Piano Roll' set to they key P. If I instead assign 'Open Piano Roll' to P, P opens the Piano Roll editor in a separate window.


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## Saxer (Sep 1, 2018)

That's what screen sets are made for.


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## nas (Sep 1, 2018)

If you go to Logic Pro X menu Preferences --> General tab, there's a flip menu close to the bottom that says _"Double Clicking a MIDI region opens:" _ and there you can select which editor opens.


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## mybadmemory (Sep 1, 2018)

nas said:


> If you go to Logic Pro X menu Preferences --> General tab, there's a flip menu close to the bottom that says _"Double Clicking a MIDI region opens:" _ and there you can select which editor opens.



Yes, but unfortunately not in a new window. Always in a fixed panel.


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## Vik (Sep 1, 2018)

mybadmemory said:


> Yes, but unfortunately not in a new window.


The closest you'll get to what you want is to use a key command for 'Open Piano Roll' or to use the Screen Set function. Then you'll see what you want with one click.


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## jcrosby (Sep 1, 2018)

It would certainly be nice... That said I do the same, I use my own key command to edit all midi in floating windows and keep panels closed. They're claustrophobic and require too much zooming and scrolling.


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## jtnyc (Sep 1, 2018)

Saxer said:


> That's what screen sets are made for.



Couldn't live without screensets -) SS1 - Main window, SS2 - mixer full screen, SS3 - piano roll full screen, etc... Set it all up, then save as a template, or in an existing template.


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 1, 2018)

jtnyc said:


> Couldn't live without screensets -) SS1 - Main window, SS2 - mixer full screen, SS3 - piano roll full screen, etc... Set it all up, then save as a template, or in an existing template.



I had once thought to start making more use of screen sets, but my problem with them is that I prefer to maximize the Logic window so it has a screen of its own. But every time I change screensets, Logic goes back to being a normal, unmaximized window. That caused me to give up on the feature pretty quickly.


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## Saxer (Sep 1, 2018)

WindcryMusic said:


> I had once thought to start making more use of screen sets, but my problem with them is that I prefer to maximize the Logic window so it has a screen of its own. But every time I change screensets, Logic goes back to being a normal, unmaximized window. That caused me to give up on the feature pretty quickly.


Maximizing any Mac app doesn't help me at all. It's limited to one monitor only and especially the extensive use of Logics screen sets is a backbone of my workflow. For me it's more than "a feature" because I mostly use a combi of open and chained editors. Beside plugins I rarely open or close any window in Logic.


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## MrZarlton (Sep 1, 2018)

WindcryMusic said:


> I had once thought to start making more use of screen sets, but my problem with them is that I prefer to maximize the Logic window so it has a screen of its own. But every time I change screensets, Logic goes back to being a normal, unmaximized window. That caused me to give up on the feature pretty quickly.


Sounds like you’re perhaps not locking the screen set prior to changing. Once you have it set out as you want it, lock it (I have this set to shift L) then when you change back it’ll be exactly as you left it.


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2018)

Saxer said:


> Maximizing any Mac app doesn't help me at all. It's limited to one monitor only and especially the extensive use of Logics screen sets is a backbone of my workflow. For me it's more than "a feature" because I mostly use a combi of open and chained editors. Beside plugins I rarely open or close any window in Logic.



Well, in my case I only have one monitor (iMac Pro screen), and when I use full screen, I gain several additional lines of vertical space (usable for tracks, Piano Roll, the mixer, or whatever) via the auto-hiding of both the system menu bar and the Logic Pro window's title bar. So I feel more constrained for space when the window is not maximized.

(You needn't suggest that I get additional monitors. I have nowhere to put them except directly in front of my speakers, and blocking the audio from my speakers obviously wouldn't be a net improvement for the usability of my studio.)



MrZarlton said:


> Sounds like you’re perhaps not locking the screen set prior to changing. Once you have it set out as you want it, lock it (I have this set to shift L) then when you change back it’ll be exactly as you left it.



Sorry to say that locking the screenset doesn't change this behavior. I just tested it - the window still jumps out of fullscreen mode every time I select a new screenset, even if I set up that screenset in fullscreen mode and then lock it while in that mode. Thanks for the idea though ... I was hopeful for a couple of minutes there, but it looks like I'm still not going to be able to use screensets.


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## MrZarlton (Sep 2, 2018)

WindcryMusic said:


> Well, in my case I only have one monitor (iMac Pro screen), and when I use full screen, I gain several additional lines of vertical space (usable for tracks, Piano Roll, the mixer, or whatever) via the auto-hiding of both the system menu bar and the Logic Pro window's title bar. So I feel more constrained for space when the window is not maximized.
> 
> (You needn't suggest that I get additional monitors. I have nowhere to put them except directly in front of my speakers, and blocking the audio from my speakers obviously wouldn't be a net improvement for the usability of my studio.)
> 
> ...



That’s odd cause when I switch between screen sets, it always returns to the exact layout i.e full screen. Hmmm, that is strange.

Do you unlock the screen set, then update your screen size, layout etc, then lock it again? If so, it really should be keeping the layout you set.


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## MrZarlton (Sep 2, 2018)

Just had a thought, when you say "fullscreen" are you talking about using the green icon to remove the menu bar? If so, I've misinterpreted you and thought you were just referring to full screen, in which case the screen sets should stay maximised. As far as I can tell though, there's no way of staying in complete full screen whilst switching screen sets. I never really use full screen, only maximised windows.


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2018)

MrZarlton said:


> That’s odd cause when I switch between screen sets, it always returns to the exact layout i.e full screen. Hmmm, that is strange.
> 
> Do you unlock the screen set, then update your screen size, layout etc, then lock it again? If so, it really should be keeping the layout you set.



Yes, I'm locking it with all of that set (and it wasn't locked when I started the process). Have you tried this on your own system when actually having Logic maximized to full screen mode, rather than just with the window edges stretched to the edges of the screen? (I.e., clicking the green button on the top left of the title bar)? I'd like to know if it actually stays maximized for you ... because I've tried this on three different Macs now and have seen the same issue with screensets on all of them.


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2018)

MrZarlton said:


> Just had a thought, when you say "fullscreen" are you talking about using the green icon to remove the menu bar? If so, I've misinterpreted you and thought you were just referring to full screen, in which case the screen sets should stay maximised. As far as I can tell though, there's no way of staying in complete full screen whilst switching screen sets. I never really use full screen, only maximised windows.



Yes, that's what I mean. And see my previous post for why I prefer to maximize the window rather than just stretching the edges to the size of the screen.


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## Vik (Sep 2, 2018)

A problem I have with the screenset solution is that if I change to a different screenset, the piano roll often doesn't show what I need to see. Sometimes it shows nothing, or en excerpt of my region which is zoomed too far in etc.


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## MrZarlton (Sep 2, 2018)

WindcryMusic said:


> Yes, I'm locking it with all of that set (and it wasn't locked when I started the process). Have you tried this on your own system when actually having Logic maximized to full screen mode, rather than just with the window edges stretched to the edges of the screen? (I.e., clicking the green button on the top left of the title bar)? I'd like to know if it actually stays maximized for you ... because I've tried this on three different Macs now and have seen the same issue with screensets on all of them.


Yeh I realised we were talking about different things, I’d misunderstood and thought you meant maximimise screen.


WindcryMusic said:


> Yes, that's what I mean. And see my previous post for why I prefer to maximize the window rather than just stretching the edges to the size of the screen.


It would be useful if they add full screen compatibility to screen sets.


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## jcrosby (Sep 2, 2018)

The real shame is that Apple hasn't made any use of multiple desktops... What would be ideal is having the arrangement on one desktop, all floating midi editors on another desktop, and the mixer on another, and just swipe or screenset between them... Kind of ridiculous they've never made use of this, as it's a pretty obvious way Logic users could take advantage of multiple desktops in macOS.


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2018)

MrZarlton said:


> Yeh I realised we were talking about different things, I’d misunderstood and thought you meant maximimise screen.
> 
> It would be useful if they add full screen compatibility to screen sets.



Sorry for any confusion. "Maximizing" the screen is a term of art in Windows software development that refers to using that titlebar button to completely utilize the desktop space for the app (it's called the "maximize button"), and I was using it in that context since I've had a career in that field. I guess Apple just refers to this button as "Enter Full Screen", and some apps also have a shortcut key for it. Logic Pro X doesn't ... by default, but I just noticed that there is the option to program a custom shortcut for that. So one thing I could do is program a macro to switch screen sets and then follow that by a command to return to full screen mode. However, I don't think I'll be doing this for a couple of reasons:

1) It produces an annoying jumping of the screen (out of and then back into full screen mode), and could potentially shuffle it in the order of desktop windows, and I don't like any of that. I have my desktops in a particular sequence so that I can quickly slide back and forth to the ones I want via gestures.

2) If the full screen shortcut follows too close to the screenset command, it fails (blinks the screen white), apparently because the screenset changes haven't finished processing yet. So any such macro would have to have enough of a built-in delay between the commands to always allow even the most complex screenset changes to finish before re-entering full screen mode. That's certainly doable, but it would only worsen issue #1 above.

Yes, I too would really like it if Apple properly supported full screen mode for screensets. Or, as @jcrosby just wrote, properly supported multiple desktops for Logic windows.


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## jcrosby (Sep 2, 2018)

FYI Thought this would be a good opportunity to put these in as feature requests... Even though I don't use full screen it seems like a big oversight on Apple's part, and I've wanted multi-desktop support for years...

Requested: Multi-desktop support that lets you drag floating editors and mixer windows to multiple desktops, save and lock the desktop settings as a screenset, and recall desktop/screeset settings with templates and projects. 

And, full screen support for screensets. 

If unaware, submit feature requests here ...
https://www.apple.com/feedback/logic-pro.html


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## Saxer (Sep 2, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> Requested: Multi-desktop support that lets you drag floating editors and mixer windows to multiple desktops, save and lock the desktop settings as a screenset, and recall desktop/screeset settings with templates and projects.


I can't find any use of multiple desktops as I can do that with Logic as it is. Screensets work over several monitors. Every window on any monitor is saved with the screensets per song.
Just for single monitor use: If I want three different (virtual) desktop settings on a single monitor I simply save three screensets and switch between them. What's the benefit of using one screenset on three virtual deskops instead of three screensets on one?


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## jcrosby (Sep 2, 2018)

Virtual desktops doesn't work with screesets, at least for me... I've tried locked screensets, monkeying around with Mission Control, nothing I've tried works...

Why virtual desktops?

I have a 47" TV in my studio and no space for a second monitor due to space constraints. And I sketch a lot on my laptop... (I'm also not a fan of a ton of screens. The front of screen reflects sound and the rear filters sound, which interferes stereo imaging, depth, and frequency response.)

I also use VEP on both which lives on a virtual desktop. This would let me access everything including VEP with a single mission control gesture, and still hop around to virtual screens quickly in Logic with key commands... I'd also use full screen on the laptop if screensets behaved properly in full screen mode...

E.g. Desktop 1 would be my main work area, desktop 2 would be a full screen midi editor, desktop 3 would be the mixer in full screen, desktop 4 would be VEP. This would let me screenset to my mixer then swipe between the mixer and VEP for quick adjustments, then hop back to my main work area with screenset 1.

Virtual desktops have a ton of potential that Apple hasn't done much of anything with...


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## WindcryMusic (Sep 2, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> FYI Thought this would be a good opportunity to put these in as feature requests... Even though I don't use full screen it seems like a big oversight on Apple's part, and I've wanted multi-desktop support for years...
> 
> Requested: Multi-desktop support that lets you drag floating editors and mixer windows to multiple desktops, save and lock the desktop settings as a screenset, and recall desktop/screeset settings with templates and projects.
> 
> ...



Good reminder! I just did the same.


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## Saxer (Sep 2, 2018)

jcrosby said:


> E.g. Desktop 1 would be my main work area, desktop 2 would be a full screen midi editor, desktop 3 would be the mixer in full screen, desktop 4 would be VEP. This would let me screenset to my mixer then swipe between the mixer and VEP for quick adjustments, then hop back to my main work area with screenset 1.


I have a 'very' small environment window with just one button. Clicking on this button switches the screenset to #1. This small window is the only Logic window on my screen set #99. It's in the lower left corner and leaves the rest of the desktop free. So when I want to look 'behind' Logic to do desktop things or work on an open VEPro window I switch to screenset 99. When I'm done I click on the button and I'm back in Logic on screenset 1.


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## Vik (Sep 4, 2018)

Just in the unlikely case that you aren't aware of this, Saxer/others: it's possible to assign a key (or "hot corner") to show the desktop behind the current app. I use F1 for this.


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## Saxer (Sep 4, 2018)

Yepp, thanks! My screensets evolution reaches back when there wasn't Mission Control. Old habbits... 
Yes, I'm that old!


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