Toolbars Overview

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Revision as of 17:37, 26 April 2017 by PeterSampson (talk | contribs) (→‎Arranging and resizing Toolbars: recording meter on;y dragged wider not taller)
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Gale 17Jul16: Just setting a precautionary P1 that Scrub Toolbar is not mentioned here yet (obviously) and will probably require changing the "Arranging" images at the bottom.
  • Peter 18Jul16: James (as RM) is currently scheduling 7th August as deadline for no further flux in the scrubbing GUI See Next Release in the Wiki. The biggest piece of work will be updating the Upper Tooldock image with its annotations and borders
  • Peter 09Aug16: I updated the upper Toolbars dock area to include the new Scrub Toolbar. And a section added for Scrub Toolbar. P2s remain for updating other images once Kames has finalized the iconography for the unpinned playhead.
  • Bill 03Dec2016: Peter, do you want the image of the upper toolbar area to include the Scrub Toolbar? If so, send me an image and I'll re-do the imagemap.
    Later ... shouldn't the pinned playhead button be in the image and also be documented on this page?
    • Peter 03Dec16: I don't really think we want the Scrub Toolbar in this image of the upper tooldock area for a couple of reasons: a) it's not on by default and b) it's very likely, according to James, to be removed in 2.1.4 (or whatever the subsequent release is).

      The pinned head is not on this page because it is not part of any Toolbar, rather it is part of the Timeline and is documented properly there.

    • Bill 03Dec2016: OK, that makes sense. Yes, I see now that the pinned button is part of the timeline, not the toolbar.

Werkzeugleisten - Übersicht Flag of italy small.png FrenchFlagSmall.png Información general sobre las barras de herramientas Pregled alatnih traka

Toolbars provide quick access to many functions in Audacity. In some cases the functions provided by a toolbar are available only through that toolbar. Other than the Spectral Selection Toolbar and the Scrub Toolbar, all toolbars are enabled by default. If your desired toolbar is not visible, choose View > Toolbars and click to put a checkmark by the toolbar you wish to enable.
  • The Meter toolbars are a special case. You may have one or both of the separate Recording and Playback Meter toolbars visible (both are visible by default). Alternatively you can have only the Combined Meter Toolbar visible (which displays recording and playback levels in a single meter).
  • The tooltips for the toolbars and tools (visible when hovering over the toobar or tool) will display the shortcut for that tool/toolbar if one is set.

Toolbar dock areas

There are two dock areas for toolbars in Audacity. By default, most of the Audacity toolbars are in the upper dock, with only the Selection Toolbar in the lower dock.

Toolbars can be arranged and resized within either of the two docks, or floated free of the docks.

Hover over each green-bordered toolbar in the dock images to learn more then click to go to that toolbar's details page. Or jump to the brief toolbar descriptions.

Upper Toolbar dock area

Peter 13Apr17: ToDo-1 Sync-Lock button has been removed from the Edit Toolbar.
Transport Toolbar has buttons for controlling playback and recording and for moving to the project start or endTransport Toolbar has buttons for controlling playback and recording and for moving to the project start or endTools Toolbar lets you choose various tools for selection, volume adjustment, zooming and time-shifting of audioTools Toolbar lets you choose various tools for selection, volume adjustment, zooming and time-shifting of audioRecording Meter Toolbar lets you see if audio being recorded is clipped, which results in distortionRecording Meter Toolbar lets you see if audio being recorded is clipped, which results in distortionPlayback Meter Toolbar lets you see if audio being edited is clipped, which results in distortionPlayback Meter Toolbar lets you see if audio being edited is clipped, which results in distortionMixer Toolbar lets you adjust Recording Volume (the amplitude at which recordings will be made) and Playback Volume (how loud the project's audio sounds, not affecting the volume of exported audioMixer Toolbar lets you adjust Recording Volume (the amplitude at which recordings will be made) and Playback Volume (how loud the project's audio sounds, not affecting the volume of exported audioEdit Toolbar has buttons for editing, Sync-Lock Tracks and zooming which are an alternative to using menu items or keyboard shortcuts for these tasksEdit Toolbar has buttons for editing, Sync-Lock Tracks and zooming which are an alternative to using menu items or keyboard shortcuts for these tasksDevice Toolbar selects Audio Host, recording device, recording channels and playback device, avoiding the need to open Devices Preferences to make these settingsDevice Toolbar selects Audio Host, recording device, recording channels and playback device, avoiding the need to open Devices Preferences to make these settingsTranscription Toolbar|Transcription Toolbar lets you play audio at a slower or faster speed than normal, also affecting pitchTranscription Toolbar|Transcription Toolbar lets you play audio at a slower or faster speed than normal, also affecting pitchAudacity Toolbars Bordered Arrows 2.png

Lower Toolbar dock area

Selection Toolbar includes controls for Project Rate, Snap To and for manipulating units of time or other selection formatsSelection Toolbar green-boxed.png

Additionally if you choose to show the Spectral Selection Toolbar from the View Menu (it is not shown by default) then it will also be shown in the Lower Toolbar dock area. The image of the Selection Toolbar shown in this example has non-default settings for the selection formats.

Spectral Selection Toolbar includes controls for manipulating a Spectral Selection. Using the "Center Frequency" and "Width" boxes, or the "Low Frequency" and "High Frequency" boxes, you can create or adjust a precisely defined spectral selection without having to click or drag with a mouse in Spectrogram view.Spectral Selection Toolbar default.png


The Toolbars

The individual toolbars are described briefly below. Click on any toolbar image to go the details page for that toolbar. TheToolbars

Arranging and resizing Toolbars

Toolbars can be docked in two toolbar areas of the Audacity Project window, providing there is space available: either above the Timeline, or above the Status Bar at the bottom of the window (Selection Toolbar is in this location by default). Toolbars may also be floated anywhere else in or outside the project window, including on a secondary monitor. The toolbar positions on exiting Audacity are always remembered when restarting Audacity next time.

Toolbars can be docked or floated by dragging on their serrated left edge. When docking a toolbar into a toolbar area, a blue triangle will appear, indicating an available docking position. The default toolbar docked positions can be restored at any time by clicking View > Toolbars > Reset Toolbars. Some of the Toolbars can be resized (the Meter Toolbars and the Device Toolbar) by clicking and dragging on the vertical bars at the right of the toolbars.

If you change your mind part way through a drag or a resize of a toolbar you can simply use the ESCAPE key to abort the action.


The image below shows Mixer Toolbar being docked to the right of Device Toolbar:
Peter 13Apr17: ToDo-1 Sync-Lock button has been removed from the Edit Toolbar.
Docking-a-toolbar.png


The image below shows the Transport and Recording Meter toolbars floated outside the Project window, with the Recording Meter dragged wider:
Floating Toolbars.png
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