Sometimes, I find it rather useful to change the background color of Photoshop when I’m working with certain graphics or photographs. This setting isn’t available in Photoshop’s preferences, so it might not be very well known.

First off, let me begin by explaining that there is a difference between the area surrounding a documents canvas and Photoshop’s Application Background. We’ll be dealing with the first of the two (The area INSIDE of a documents window, which does not make up a part of the canvas), while the latter can typically be set in your Operating Systems theme preferences.

Setting the Background Color for the Work Area

It’s really simple to do.

While working with a document, select the Paint Bucket Tool from the toolbar.

Now select the Foreground Color which you want to use as Photoshop’s Work Area Background.

While Shift, fill in (left click) the area surrounding your canvas workspace (the space between the editable canvas and the window’s edges).  The foreground color you selected will replace the default grey background you would usually see.

That’s all there is to it!  A quick and easy Photoshop trick that should help you view your images over different backgrounds without going into Full Screen Mode!