PDF (adobe.com)

Use the Insert panel



The Insert panel contains buttons for creating and inserting objects such as tables and images. The buttons are organized into categories.

Hide or show the Insert panel

 Select Window > Insert.
Note: If you are working with certain types of files, such as XML, JavaScript, Java, and CSS, the Insert panel and the Design view option are dimmed because you cannot insert items into these code files.

Show the buttons in a particular category

 Select the category name from the Category pop-up menu. For example, to show buttons for the Layout category, select Layout.

Display the pop-up menu for a button

 Click the down arrow beside the button’s icon.

Insert an object

  1. Select the appropriate category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel.
  2. Do one of the following:

    • Click an object button or drag the button’s icon into the Document window.

    • Click the arrow on a button, then select an option from the menu.

      Depending on the object, a corresponding object-insertion dialog box may appear, prompting you to browse to a file or specify parameters for an object. Or, Dreamweaver may insert code into the document, or open a tag editor or a panel for you to specify information before the code is inserted.

      For some objects, no dialog box appears if you insert the object in Design view, but a tag editor appears if you insert the object in Code view. For a few objects, inserting the object in Design view causes Dreamweaver to switch to Code view before inserting the object.

      Note: Some objects, such as named anchors, are not visible when the page is viewed in a browser window. You can display icons in Design view that mark the locations of such invisible objects.

Bypass the object-insertion dialog box and insert an empty placeholder object

 Control-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) the button for the object.

For example, to insert a placeholder for an image without specifying an image file, Control-click or Option-click the Image button.

Note: This procedure does not bypass all object-insertion dialog boxes. Many objects, including navigation bars, AP elements, and framesets, do not insert placeholders or default‑valued objects.

Modify preferences for the Insert panel

  1. Select Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh).
  2. In the General category of the Preferences dialog box, deselect Show Dialog When Inserting Objects to suppress dialog boxes when you insert objects such as images, tables, scripts, and head elements or by holding down the Control key (Windows) or the Option key (Macintosh) while creating the object.
    When you insert an object with this option off, the object is given default attribute values. Use the Property inspector to change object properties after inserting the object.

Add, delete, or manage items in the Favorites category of the Insert panel

  1. Select any category in the Insert panel.
  2. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) in the area where the buttons appear, and then select Customize Favorites.
  3. In the Cutomize Favorite Objects dialog box, make changes as necessary, and click OK.

    • To add an object, select an object in the Available Objects pane on the left, and then click the arrow between the two panes or double-click the object in the Available Objects pane.

      Note: You can add one object at a time. You cannot select a category name, such as Common, to add an entire category to your favorites list.

    • To delete an object or separator, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the Remove Selected Object in Favorite Objects List button above the pane.

    • To move an object, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the Up or Down arrow button above the pane.

    • To add a separator below an object, select an object in the Favorite Objects pane on the right, and then click the Add Separator button below the pane.

  4. If you’re not in the Favorites category of the Insert panel, select that category to see your changes.

Insert objects using buttons in the Favorites category

 Select the Favorites category from the Category pop-up menu of the Insert panel, and then click the button for any Favorites object that you added.

Display the Insert panel as a horizontal Insert bar

Unlike other panels in Dreamweaver, you can drag the Insert panel out of its default dock position and drop it into a horizontal position at the top of the Document window. When you do so, it changes from a panel to a toolbar (though you cannot hide and display it in the same way as other toolbars).

  1. Click the Insert panel’s tab and drag it to the top of the Document window.


  2. When you see a horizontal blue line across the top of the Document window, drop the Insert panel into position.
Note: The horizontal Insert bar is also a default part of the Classic workspace. To switch to the Classic workspace, select Classic from the workspace switcher in the Application bar.

Return the horizontal Insert bar to a panel group

  1. Click the horizontal Insert bar’s gripper (on the left side of the Insert bar) and drag the bar to the place where your panels are docked.
  2. Position the Insert panel and drop it. A blue line indicates where you can drop the panel.

Show horizontal Insert bar categories as tabs

 Click the arrow beside the category name on the left end of the horizontal Insert bar, and then select Show as Tabs.

Show horizontal Insert bar categories as a menu

 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a category tab in the horizontal Insert bar, and then select Show as Menus.