How do you use your second monitor?

[punkarsenic]

I recently set up a second monitor to my laptop, mainly for watching movies while i work general multitasking, but now i have it im aware theres gotta be like, a reason people have two monitors in art. so...

what do you use your two monitors for?

what are the most useful things about having two monitors?

[jurinova]

I don't currently have two monitors but I used to have them when I had more space and I thought it was great. Especially while drawing the second monitor was excellent for displaying reference pictures or inspirational photos and things like that. I could also have two separate programs on at the same time if I needed to do more than just drawing or if I was working on multiple pieces at once.

But yeah, mostly I used the separate monitor for just surfing the net or watching movies while drawing...

[liquidlilium]

I think watching videos/skyping/chatting etc. is pretty much the most common use of the second monitor xD
My sister and several of her friends who are all professional artists (not just drawing for fun like me) often use their monitors that way^^

Some other useful uses
-Reference pictures or character/location sheets
-Showing full picture while working on details
-Show storyboards and previous pages
-Duplicate screen to see two different color profiles while working (eg. print and digital)

[joannekwan]

I have two computers so I guess I have two monitors LOL. When both are on, usually I'm gaming on my pc and just browsing the internet on my laptop. Or if I'm twitch streaming on pc, my laptop will be watching it so I can stay up to date with the chat area. Once I have tuned into a stream on my pc while I was streaming myself on my laptop.

[DeformedSunflower]

I only have a laptop, but I often shove my tablet beside it in my already cramped workspace.
For some reasons I get really fidgety when it's too silent, so I usually either listen to a playlist of music or binge-watch YouTube videos. It's always nice to have something to distract you from all the exhaustion and muscle pains from sitting in front of your computer for too long.

[heterodont]

I technically have 3 monitors but can't use my 3rd one because my cintiq takes up the HDMI cable and the monitor refuses to read its DSUB connection for whatever reason :')

Anyway, I usually use my second monitor to watch videos/binge stuff on hulu/netflix and have tweetdeck up. Sometimes I use it for color correction and making sure the colors look okay on different screens but at this point in time I'm fairly confident in the color calibration so I don't do it as often unless something seems a little dark. I usually keep my references on the monitor I'm drawing on because it's less strain on my neck since I don't have to keep looking up and Slightly to my right.

[BraniAndNess]

I don't have 2 monitors at home but I do at work (in game illustration) and it's a GODSEND! I use my second monitor to display references, open other files to drag things into my current photoshop file, that sort of thing. Sometimes I leave an internet page open on the studio's slack channel so I can keep up with feedback, news, work conversations, etc while I work. But the most useful is when I animate in After Effects. I use my entire main monitor to display all my layers and the timeline, leaving the actual animation to be displayed on my second monitor along with some tools. This is a lifesaver! I often work on files with 50-100 layers and everything is incredibly smooshed together on a single monitor. It's very difficult to see the entire animation and all your keys at the same time.. On the rare occasion I have to animate at home on my one monitor, I loathe every second of it! I've become spoiled by my work setup and I want badly to make the same setup at home!

[erma]

I have two monitors at school (studying game design+animation) and most often I use the second monitor for reference images. When I'm rendering a 3D scene/model, I put the render window on the second monitor so that I can still do small tasks while being able to keep an eye on it.

[fuyudust]

"watching movies while i work"

THIS

[nikaalexandra]

i have dual monitors and a laptop- the laptop is mostly for binge watching avatar and then airdropping my files onto so i can tote whatever i'm working on with me.

on my primary monitor, which is like 32 inches and great for drawing on, i run whatever program i'm working in (illustrator, photoshop, unity, dreamweaver etc). then on the second, smaller monitor i like to keep reference images, information, and any correspondence from commissioners/work so i can look at what i'm working on and what i'm working from at the same time without needing to flip through programs

[AVXP]

Keeping the script open. Web browser.
Also, file browser. Always opening file locations.

[punkarsenic]

Keeping the script open.

oh man... no more flipping between tabs to see wtf im doing.. oh my days

[teacup_creations]

My cintiq tends to act as a second monitor and I mostly use my desktop monitor to pull up extra references when I draw instead of having to crowd up my drawing program with layers of refs.

But when i'm doing doodles, I tend to use it to watch movies while I draw c: