Thread Subject: Making Objects "Visible" to Property Inspector

For a given figure, opening the Property Editor or the Plot Browser has the effect of making every object "visible" to the Property Inspector -- that is, selecting any object sends that object's properties to an open Property Inspector window. Does anyone know exactly how opening the Editor or Browser enables this functionality? I would like to skip the step of opening the Editor or Browser, since these often and annoyingly re-scale the figure position. Thanks!