§ 1. Run Photoshop. You will see this work area. Look around. You can see a traditional pull-down menu at the top and a few palette windows located all over the main window. Now we have to learn how to customize our workspace. With the potential of using many tools on a single project, it becomes a requirement to know how to display, hide, and arrange the workarea elements.

§ 2. Look at the panels (palettes) to your right. In the movie, only "Color", "Adjustments", and "Layers" are expanded; several more panels are shown as captions. To open a hidden palette, click its tab. If you can't find a panel in your workarea, just select its name in the "Window" menu. For example, pull down "Window > Navigator" to display this panel.

§ 3. In the meantime, if you never use some feature, feel free to close the unnecessary panel or entire tab group.

§ 4. You must have noticed that the panels are bundled to groups. Rearrange groups and individual panels in the dock. Then drag some of those outside the dock to turn them into free-floating palettes.

§ 5. On your keyboard, press [TAB] key - all the palettes disappear. Now hover your cursor over the left or right window edge to show the docked panels. As soon as you withdraw the cursor the palettes vanish. Tap [TAB] key once again to get all the hidden palettes back. Bear this trick in mind, because you will use it often while working with large images.

§ 6. If you need more free space, minimize the docked panels to icons. On the contrary, if your monitor is spacious enough, build the second dock to have all the necessary functions at hand.