In Photoshop you have different palettes which float in their groups of windows. Some of the palettes you'll use are naturally grouped together. You can turn palettes off from view by clicking on the '_' to minimize or 'X' to close.
In the Windows menu you can see which palettes are in the workspace by noticing the checkmark. You can turn the display of individual palettes on and off from here.
If you're a beginner you might want to leave the main palettes open as shown so you can get more comfortable with them for training purposes. If they ever get annoying or you really don't use certain ones, you can turn them off by unchecking them or Xing out the window.
The different palettes are covered in detail and depth in the
Basic
Photoshop training program. You can access the file browser from the
windows menu or from File: Browse (or from using shortcuts).
Most work in Photoshop can be shortened through the use of
keyboard shortcuts. These will come natural to you step by step once
you improve your skills but for now focus on learning to use the
menu's so it will give you a broad base of Photoshop understanding
to start with.
Take some time just to get comfortable navigating around the
different menus and moving the palettes around in Photoshop. It's
easy to create your own workspace in Photoshop. Many things are
actually very easy to do, you just need the information to know how
to do them and then some good time practicing in Photoshop.
The
Basic Photoshop DVD training covers everything you'll need to
know to fully understand how to use Photoshop proficiently. It takes
you along step by step so you understand what is going on in the
workspace environment right in front of you in realtime.
To create your own 'custom' workspace, just move the palettes around
to where you like them and then go to Window: Workspace: Save
Workspace..
Type in a name for this workspace and press OK. You can always Reset Palettes Locations to their default under the same menu. You can create several customized workspaces.
Once again just get comfortable using the menu's and exploring the different palettes and tools.
