Basic Photoshop ?

I've been playing with a CS5 trial version and am kinda stuck on some basis things. I am used to Elements 7 where there is a "Project Bin" for opened files, you can minimize and maximize the ones you want to work on from there.

With CS5 it seems the choices are tabs across the top which cannot be minimized or "Float all in windows" which takes up allot of space.

What is the easiest way to work on multiple files ?

I've only used Elements very briefly back a couple of years ago so I can't actually compare the two. However, when Adobe put in the tabs option in I wasn't a fan but over time I love them.

You actually can minimize a window if you have all the window floating. To get back to a file you can go to the window menu and select them. I suggest that you learn to work with the tabs, it becomes second nature after awhile and I like the way it keeps the workspace organized. I can always find the open file that I am looking for.

Yea, I guess it's a matter of what you're used to.

Is there a way to clear the screen when using tabs? without closing them out.

One way to open up more space is to press the F key once. For the first press the tabs are gone along with the bar at the bottom of the screen, which is called "full screen with menus mode". Press F again and you get "full screen mode" and then if you press F again (or the escape key) you return to "standard screen mode".

You can change some of your preferences for these three modes if you go to Edit -> Preferences -> Interface. Here's how I have mine set up:

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I also like my background to be a bit darker than the default, so I use this for the "Custom" color seen in the dialog in my last post:

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.