This is the Photoshop CS screen (also known as the workspace). The main components of the Photoshop screen are: the Menu Bar, the Tool Box, the Options Bar, the Palettes, the Canvas, and the Status Bar.

 

The Canvas is a window area used for viewing and working with your images. Normally, Photoshop CS will open without a canvas, and the large center area of the screen will remain grey until you load or open an image file, or choose File->New from the menu bar. For the purposes of explanation, a new blank canvas was included in the image shown above. The Photoshop Canvas will be discussed in more detail in lesson 4.3.

 

In the upper right corner of the screen you will see three buttons (located at the extreme right of the Photoshop title bar). The minimize button (a white minus sign on a blue field) will hide the Photoshop screen from view. A Photoshop button will appear on your task bar that you can use to restore the screen. The button with overlapping squares on a blue field will reduce the dimensions of the Photoshop screen, allowing you to see the window or desk top that lies beneath Photoshop. This button will now display a single square on a blue field, which, when clicked, will enlarge the Photoshop screen to its original size. The last button on the upper right is the close button (X) which will of course close the Photoshop CS program.