This exercise will help familiarize you with Windows file management in Photoshop and Explorer. You must be comfortable doing these procedures; otherwise, you will have great difficulty finding and backing up your files. There are two parts: creating a folder with your name under My Documents and saving a file to it in Photoshop, and moving a folder from another drive to My Documents.

1. In the left-hand pane, click on My Documents.

2. Go to the File Menu and click on New, then choose Folder.

3. Now type in your full name, then click anywhere in an empty area of the desktop to complete the procedure. There is now a folder within My Documents with your name. This is the ONLY folder to which you should save your work for this course.

We will now go to Photoshop.

1. Go to the File Menu and click on New. Make sure that the image dimensions are less than 5 inches ( or 500 pixels ), for height and width. Also check the resolution. If it is more than 100, reduce it. Also check the overall file size. If it is more than 500 K , you should reduce dimensions and resolution.

2. Select the Paintbrush tool in the toolbar by clicking on it. Move the cursor over to the file and make one mark. Now we are ready to save the file.

3. Go to the File Menu and click on Save.

4. In the Save As... pop-up box that appears, click on the triangle at the top and double-click on My Documents.

5. Next, double-click on the icon for the folder that has your name. This is the ONLY folder in which students may save their work on the hard drive. Do NOT save files to any folder on the hard drive other than your own folder.

6. Next, give your file a name. You should make your filenames short and remember to use ONLY alphanumeric characters when naming the file. Do NOT use special characters or punctuation marks.

7. Now click Save , and your file will be saved.

8. Next, paint one more mark in the file with the Paintbrush. Click on the File Menu and choose Save As, and give the file another name.

9. Now, paint another mark in the file with the Paintbrush. Click on the File Menu and choose Save As, and give the file yet another name.

10. You've just created three separate files. You can now open Explorer and practice copying and moving files, using the ones you've just created.

Remember not to save your work to Drive C - we have a utility which automatically deletes any changes made to the C drive when Windows is shut down. If you save files to C: , they will be erased. This is another reason why you should save files only to My Documents - this particular folder is not affected by the utility, so your files are safe.

If the above procedure was bewildering to you, then you should probably review Windows file management.

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1. Take the floppy disk or CD that I give you, and insert it in the appropriate drive slot or tray.

2. Open Explorer, and click on "My Computer" in the left-hand pane, so that this icon expands to reveal the drives.

3. In the Folders pane ( left side of screen ), click on " Floppy ( A: ) " to select it if I gave you a floppy disk, or click on "Compact Disc" if I gave you a CD. You'll notice a folder in the Contents pane ( right side ), called " Sydor266-268 ".

4. Click on this folder using the left mouse button, and while holding down the mouse button, drag the folder directly onto My Documents, in the left hand window. So you will be dragging the folder from its place in the RIGHT- HAND window, ACROSS the dividing bar, and onto the " My Documents " icon in the LEFT- HAND window.

5. A box will appear showing the progress of the copying. When it disappears, verify that there is now a folder within My Documents called " Sydor266-268 ". You can now close Windows Explorer and remove the disk that I gave you.

6. You should also copy this folder from My Documents directly to your Zip disk. The folder contains your syllabus, and you are responsible for reviewing the assignment schedule, grading & attendance and other policies.

Again, if the above procedure has left you confused, then you should probably review Windows file management.