Understanding Blender’s Interface - Blender Foundations: The Essential Guide to Learning Blender 2.6 - page 27

The buttons in the group labeled C sort the available files in different ways. Group D buttons hide (or
“filter”) certain kinds of files when the Filter Files toggle is checked.
Finally, when you have the file that you want selected, LMB click on the File Browse button or press
the Enter key to confirm it and return to working.
If you decide that you're done with the file browser and don't want to select anything, pressing the Esc
key or LMB clicking Cancel cancels the browser and returns to work without making a selection.
How to Find the Tools You Need
It's no secret that Blender, or any 3D application for that matter, has a lot of tools and a ridiculous amount
of functionality packed into a small space. Once you actually start working with the application, there will
be things you want to do that you don't know how to do. You'll think “Surely Blender must be able to
do x .” And you're probably right. Additionally, there might be a tool that you used once, either in this
topic, an online tutorial, or that you stumbled across on your own, and you just can't remember where
it is. The following is an overview of where things live inside Blender.
Are you looking for a tool—something that performs an action? Items like this, if they are common
and popular, will be found on the tool shelves of the 3D view, Graph Editor, Dope Sheet, or NLA Editor.
If they are not there, all tools are available from the header menu system. Header menus are generally
organized with overall actions being in the top level of the menu, while actions specific to something
selected will be buried a bit deeper. For example, you can find the Merge Vertices tool (which has both
a keyboard shortcut and tool shelf entry) by navigating through the Mesh menu on the 3D view header,
to the Vertices submenu. If all of this fails, you can use the tool browser.
By pressing Space almost anywhere in Blender, you
summon the mighty Tool Browser ( Figure 2.20 ).
This is an interactive search function for finding
tools. It searches as you type. So, if you really need
to loop cut and just can't figure out where to go
for it, hit Space, and start typing “loop.” Instantly
the list is narrowed down to only a few items, one
of which is Loop Cut! Better yet, it lists the key-
board command right beside it. At this point, you
can either LMB click on the listing in the tool
browser or use RMB to escape from it, then use
the keyboard command.
Do you want to change some aspect of a
selected object or overall setting? The most
popular and useful settings can often be found in a
workspace's N-key properties panel. Other than
that, you'll be looking in a full Properties window. Figure 2.20 The tool browser.