Manual/The Vital Functions
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Opening Files
Mode: All Modes
Hotkey: F1
Menu: File → Open
Description
Blender uses the .blend file format to save nearly everything: Objects, Scenes, Textures, and even all your user interface window settings.
| Warning: Blender expects that you know what you are doing! When you load a file, you are not asked to save unsaved changes to the scene you were previously working on, completing the file load dialog is regarded as being enough confirmation that you didn't do this by accident. Make sure that you save your files. |
Options
To load a Blender file from disk, press F1. The window underneath the mouse pointer then temporarily becomes the File Selection window as shown in (File Selection Window - loading.). The bar on the left can be dragged with LMB 
for scrolling. To load a file, select it with LMB and then press Enter, or click the Open File button. A file can also be loaded by using the MMB 
over the name of the file you want. It is then loaded up as if you had pressed enter.
Loading the UI
Inside each Blend file, Blender saves the user interface layout - the arrangement of screen layouts. By default, this saved UI is loaded, over-riding any user defaults or current screen layouts that you have. If you want to work on the blend file using your current defaults, start a fresh Blender, then open the file selector (F1). Turn off the "Load UI" button, and then open the file.
Navigating your Hard Disk
The upper text box displays the current directory path, and the lower text box contains the selected filename. (P) moves you up to the parent directory and the button with the dash maintains a list of recently used paths. The breadcrumb files (. and ..) refer to the current directory and upper-level directory, respectively.
Hints
On Windows, the button also contains a list of all drives (C:, D:, etc).
Saving Files
Mode: All Modes
Hotkey: F2
Menu: File → Save
Description
Saving files is like loading files. When you press F2, the window underneath the mouse pointer temporarily changes into a File Selection Window, as shown in (File Selection Window - saving.).
Options
Click the lower edit box to enter a filename. If it doesn't end with ".blend," the extension is automatically appended. Then press Enter or click the Save File button to save the file.
If a file with the same name already exists, you will have to confirm that you want to save the file at the overwrite prompt.
Hints
The save dialog contains a little feature to help you to create multiple versions of your work: Pressing NumPad + or NumPad - increments or decrements a number contained in the filename. To simply save over the currently loaded file and skip the save dialog, press Ctrl W instead of F2 and just confirm at the prompt.
Rendering
Mode: All Modes
Panel: Render Context → Render
Hotkey: F12
Menu: Render → Render Current Frame
Description
This section will give you only a quick overview of what you'll need in order to render your scene. You'll find a detailed description of all options in Rendering.
Options
The render settings are in the Scene Context and Rendering Buttons Sub-context (Rendering options in the RenderingButtons.) which is reached by clicking the
, or by pressing F10.
In the Output panel, the top field contains the path increment (default: "/tmp/") and optionally a filename prefix to use when rendering. The Path Increment is either an absolute address or a relative address. An absolute address is something like "C:\Documents\Blender\" and a relative address is a breadcrumb notation ("./" or "../") meaning to start with the current or parent directory of the Blender installation location, or a double slash ("//") meaning put the file in the directory from where the blend file was loaded.
| Invalid Paths: If the construction of the path is illegal and rejected by the operating system, your file can end up in the Blender installation directory, root directory, or some other place. |
The Format Panel controls the format of the render. The full size (number of pixels horizontally and vertically) and file format of the image to be created are picked here. You can set the size using the SizeX and SizeY buttons. Clicking the selection box just below the size buttons opens a menu with all available output formats for images and animations, which is currently "Jpeg" in (Rendering options in the RenderingButtons).
Now that the settings are complete, the scene may be rendered by hitting the RENDER button in the Render Panel or by pressing F12. Depending on the complexity of the scene, this usually takes between a few seconds and several minutes, and the progress is displayed in a separate window. If the scene contains an animation, only the current frame is rendered. (To render the whole animation, see Rendering Animations).
If you don't see anything in the rendered view, make sure your scene is constructed properly. Does it have lighting? Is the camera positioned correctly, and does it point in the right direction? Are all the layers you want to render visible? Make sure Blender Internal is chosen in the dropdown box below the RENDER button.
Saving to disk
A rendered image is not automatically saved to disk. If you are satisfied with the rendering, you may save it by pressing F3 and using the save dialog as described in Saving files. The image is saved in the format you selected previously in the Format Panel.
Hints
Click the Extensions button in the Scene (F10) Render context Output panel so that Blender will add the type extension automatically to image files!
Setting the default scene
If you don't like Blender's default window set-up, or want specific render settings for each project you start, or you want to save your Theme? No problem. You can use any scene file as a default when Blender starts up. Make the scene you are currently working on the default by pressing Ctrl U. The scene will then be copied into a file called .B.blend in your home directory.
You can clear the working project and revert to the default scene anytime through the menu entry File>>New or by pressing Ctrl X. But remember to save your changes to the previous scene first!
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