The only thing I can say about trying to figure out the controls is just that. Experiment with them until you get a good feel for what does what, and then try make something. The only tip I can give you is to try layers, and love them. You can put different parts of your picture on the layers, so what you do on one layer won't affect the rest.

And how the heck did you get freeware Photoshop? Do you mean real freeware, or "freeware *cough wink nudge*"?