As with any word-processing, spreadsheet, or presentation program, the first step in using one of iWork’s apps is to create or open a document so you have a place to process your words, numbers, or slides. Start by tapping open an app, say Pages, on the iPad’s Home screen. If this is your first time with the program, you land on the app’s main screen, where all the documents, spreadsheets, or presentations you create will live. (Apple organizes all the iWork apps the same way; Pages is used here as an example.)

The Pages main screen starts out fairly sparse, except for the introductory Getting Started guide. But as you create new documents, the screen fills up with pint-sized versions of your files, as shown below. Here’s how you create and manage documents to fill up your own app screen: