Janita,
What software have you been using before?
I assume you are used to starting from scratch yourself with Digi Kits as opposed to quick pages where you simply insert your own photos?
One of the first things to help might be starting with the Media Browser (ctrl+shift+M) You can add the folder where you have your kits by right-clicking in the top and choosing ADD. Then you can browse through your assets and simply drag an item into the page. (you can do the same from Finder also)
A lot of the shadows and other effects are under the tab EFFECTS (Make sure EFFECTS shows by ticking View / Studio / Tools)
I think you will find the software very easy to learn, whether you are just beginning with digi scrapbooking, or have been at it awhile - just a matter then of learning different methods. I have found that AD is very easy to learn - you don't have to stumble over the more difficult things as you look for the basic options.
A lot of the tutorials from other software (PSE, CorelDRAW) will be relevant as far as learning what you can do, and the basic process. What will differ will be terminology, location, and what abilities each software has.
Hope that helps some, and happy scrapping!
