in the left hand window click the my recipes expander, click on new recipe in the tool bar above the window. this takes you into the recipe view. from there you can choose name batch type(extract, partial or all grain) date brewed etc. set your batch size in this upper section and boil time also.
next section is ingredients and you choose those by clicking on the tabs to the right, this will get a pop-up with all that type of ingredient, all hop type or yeast or grains/sugars etc.
next down is beer profile that is where the color, gravity estimates ibu calculations and actual readings are entered and also where the abv is calculated.
mostly just play around with it and pay attention to the hints at the bottom of the left hand field. the guy who built beersmith is a vendor on the site so if you have any other ???? he is always glad to answer.