Just as Photoshop contains workspace options that allow you to save your favorite onscreen palette arrangements, Bridge also allows you to save your favorite panel arrangements. The interface is totally customizable, allowing you to move, resize, hide, or show any of the panels in a window. I’ll explain how to do this in the next section, but first, let’s take a look at the built-in workspaces that come installed with Bridge. It’s much easier and less time-consuming to identify a built-in workspace that comes close to your idea of the perfect work environment and then customize it to suit your needs. There are two ways you can choose and apply a workspace in Bridge:
- Select one from the Window --> Workspace submenu.
- Click any one of the buttons labeled 1, 2, or 3 in the bottom-right corner of the Bridge window.
Clicking a workspace button applies the workspace that is currently assigned to it. You can change the workspace that is currently assigned by clicking and holding down the button and choosing a different workspace from the pop-up menu list. The workspace you choose remains assigned to the button until you decide to change it. I recommend that you try each one of these built-in workspace options for yourself and assign the three that are most helpful to you. I personally like the Default, Light Table, and Vertical Filmstrip workspaces. Note that you can also assign a custom workspace to any one of the buttons.
Default The Default workspace gives you access to every panel in Bridge, which can come in handy when you need to know the specifics of an image (accessible through the Metadata panel), or when you’re trying to locate a certain project file with the Filter and Folders panels.
Light Table The Light Table workspace focuses solely on the thumbnails in the Content panel, which is a great way to locate and flag images that you may want to use in a layout. You can use the navigation menu in the control bar above to access the images you’d like to preview.
File Navigator The File Navigator is similar to the Light Table workspace in that the Content panel takes up the most room in the Bridge window. The Favorites and Folders panels are also displayed, which makes it easy for you to quickly navigate to the images that you’d like to work with. However, I prefer the Light Table workspace, simply because it allows more room for previewing. I see no reason to take up extra space in the window by displaying the Favorites and Folders panels, especially when you can just as easily access the images you’d like to preview by using the navigation menu in the control bar above.
Metadata Focus Metadata Focus is structured similarly to File Navigator in that the Content panel takes up the most room in the Bridge window. The difference is that Metadata Focus displays basic information about each image to the right of the thumbnails, which forces them to be displayed in a single column. This leaves an awful lot of wasted space on the right side of the window that could be used for previewing. Also, displaying the metadata next to the images limits how large you can resize the thumbnails. I would recommend using Metadata Focus only when you need to access more specifics about an image than are already available in the tool tip, such as bit depth, or dimensions in inches. To save room on your screen, I would also recommend decreasing the size of the window when using this workspace.
Horizontal Filmstrip Horizontal Filmstrip creates a type of slideshow arrangement in Bridge by placing a large Preview panel directly above a horizontal row of thumbnails in the Content panel. The large preview is useful for inspecting image sharpening with the Loupe tool and for comparing selected thumbnails side by side. However, for an even larger preview area, I recommend using the Vertical Filmstrip workspace.
Vertical Filmstrip Vertical Filmstrip contains the largest preview area, which makes it a great workspace for inspecting images and for comparing selected thumbnails side by side. As in the Horizontal Filmstrip, the Favorites and Folders panels are grouped together. This allows more room to work with the new Filter panel, which can be used to access specific images in a folder based on certain characteristics such as document type, resolution, or color profile.
- Select one from the Window --> Workspace submenu.
- Click any one of the buttons labeled 1, 2, or 3 in the bottom-right corner of the Bridge window.
Clicking a workspace button applies the workspace that is currently assigned to it. You can change the workspace that is currently assigned by clicking and holding down the button and choosing a different workspace from the pop-up menu list. The workspace you choose remains assigned to the button until you decide to change it. I recommend that you try each one of these built-in workspace options for yourself and assign the three that are most helpful to you. I personally like the Default, Light Table, and Vertical Filmstrip workspaces. Note that you can also assign a custom workspace to any one of the buttons.
Default The Default workspace gives you access to every panel in Bridge, which can come in handy when you need to know the specifics of an image (accessible through the Metadata panel), or when you’re trying to locate a certain project file with the Filter and Folders panels.
Light Table The Light Table workspace focuses solely on the thumbnails in the Content panel, which is a great way to locate and flag images that you may want to use in a layout. You can use the navigation menu in the control bar above to access the images you’d like to preview.
File Navigator The File Navigator is similar to the Light Table workspace in that the Content panel takes up the most room in the Bridge window. The Favorites and Folders panels are also displayed, which makes it easy for you to quickly navigate to the images that you’d like to work with. However, I prefer the Light Table workspace, simply because it allows more room for previewing. I see no reason to take up extra space in the window by displaying the Favorites and Folders panels, especially when you can just as easily access the images you’d like to preview by using the navigation menu in the control bar above.
Metadata Focus Metadata Focus is structured similarly to File Navigator in that the Content panel takes up the most room in the Bridge window. The difference is that Metadata Focus displays basic information about each image to the right of the thumbnails, which forces them to be displayed in a single column. This leaves an awful lot of wasted space on the right side of the window that could be used for previewing. Also, displaying the metadata next to the images limits how large you can resize the thumbnails. I would recommend using Metadata Focus only when you need to access more specifics about an image than are already available in the tool tip, such as bit depth, or dimensions in inches. To save room on your screen, I would also recommend decreasing the size of the window when using this workspace.
Horizontal Filmstrip Horizontal Filmstrip creates a type of slideshow arrangement in Bridge by placing a large Preview panel directly above a horizontal row of thumbnails in the Content panel. The large preview is useful for inspecting image sharpening with the Loupe tool and for comparing selected thumbnails side by side. However, for an even larger preview area, I recommend using the Vertical Filmstrip workspace.
Vertical Filmstrip Vertical Filmstrip contains the largest preview area, which makes it a great workspace for inspecting images and for comparing selected thumbnails side by side. As in the Horizontal Filmstrip, the Favorites and Folders panels are grouped together. This allows more room to work with the new Filter panel, which can be used to access specific images in a folder based on certain characteristics such as document type, resolution, or color profile.
Choosing Bridge Workspace Options in Photoshop
![Choosing Bridge Workspace Options in Photoshop]()
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