Besides using Bridge to locate and preview your images, you can also use it to help keep your projects organized. Bridge allows you to categorize, label, rank, sort, move, and even delete files from your hard disk.
File Navigation
There are several ways to navigate through your hard disk by using Bridge. But before you start navigating, be sure to keep the Edit --> Show Folders option enabled. This allows you to view folders in the Content panel thumbnail display. You can display the contents of a folder by doubleclicking its icon in the thumbnail list.
Navigation Menu and Go Back/Go Forward/Go Up Buttons The navigation tools can be accessed in the Bridge controls, located in the upper-left corner of the window. They are most useful when the Folder and Favorites panels are hidden. To access a specific menu, click anywhere in the menu area and select a folder from the drop-down list. The dropdown list contains the same locations as the Favorites panel, and also includes a recent folders section—something the Favorites and Folders panels do not have. You can click the Go Back/Go Forward buttons to redisplay the contents of any folders that you’ve previously selected. The Go Up button will take you up one directory in the folder hierarchy.
Folders Panel The Folders panel displays the volume and folder hierarchy, just as when working with an operating system window in List view. Click the arrows to the left of the folder names to toggle the display of subfolders in the list. You can scroll through the folder list by using the up and down arrow keys, and expand or collapse folders by using the left and right arrow keys. Pressing F/Ctrl+up arrow is the same as clicking the Go Up button in the Bridge controls.
Favorites Panel The Favorites panel can be used to store frequently visited volumes, folders, and collections (saved search criteria) for quick and easy access to your project files. Bridge’s General Preferences allow you to decide which default locations to display in the Favorites list. To save a folder or volume (such as an external hard disk) as a favorite, select its thumbnail icon from the Content panel and drag it into the Favorites panel list. You can also select a folder from the Content or Folders panel and choose Add To Favorites from the File menu. To save a collection, choose Edit --> Find (F/Ctrl+F) and enter your search criteria in the Find dialog box. Click the Save As Collection button, and in the Save Collection dialog box that appears, choose a Save As destination for the virtual folder. Enable the Add To Favorites option and click Save. Bridge adds the collection icon to the Favorites panel list. In print design, collections can be useful when created based on client, job number, or file type.
Keywords, Ratings, and Labels
Bridge allows you to assign keywords, ratings, and labels to your images, making them much easier to locate when using the Filter panel or Find dialog box.
Keywords Panel The Keywords panel allows you to add keywords associated with the selected image. Any keyword that you assign is added to the image’s metadata. This means that you can locate and display images by their assigned keywords. Keywords are contained within keyword sets. The default sets displayed in the Keywords panel are the Event, People, Place, and Other Keywords sets. You can click the arrows to the left of the keyword set names to toggle the display of keywords in the set. To add a keyword to an existing set, select it and click the New Keyword icon at the bottom of the panel. Proceed to type the keyword that you’d like to assign to the image in the highlighted field, and then click Return/Enter. To create a new keyword set, click the New Keyword Set icon at the bottom of the panel and enter a name for it in the highlighted field. Press Return/Enter to add it to the alphabetical list. You can add as many keywords as you like. The more you add, the easier it is to locate specific images when searching by keyword. When assigning keywords, I usually try to include at least one general term and one specific term.
Ratings and Labels Although ratings and labels sound similar, they are actually separate features in Bridge. Ratings are used to assign a one- through five-star ranking to an image, whereas labels are used to assign a color that is displayed underneath the image’s thumbnail. Assigning ratings can be a helpful way to flag images that you intend to use in a print layout. Back in the days before digital photography, I used to mark images that I thought had potential on a contact sheet with permanent marker. I would usually place a little X somewhere in the image thumbnail to indicate that it might be a good candidate for my layout. Back then I would maybe use different-colored markers to specify which images were more useful than others, but I certainly didn’t institute a five-star rating system. Let’s face it—rating and labeling images with markers and contact sheets used to take up an awful lot of time. But nowadays, with the advent of digital photography and Bridge, you can assign ratings and labels quicker than ever before, and keep your images more organized than you ever thought possible. The quickest way to apply ratings is to select the thumbnails for a group of images that you consider to be of equal rank, and then apply the keyboard shortcut for that rating. If you prefer,
you can assign a rating by selecting it from the Label menu, but I find applying shortcuts to be much faster. Color labels can be assigned with shortcuts as well, or you can select the color from the Label menu or from the pop-up menu. What these labels indicate is entirely up to you. In fact, you can even change the names of the color labels to reflect what they mean. You can do so in the Bridge Labels Preferences panel by typing in something different, such as approved, reject, or potential, in the field next to the color. The new name is displayed in the Filter panel and can be used to sort your images in a more meaningful way.
Filter Panel and Sorting
The new Filter panel in Bridge can be used to display specific thumbnails and sort them in various ways. The criteria that is chosen in the Filter panel determines what thumbnails are displayed in the Content panel and in what order they are sorted. By default the Filter panel sorts images alphabetically by filename in ascending order. To change the default, click the words Sort By Filename at the top of the Filter panel and choose a different option from the drop-down menu, or choose a different option from the View --> Sort --> submenu. By clicking the arrow icon to the right of the Sort By control, you can toggle between ascending and descending order. An up arrow indicates that the thumbnails are currently being displayed in ascending order; a down arrow indicates that they are being displayed in descending order.
In addition to the Sort By list, the Filter panel also contains a series of what I refer to as criteria sets, such as File Type, Labels, Ratings, Keywords, and various other metadata info that you can use to filter images. By clicking the arrows to the left of the criteria sets, you can toggle the display of available metadata information for the images in the currently selected folder. For example, by clicking the arrow next to the File Type menu, Bridge displays a list of every file type currently available in that folder. To filter the thumbnail list down to images containing specific characteristics, click any of the items displayed in any of the criteria sets. Bridge then places a check mark next to the items you clicked and removes any thumbnails from the Content panel that do not match the selected criteria.
To restore removed images to the thumbnail list, click the checked items again, or click the Clear Filter icon in the bottom-right corner of the Filter panel. You can also apply the keyboard shortcut for the Clear Filter command by pressing F+Opt+A (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+A (Windows). You can also keep Filter panel options enabled as you navigate to a different folder. To do so, click the Keep Filter When Browsing button in the bottom-left corner of the Filter panel before navigating to another folder. Bridge also allows you to display all items in a selected folder, including all subfolder contents. To do so, click the folder icon in the upper-left corner of the Filter panel. To return to viewing just the items in the currently selected folder, click the icon again.
Loupe Tool Inspection
The Loupe tool allows you to magnify a specific area of an image just as you would with a traditional loupe. To use the Loupe tool, you must have the Preview panel displayed in the Bridge window. Select a thumbnail and hover the cursor over the image preview. When you see the cursor change to display a magnifying glass (much like the Zoom tool in Photoshop), click to access the Loupe tool. The image area positioned directly underneath the top-left corner of the Loupe is what is magnified.
You can move the Loupe tool by clicking and dragging it anywhere in the Preview panel. Alternatively, you can also click once anywhere in the image preview and the Loupe will jump to your current cursor location. To hide the Loupe, click once on its icon.
I find the Loupe tool useful for determining whether an image is sharp enough for print output. Being able to inspect images for correct sharpness without having to open them in Photoshop can be a huge time-saver. You can change the magnification percentage for the Loupe by pressing the + or – keys, or by using the scroll wheel of a mouse.
Image Stacks
Bridge now allows you to conserve room in the Content panel by grouping images together into stacks. The idea here is to select multiple images that are generally similar in content, and stack them on top of each other. Obviously, doing so means that you can display only the topmost image from the group in the thumbnail list, and that is why it makes the most sense to create image stacks out of similar photos. For example, let’s say you’re designing a catalog. Generally, the photographer that you work with will provide you with more than one shot for every product in the catalog—some of them shot at different angles, different shutter speeds, or under different lighting conditions. Now, rather than letting your wrist cramp up as you scroll endlessly through the product thumbnails in Bridge, you can select the ones that are similar in content and group them into an image stack. Doing so helps conserve room in the Content panel and results in a lot less scrolling. By default, the topmost selected image from the sorted list is placed on top of the image stack. However, you can swap out the topmost image at any time with another image in the stack. To create an image stack, select the thumbnails by F/Ctrl+clicking them in the Content panel, and then choose Stacks --> Group As Stack. Bridge automatically compiles the images in the thumbnail list. You can expand an image stack and view all the hidden thumbnails by choosing Stacks --> Open Stack (also accessible via the pop-up menu—Control+click on a Mac, or right-click with a two-button mouse), or by pressing F/Ctrl+right arrow. To collapse the stack, choose Stacks --> Close Stack or press F/Ctrl+left arrow. You can also expand or collapse an image stack by clicking the number displayed in the upper-left corner (the number indicates how many images are currently in the stack). If the thumbnail list contains more than one image stack, you can choose to expand or collapse all of them at once by choosing either command from the Stacks menu. To swap out the topmost thumbnail with another one from the same group, expand the stack, select the thumbnail, and choose Stacks --> Promote To Top Of Stack.
File Navigation
There are several ways to navigate through your hard disk by using Bridge. But before you start navigating, be sure to keep the Edit --> Show Folders option enabled. This allows you to view folders in the Content panel thumbnail display. You can display the contents of a folder by doubleclicking its icon in the thumbnail list.
Navigation Menu and Go Back/Go Forward/Go Up Buttons The navigation tools can be accessed in the Bridge controls, located in the upper-left corner of the window. They are most useful when the Folder and Favorites panels are hidden. To access a specific menu, click anywhere in the menu area and select a folder from the drop-down list. The dropdown list contains the same locations as the Favorites panel, and also includes a recent folders section—something the Favorites and Folders panels do not have. You can click the Go Back/Go Forward buttons to redisplay the contents of any folders that you’ve previously selected. The Go Up button will take you up one directory in the folder hierarchy.
Folders Panel The Folders panel displays the volume and folder hierarchy, just as when working with an operating system window in List view. Click the arrows to the left of the folder names to toggle the display of subfolders in the list. You can scroll through the folder list by using the up and down arrow keys, and expand or collapse folders by using the left and right arrow keys. Pressing F/Ctrl+up arrow is the same as clicking the Go Up button in the Bridge controls.
Favorites Panel The Favorites panel can be used to store frequently visited volumes, folders, and collections (saved search criteria) for quick and easy access to your project files. Bridge’s General Preferences allow you to decide which default locations to display in the Favorites list. To save a folder or volume (such as an external hard disk) as a favorite, select its thumbnail icon from the Content panel and drag it into the Favorites panel list. You can also select a folder from the Content or Folders panel and choose Add To Favorites from the File menu. To save a collection, choose Edit --> Find (F/Ctrl+F) and enter your search criteria in the Find dialog box. Click the Save As Collection button, and in the Save Collection dialog box that appears, choose a Save As destination for the virtual folder. Enable the Add To Favorites option and click Save. Bridge adds the collection icon to the Favorites panel list. In print design, collections can be useful when created based on client, job number, or file type.
Keywords, Ratings, and Labels
Bridge allows you to assign keywords, ratings, and labels to your images, making them much easier to locate when using the Filter panel or Find dialog box.
Keywords Panel The Keywords panel allows you to add keywords associated with the selected image. Any keyword that you assign is added to the image’s metadata. This means that you can locate and display images by their assigned keywords. Keywords are contained within keyword sets. The default sets displayed in the Keywords panel are the Event, People, Place, and Other Keywords sets. You can click the arrows to the left of the keyword set names to toggle the display of keywords in the set. To add a keyword to an existing set, select it and click the New Keyword icon at the bottom of the panel. Proceed to type the keyword that you’d like to assign to the image in the highlighted field, and then click Return/Enter. To create a new keyword set, click the New Keyword Set icon at the bottom of the panel and enter a name for it in the highlighted field. Press Return/Enter to add it to the alphabetical list. You can add as many keywords as you like. The more you add, the easier it is to locate specific images when searching by keyword. When assigning keywords, I usually try to include at least one general term and one specific term.
Ratings and Labels Although ratings and labels sound similar, they are actually separate features in Bridge. Ratings are used to assign a one- through five-star ranking to an image, whereas labels are used to assign a color that is displayed underneath the image’s thumbnail. Assigning ratings can be a helpful way to flag images that you intend to use in a print layout. Back in the days before digital photography, I used to mark images that I thought had potential on a contact sheet with permanent marker. I would usually place a little X somewhere in the image thumbnail to indicate that it might be a good candidate for my layout. Back then I would maybe use different-colored markers to specify which images were more useful than others, but I certainly didn’t institute a five-star rating system. Let’s face it—rating and labeling images with markers and contact sheets used to take up an awful lot of time. But nowadays, with the advent of digital photography and Bridge, you can assign ratings and labels quicker than ever before, and keep your images more organized than you ever thought possible. The quickest way to apply ratings is to select the thumbnails for a group of images that you consider to be of equal rank, and then apply the keyboard shortcut for that rating. If you prefer,
you can assign a rating by selecting it from the Label menu, but I find applying shortcuts to be much faster. Color labels can be assigned with shortcuts as well, or you can select the color from the Label menu or from the pop-up menu. What these labels indicate is entirely up to you. In fact, you can even change the names of the color labels to reflect what they mean. You can do so in the Bridge Labels Preferences panel by typing in something different, such as approved, reject, or potential, in the field next to the color. The new name is displayed in the Filter panel and can be used to sort your images in a more meaningful way.
Filter Panel and Sorting
The new Filter panel in Bridge can be used to display specific thumbnails and sort them in various ways. The criteria that is chosen in the Filter panel determines what thumbnails are displayed in the Content panel and in what order they are sorted. By default the Filter panel sorts images alphabetically by filename in ascending order. To change the default, click the words Sort By Filename at the top of the Filter panel and choose a different option from the drop-down menu, or choose a different option from the View --> Sort --> submenu. By clicking the arrow icon to the right of the Sort By control, you can toggle between ascending and descending order. An up arrow indicates that the thumbnails are currently being displayed in ascending order; a down arrow indicates that they are being displayed in descending order.
In addition to the Sort By list, the Filter panel also contains a series of what I refer to as criteria sets, such as File Type, Labels, Ratings, Keywords, and various other metadata info that you can use to filter images. By clicking the arrows to the left of the criteria sets, you can toggle the display of available metadata information for the images in the currently selected folder. For example, by clicking the arrow next to the File Type menu, Bridge displays a list of every file type currently available in that folder. To filter the thumbnail list down to images containing specific characteristics, click any of the items displayed in any of the criteria sets. Bridge then places a check mark next to the items you clicked and removes any thumbnails from the Content panel that do not match the selected criteria.
To restore removed images to the thumbnail list, click the checked items again, or click the Clear Filter icon in the bottom-right corner of the Filter panel. You can also apply the keyboard shortcut for the Clear Filter command by pressing F+Opt+A (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+A (Windows). You can also keep Filter panel options enabled as you navigate to a different folder. To do so, click the Keep Filter When Browsing button in the bottom-left corner of the Filter panel before navigating to another folder. Bridge also allows you to display all items in a selected folder, including all subfolder contents. To do so, click the folder icon in the upper-left corner of the Filter panel. To return to viewing just the items in the currently selected folder, click the icon again.
Loupe Tool Inspection
The Loupe tool allows you to magnify a specific area of an image just as you would with a traditional loupe. To use the Loupe tool, you must have the Preview panel displayed in the Bridge window. Select a thumbnail and hover the cursor over the image preview. When you see the cursor change to display a magnifying glass (much like the Zoom tool in Photoshop), click to access the Loupe tool. The image area positioned directly underneath the top-left corner of the Loupe is what is magnified.
You can move the Loupe tool by clicking and dragging it anywhere in the Preview panel. Alternatively, you can also click once anywhere in the image preview and the Loupe will jump to your current cursor location. To hide the Loupe, click once on its icon.
I find the Loupe tool useful for determining whether an image is sharp enough for print output. Being able to inspect images for correct sharpness without having to open them in Photoshop can be a huge time-saver. You can change the magnification percentage for the Loupe by pressing the + or – keys, or by using the scroll wheel of a mouse.
Image Stacks
Bridge now allows you to conserve room in the Content panel by grouping images together into stacks. The idea here is to select multiple images that are generally similar in content, and stack them on top of each other. Obviously, doing so means that you can display only the topmost image from the group in the thumbnail list, and that is why it makes the most sense to create image stacks out of similar photos. For example, let’s say you’re designing a catalog. Generally, the photographer that you work with will provide you with more than one shot for every product in the catalog—some of them shot at different angles, different shutter speeds, or under different lighting conditions. Now, rather than letting your wrist cramp up as you scroll endlessly through the product thumbnails in Bridge, you can select the ones that are similar in content and group them into an image stack. Doing so helps conserve room in the Content panel and results in a lot less scrolling. By default, the topmost selected image from the sorted list is placed on top of the image stack. However, you can swap out the topmost image at any time with another image in the stack. To create an image stack, select the thumbnails by F/Ctrl+clicking them in the Content panel, and then choose Stacks --> Group As Stack. Bridge automatically compiles the images in the thumbnail list. You can expand an image stack and view all the hidden thumbnails by choosing Stacks --> Open Stack (also accessible via the pop-up menu—Control+click on a Mac, or right-click with a two-button mouse), or by pressing F/Ctrl+right arrow. To collapse the stack, choose Stacks --> Close Stack or press F/Ctrl+left arrow. You can also expand or collapse an image stack by clicking the number displayed in the upper-left corner (the number indicates how many images are currently in the stack). If the thumbnail list contains more than one image stack, you can choose to expand or collapse all of them at once by choosing either command from the Stacks menu. To swap out the topmost thumbnail with another one from the same group, expand the stack, select the thumbnail, and choose Stacks --> Promote To Top Of Stack.
Organizing and Inspecting Images using Bridge in Photoshop
![Organizing and Inspecting Images using Bridge in Photoshop]()
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