@@peter-hansduivenvoorden3276 yes Photo Mechanic is a great tool, you can tell it has been set up with photo lovers in mind! I love the combo with DxO, nice! 😁
Hi Amanda, this video popped up in my feed so I watched it. I started using Photoshop in 2000, before Adobes file browser Bridge and the Raw dialogue appeared. The Raw dialogue was introduce first in 2003, then came Bridge in 2005. I have developed an efficient work flow from these 3 programs. I download my Raw images to Bridge, converting them to DNG on download to avoid the XMP sidecar file, the XMP data is within the DNG and then sort the images, then open them directly into Raw just my double clicking, the Raw dialogue is a powerful tool and has the same UI as the Develop section of Lightroom. Bridge will host Raw without opening PS until you need it. Once you have finished working on them you can click the Done button to send them back to Bridge, if you reopen them to Raw those settings are still there, until you save them as an 8 or 16 bit Tiff of 8 bit Jpg, or you can open them from Raw directly into PS and save them there as a separate file, obviously there are many different workflows you can workout. I never had any need to go any where near Lightroom or their catalogue.
Oh I like that, Lightroom and I have had a rocky relationship over the years. We just don't get on sometimes, so I like the simplicity of Bridge. Your flow is great!😁
Yes! Thank you!! I've been wanting to know how to sort photos and it's always the wrong version of Bridge or overlay complicated. You are very clear, concise and great timing in the tutorial. Much appreciated.
Thanks for the great overview! I tried to access Camera Raw but it says Camera Raw editing requires that a qualified product has been licensed. any tips? Also is there any way to label photos for a specific photo album? I frequently make photo books and use Google Picassa to organise my photos which allows me to create an album and tag photos to multiple albums such as "Vacation", "2023", or "with Mum" and then export the photos in those albums to make a photo book. I can only see the rating and colour coding which would work for a few albums but not in the long term. Or is there a better organization tool I can use for this? Thanks
Firstly camera raw now seems to be unhappy if you don't have a paid subscription, I have investigated and have not found a solution yet. For labelling photos you photos I would head to the Metadata area and add some Keywords, then you can filter, create smart collections and search. The options are limitless, just don't go too wild as the list of Keywords will get way too long. 😁
Thanks for the video, I'm going to have to watch a few times to remember it all! I've been looking at Bridge as part of my 1Tb Lightroom subscription. I've been trying to move my Google Photos photos over and it's been.... frustrating. Bridge looked like it has potential but it doesn't appear to connect to creative cloud. It's really odd to me that a Adobe product doesn't connect to their own cloud storage. Is there a reason for that do you know?
Great video, thank you. I think on the 3rd or 4th minute , i was worried you wont address the features when you started talking about the dashboard and appearance, however, then you started elaborating further, thank you for the great and concise Info. I love many features that help us organize and also find the batch photos raw data feature to be great. One question though, is there something like this for video, i literally have thousand of videos from many years, family, events etc.... would be great to see if there is something this cool for video
I like to ease you in slowly, but I am all about educating you on how to use the actual programmes. I have yet to find a good video organising software, but I am still on the hunt and will keep you posted if I find a favourite! 😁
Hi Amanda - thanks so much for this no nonsense simple whistlestop tour of Bridge. Had it for years and never use it. I've been clinging on to iview media pro for many years past it's sell by date. I use it to sort images from 2 cameras of the same shoot, move images around before relabelling the filenames with a reference then 0001-0392 etc, writing a description/caption for the whole set, keywording if required then editing then down to a reasonable number for the client to see. Now if I upgrade my macbook pro I'll finally lose this simple but brilliant piece of photo admin kit. How simple is it in Bridge to caption/label up files with the kind of info I need to give each image for my clients - eg Client name, location, people in the shot, date etc? I think I followed how you can edit (using the star system) & how you label up the file names too plus how you can collate images from a couple of cameras into capture date/time order, just couldn't see how you might select all & write a caption for the whole set. Any tips/ideas?
To add captions and keywords, etc, you need to head to the metadata area (tab at the top) and then the metadata area in the bottom right box. You can add the detail there, and you can add it to multiple items at one time. Hopefully, that makes sense! I am building a list of questions I get asked about Bridge so I can do a series answering those questions, so I will add it to the list! Keep an eye out! 😊
Very useful, thanks. I have 60.000 family photos from many decades, elaborated with Lightroom. But now I want to show slide shows. LR keeps the originals untouched and keep the modifications in a database. This makes it next to impossible to create and show slideshows on the fly. Here, Adobe Bridge comes in. In LR, I can transfer the modifications into DNG-files and - guess what -Adobe Bridge is the only program I have found that reads the photos WITH modifications! For the workflow to get CR2 files into LR, Adobe Brige is also a viable option for assigning key words. //The only downside is that when I process old JPG-files, they swell into 20 MB DNG files. Btw, not only the context of you video is useful but the style is also entertaining withou going over the edge.
I love that you have found a workflow that works for you. I would say Lightroom and I have a love-hate relationship, sometimes I love what it can do for me and sometimes I want to never use it again, hence why I love to find other ways of doing things. Thank you so much for the kind words, I am glad I could be of help! 😁
Glad to be of any help. Most RUclipsrs discussing photos and technology assume that their recipient is a professional like themselves. But as a technically advanced hobbyist, my needs are different. My output is mainly slideshows of memorable items: Persons, family events, vacations, beautiful sites and landscapes. No very artful photos, I'm afraid. In the long run, shooting photos with smartphones creates a chaos of non-searchable photos. Instead, a camera and software with keywords are essential for my purposes. Slide shows need to have some internal order: time, focus or whatever. Ideally, I would want to show some identification text on screen. Maybe Bridge can handle that well enough. My concept about how to create and store such an order to be able to call it up is not yet clear enough to me. Unfortunately, Adobe Bridge does not seem well integrated with Lightroom for polishing the photos. I’ll probably look into an integration of Bridge and Photoshop for a neat workflow. I’ll look into your neat videos for further ideas concerning photos and similar topics. Should I store photos as dng, jpg, rw2 or whatever? Hmmmm.....
@@training7574 It sounds like you almost have a nice workflow for you there, and yes Bridge works best with Photoshop with editing, the challenge with Lightroom is that you have to "load" the photos into it. As for storing, it all depends on your need RAW is good for editing, but takes up space, DNG is a good way to save space but still be able to edit but is only really useful if you stay with Adobe. I would only convert to jpg if you are all done with editing and happy due to the compression involved. Happy photo memory-making 😁
Sadly Google Photos doesn't like Keywords, so anything you do in Bridge will not appear in Google. However a little work around I have found is if you rename the photos with some helpful words in the filename you can search for filenames in Google Photos, so a little helpful, but not totally! Sorry!😀
So, if you have the Adobe Photography Subscription you get 2 seats (can use on 2 computers at one time). But if you have a 3rd or 4th computer, by using Bridge on those devices you also get Camera Raw which is what Lightroom Classic uses for RAW files.
Yes the seats thing can get annoying but you can keep logging in and out of versions of computers to keep for needing to upgrade... annoying but possible. Also yes Camera Raw is pretty amazing for free also! 😁
I'm using Bridge as I add metadata to old scanned photos hoping to identify everything on a time-basis and store under a Year folder. Bridge can Filter or Search on that Year folder just great. My question is - is it best to merge all my Year folders into a single Master folder and add the Year as a keyword - then Filter/Search across all my years to see an aggregated view? The more Year folders you have, the longer it takes to find a place, holiday or wedding say unless in a single Master folder.
So when it comes to foldering you are right it is quicker if you have one folder to find stuff, but also not very helpful for finding your files if you are outside of Adobe Bridge, as Finder and Explorer are not always great at searching the keywords. If you are keen on having a single Master Folder, my thought would be to sort in subfolders while you are sorting and keywording and then rename everything using your folders to include dates and events to you can search in the filename for the detail that is also in the keywords. I hope that helps! 😁
Thanks I'm trying to use it to sort a couple of thousand stock images. First I need to filter out the images that are to small and then keyword the rest ready for upload.
If the images that are too small are duplicates you can find them with PhotoSweeper (Mac) or Duplicate Cleaner Pro (PC), or you could create a smart collection in Adobe Bridge using the dimensions and find them that way. 😁
Photo Mechanic is another great option but you can only use it for free to 30 days, but I would say it is a step up from Adobe Bridge as it helps you a little more with finding and editing your best shots, especially in batches. Another bonus is it is not another one of those annoying subscription services, so you get to pay once and use it all the time. I would definitely check it out if you are looking for a great way to add extra details in keywords and batch editing. 😁
with editing the photos, does it retain the picture quality? Would this keep me from needing to save my many photos as tif files while scanning them in?
It does retain the quality because you are actually not loading the photos anywhere you are just using a program to play with them on top of where they are. But I would always recommend you scan as TIFF anyway as then you can edit with better resolution and always convert to jpeg when you are done. 😁
Hi Amanda, this is a very nice review, thanks!! Wondering if you have any idea of why the zoom tool is not working on my computer. When I open the zoom box, only one quadrant looks sharp, the other 3 are blurry. Thanks again!
Are you talking about the zoom tool when looking at the thumbnail view? My first thought is where are you storing the photos, are they on your computer or on the cloud as it could be an issue reading the photo files. Are the images clear if you open them normally?
So, I would use the Collections feature. You can find it in the Essentials area in the bottom left. Select the top most folder level of all you photos, create a new smart collection with the keyword you are looking for. Then go into the Collection and move them to where you want them. I hope that makes sense 😁
Brilliant, fam. Thank you. I dumped LRC cuz....Catalog. I'm using ACR instead. Back into Bridge after 10 years.....I can't even remember what I forgot.
Someone suggested using bridge to organize my family pics. I've been looking for something that (I envision with check boxes) let me check off child 1, Walt Disney World and a year and see all the pics (and videos?) we took that have child 1 in them taken at WDW in that year. or check child 1 and child 2 to get all pics with both of them in there. Yes, I have to look at each pic beforehand and check the appropriate boxes. And child 1 would be under family so I can check family and see the child 1 and other family in there (hierarchical I think the word is?) And WDW is under florida, under USA. So you can check wdw or even under that, have a checkbox / folder - MK, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, water parks, etc. Does bridge do that? Or the others people have mentioned? photo mechanic? DxO? Faststone? I've looked for years for something like this. I'd think it exists? I watched this video but not sure if bridge can do it with check boxes? You have to drag it into folders for each person, each location?!
Bridge can only do that if you have put all that lovely information in the keywords of that photo. You can then use the smart collections feature to do that. If you want the app to do the searching for you like Apple Photos then check out Photo Mechanic or Mylio. They will do some of the work for you. 😊
You noted at one point you can add keywords, but then didn't show anything about doing that? It seems it might be a key to creating a form of 'collections' if you use consistent keywords? Is there any way to use metadata as a basis for collections? I had glanced at Bridge, & saw it had TWO different levels of metadata. 1 was basic, as you showed, but one was more advanced, allowing more free use of words, which seems they could be a basis for collections? since you say bridge is like an explorer, which should mean you can search within it based on words??
Check out these I have done into a bit more detail into metadata and smart albums ruclips.net/video/RaOWp-l-0Ek/видео.html ruclips.net/video/8rQLLInbLw4/видео.html 😊
Unfortunately it doesn't have the stacking option like you get in LR but you could try smart collections depending on what you are trying to achieve. 😊
Now what really interest's me is how many 100mb files you can cram into one single folder and open that from an external SSD with out crashing :) ( and how much RAM one needs doing this with a Macbook Pro or Air )
A very good question but a difficult one to answer, if you do want to have a folder of large files and open them in Adobe Bridge I would just say you will need patience as it builds the thumbnails for you to view. As for RAM if you are working with large RAW files you will need a decent level of RAM if you are going to get anything done. I would suggest keeping your folders and files as small as you can to the level of detail you want to work with. Also don't forget to back up that external hard drive, should the worst happen. 😁
You can't zoom the preview but if you are thumbnail view, use the little slider at the bottom of the content area and you can make the thumbnails super large! 😁
Yes it can, but with Better Finder Attributes you can do a ton in a batch and it is great for videos... it is just quicker. But yes if you have patience you can with Adobe bridge 😊
Thanks! LR has become a nightmare for me on a technical front...I can't edit anything and Adobes attempt at fixing fails at the end of a day so, I'm on to Bridge and CR for speed. I am going to need to time synch images from different photographers and cameras after a wedding. Is there an easy way to do this in Bridge (LR was pretty simple)?
Bridge works slightly differently than LR, for LR there is all that loading, but Bridge is like Finder your just point it where you want it to look. So as long as you synch everything either in the background in one location or you can use Bridge to sort it all as well (just like using Finder or Explorer). Is that what you were looking to do? 🤔
@@amandalittlecott Not really. In LR you can identify the different cameras being used, determine which camera you want to be the main camera (timeline) and adjust all the other cameras to fall in line by changing those capture times. I guess I'll have to use LR for that one feature at least.
@@jeffseely1 Ah now I get what you were after. You can ID the camera on Bridge through the metadata. You can't filter by the camera but you can create Smart Folders by camera model to get them all in one place, that is about as far as it goes. The LR functionality of allocating a main camera etc is not there, it is unfortunately not that fancy 🙃
It's 2023 and Bridge (2022), again, can't display Nikon-RAW-files. Over the decades it sometimes could, sometimes not. That, combined with the really weird Adobe-workflow (which is closer to Stockholm-syndrom than working with images) makes Bridge a no-go option. XnView (free for personal use) actually does display NEF-images and therefore will stay my go-to-programm for organizing images.
I'm using iCloud and it's not showing in Adobe Bridge. Apple community boards have mentioned Bridge doesn't recognize the iCloud "library" system. Do you know of a work around to resolve this problem?
Hi Robin, yes you can see it you just need to go to the View menu in Adobe Bridge and select Show Hidden Files, then go through the following file path /Users/[your name]/Library/Mobile Documents/iCould Drive/ and you should be able to find all your files 😁
So if you are looking for free then, Adobe Bridge would be your best bet. Photo Mechanics only offers a free trial for 30 days and then you need to purchase. But as you pay it is definitely more epic with what it can do. I have played around with it in the past and have been pretty impressed for the price you have to pay, also as an added bonus it is currently still a one-shot purchase rather than one of those annoying subscription services you have to pay for!!
honestly I have a folder with about 6000 photos, all of the photos are from an extracted archive that was suppose to place the photos in a folder for each set but it didn't do it so now I have a bunch of sets in one folder and I need to organize it. I'm trying to find a software that will do this for me so I don't have to spend hours doing it myself. I was hoping this program could do that but it's looking like it can't.
Ah well if automatic foldering is what you are after check out The Big Mean Folder Machine for the Mac (ruclips.net/video/noV64uvMu3k/видео.html) or PhotoMove for the PC (ruclips.net/video/LinUMCDa38s/видео.html), hopefully that will make it easier. 😁
I have over 200,000 photos that got dumped and duplicated by a data recovery company on to a 12tb drive. I need to sort all this mess into folders by date and filter out duplicates, any suggestions?
I most definitely do... check out some deduplication options here ruclips.net/video/OeQYx542Dyk/видео.htmlsi=J6Gx4Upc57tahipk and for folders if you are on a PC then check out PhotoMove ruclips.net/video/LinUMCDa38/видео.html or for a Mac try Big Mean Folder. Happy sorting! 😊
This is not going to help the Duplicates, you need to check out Photosweeper for the Mac (ruclips.net/video/vpaPl2wzyQ0/видео.html) or Duplicate Cleaner Pro for a PC (ruclips.net/video/D1Mq8Rqhs9Y/видео.html) they are great for getting rid of duplicates. As for sorting yes it can help, it is a bit manual but it will help. 😁
To edit and add tags in the pages of a PDF document you have to do that in Adobe Acrobat. You could use Bridge to keywords and ratings, but they will only be visible in Bridge and nowhere else, as those things don't exist in the file make up. 🙂
Well, technically it's not FREE since you do have to pay the subscription (either way it wouldn't be "free" as you have to have a license of some sort -- either an old CS6 license or a current subscription to get some form of Bridge to use. However, it is probably the most under-rated tool that is included with PS and LR though, that many people don't use, and it has many of the features of LR (although perhaps in a less elegant, and less straight-forward manner).
Oh man yes it is totally underrated, none of that messy loading and exporting than with LR, so for a quick sort I love it. You can get the basic functionality with just an Adobe ID, to get things like Camera Raw editing you do need a subscription. So not so bad 😁
@@darelldd What version are you using? There is a free CC account type but I do not believe this includes Bridge. However, years ago if you had something like CS6 or some perpetual version of LIghtroom, and your account got converted to a CC Free account during the transition phase to Creative Cloud by Adobe, then you probably got Bridge CC at that time, but I don't think they do that anymore, and if they do, it likely is NOT the latest version, but some older version. And I would think if you had to or tried to re-install it it would eithrr require a paid membership or you would just get stuck with the version you have now, but not any updates. Adobe has sort of clamped down on what is still "free".
So are you trying to get photos to a website? If yes then you are going to have to use Google Takeout to get all you lovely photos out first. Get ready to be patient of you have alot!😊
Unfortunately Bridge can't show Affinity Photo 2 or DxO PhotoLab thumbnails, so the advantage of a non-adobe editor combined with Bridge is not working well. But general raw, dng, tiff and jpg files goes fine. I use it to get the images from my camera card, rename the folder(s) according to my system and some initial sorting using the space bar option. But it's not free - Adobe Creative Cloud follows. Is it spying on you? Probably.
Adobe Bridge takes up 3 GB disk space. I wish there was a better photo organizing app for Mac. Apple Photo does not make the cut.. I have not found any so far.
For my sorting I don't just use one programme I use a bunch of apps, like PhotoSweeper and Big Mean Folder Machine. But if you are fan of keywording Adobe Bridge is a great free option, but yes not perfect. 🙃
@@Schatz_and_Krum_German_Parts no not yet, but if you use Lightroom, you can get an Excire Foto plug in that allows you to search by similar images. That is the best I have found.
Can't see the point of this. What in heaven's name is the point of rating your own photos? Additionally, if you have any sense of organisation at all, you'd keep different types of photos in their own directory in any event. As far as metadata is concerned, the only useful info can be obtained by looking at the properties in File Explorer. Seems utterly pointless to me.
Rating: That depends wholly on how you want to use it. I rate my photos based on lighting, composition, angle, does it have any points of interest in colors, etc. I'm sure you've taken a photo and said, "..it's a nice photo because it has "X" but it's not great, so I'll hold on to it, but probably won't share it.". If you don't do that, then don't. No harm no foul. Folders: Folders are a great way if you're just using a single attribute. For example "Lake Photos" or "Family Photos", but what if you want multiple tags? For example, if you have a "Family" photo at the "Lake"? Do you put it in both folders taking up duplicate space? Just food for thought. May not be for you, but that doesn't mean it's pointless.
Hey Li When I view many similar photos of the same kind, ratings are nescassary to remind myself which one I favor. I rate them from 4-5 stars. 4 stars means, something is missing. 5 star means the photo meets all my expectations. I also color label the photos, that marks the type of worktype I set on them. My flow is quite manual but I have just now learned how to use bridge, in this video. The metadata cannot be accessed by normal softwares. It is camera settings such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, Focal-stop as well as other camera settings. IPTC core should state copyright name (this is made on the camera or by other softwares). Also copyright message (if made). When you share a file with someone it should strictly sate a message and copyright name in capital letters when looking at the file details in file explorer.
What other programmes do you use to sort your photos? I would love to hear about them!
Photo Mechanic for sure. Super fast and everything you need to keep everything tidy. Combine that with DxO and you have a winning solution.
@@peter-hansduivenvoorden3276 yes Photo Mechanic is a great tool, you can tell it has been set up with photo lovers in mind! I love the combo with DxO, nice! 😁
Faststone Image Viewer is a free organizer that works well and isn't bad for doing basic editing either.
@@cogs2937 ooo I haven't seen that one, I will have to check it out! Thanks for the tip, I always like check out other options 😁
Faststone is great, I use it all the time. However, you can not tag photos.
1 min into this video and i think stumbling across your channel may just have saved my life
Welcome to my channel and glad I could be of help! Let me know if there are any other topics you would love for me to cover! Happy sorting!😁
Hi Amanda, this video popped up in my feed so I watched it. I started using Photoshop in 2000, before Adobes file browser Bridge and the Raw dialogue appeared. The Raw dialogue was introduce first in 2003, then came Bridge in 2005. I have developed an efficient work flow from these 3 programs. I download my Raw images to Bridge, converting them to DNG on download to avoid the XMP sidecar file, the XMP data is within the DNG and then sort the images, then open them directly into Raw just my double clicking, the Raw dialogue is a powerful tool and has the same UI as the Develop section of Lightroom. Bridge will host Raw without opening PS until you need it. Once you have finished working on them you can click the Done button to send them back to Bridge, if you reopen them to Raw those settings are still there, until you save them as an 8 or 16 bit Tiff of 8 bit Jpg, or you can open them from Raw directly into PS and save them there as a separate file, obviously there are many different workflows you can workout. I never had any need to go any where near Lightroom or their catalogue.
Oh I like that, Lightroom and I have had a rocky relationship over the years. We just don't get on sometimes, so I like the simplicity of Bridge. Your flow is great!😁
Thank you young lady, great info. Bridge has come a long way. My 72yr old brain has a job keeping up with all the developments..creak, creak! Thanks
Oh tell me about it, just when I have the hang of any of the tools, they provide some "improvements" and I have to work it out all over again! 🙃
Yes! Thank you!! I've been wanting to know how to sort photos and it's always the wrong version of Bridge or overlay complicated. You are very clear, concise and great timing in the tutorial. Much appreciated.
You are very welcome! Happy sorting! 😁
I didn't know Bridge was free now! Stopped using Adobe years ago (I'm all about DaVinci Resolve now) but I liked Bridge. Thank you! 🔥🔥🔥
Thanks for the great overview! I tried to access Camera Raw but it says Camera Raw editing requires that a qualified product has been licensed. any tips?
Also is there any way to label photos for a specific photo album? I frequently make photo books and use Google Picassa to organise my photos which allows me to create an album and tag photos to multiple albums such as "Vacation", "2023", or "with Mum" and then export the photos in those albums to make a photo book. I can only see the rating and colour coding which would work for a few albums but not in the long term. Or is there a better organization tool I can use for this?
Thanks
Firstly camera raw now seems to be unhappy if you don't have a paid subscription, I have investigated and have not found a solution yet.
For labelling photos you photos I would head to the Metadata area and add some Keywords, then you can filter, create smart collections and search. The options are limitless, just don't go too wild as the list of Keywords will get way too long. 😁
Thanks for the video, I'm going to have to watch a few times to remember it all!
I've been looking at Bridge as part of my 1Tb Lightroom subscription. I've been trying to move my Google Photos photos over and it's been.... frustrating. Bridge looked like it has potential but it doesn't appear to connect to creative cloud. It's really odd to me that a Adobe product doesn't connect to their own cloud storage. Is there a reason for that do you know?
The info you gave was fantastic, that alone is with the subscribe. But I also saw you were at 999 and had to give you 1000. Have an awesome day!
Oh man thank you so much, have a virtual hug and a high five! 😍
Great video, thank you. I think on the 3rd or 4th minute , i was worried you wont address the features when you started talking about the dashboard and appearance, however, then you started elaborating further, thank you for the great and concise Info. I love many features that help us organize and also find the batch photos raw data feature to be great. One question though, is there something like this for video, i literally have thousand of videos from many years, family, events etc.... would be great to see if there is something this cool for video
I like to ease you in slowly, but I am all about educating you on how to use the actual programmes. I have yet to find a good video organising software, but I am still on the hunt and will keep you posted if I find a favourite! 😁
Hi Amanda - thanks so much for this no nonsense simple whistlestop tour of Bridge. Had it for years and never use it. I've been clinging on to iview media pro for many years past it's sell by date. I use it to sort images from 2 cameras of the same shoot, move images around before relabelling the filenames with a reference then 0001-0392 etc, writing a description/caption for the whole set, keywording if required then editing then down to a reasonable number for the client to see. Now if I upgrade my macbook pro I'll finally lose this simple but brilliant piece of photo admin kit. How simple is it in Bridge to caption/label up files with the kind of info I need to give each image for my clients - eg Client name, location, people in the shot, date etc? I think I followed how you can edit (using the star system) & how you label up the file names too plus how you can collate images from a couple of cameras into capture date/time order, just couldn't see how you might select all & write a caption for the whole set. Any tips/ideas?
To add captions and keywords, etc, you need to head to the metadata area (tab at the top) and then the metadata area in the bottom right box. You can add the detail there, and you can add it to multiple items at one time. Hopefully, that makes sense! I am building a list of questions I get asked about Bridge so I can do a series answering those questions, so I will add it to the list! Keep an eye out! 😊
Very useful, thanks. I have 60.000 family photos from many decades, elaborated with Lightroom. But now I want to show slide shows. LR keeps the originals untouched and keep the modifications in a database. This makes it next to impossible to create and show slideshows on the fly. Here, Adobe Bridge comes in. In LR, I can transfer the modifications into DNG-files and - guess what -Adobe Bridge is the only program I have found that reads the photos WITH modifications! For the workflow to get CR2 files into LR, Adobe Brige is also a viable option for assigning key words. //The only downside is that when I process old JPG-files, they swell into 20 MB DNG files. Btw, not only the context of you video is useful but the style is also entertaining withou going over the edge.
I love that you have found a workflow that works for you. I would say Lightroom and I have a love-hate relationship, sometimes I love what it can do for me and sometimes I want to never use it again, hence why I love to find other ways of doing things.
Thank you so much for the kind words, I am glad I could be of help! 😁
Glad to be of any help. Most RUclipsrs discussing photos and technology assume that their recipient is a professional like themselves. But as a technically advanced hobbyist, my needs are different. My output is mainly slideshows of memorable items: Persons, family events, vacations, beautiful sites and landscapes. No very artful photos, I'm afraid.
In the long run, shooting photos with smartphones creates a chaos of non-searchable photos. Instead, a camera and software with keywords are essential for my purposes.
Slide shows need to have some internal order: time, focus or whatever. Ideally, I would want to show some identification text on screen. Maybe Bridge can handle that well enough.
My concept about how to create and store such an order to be able to call it up is not yet clear enough to me.
Unfortunately, Adobe Bridge does not seem well integrated with Lightroom for polishing the photos. I’ll probably look into an integration of Bridge and Photoshop for a neat workflow.
I’ll look into your neat videos for further ideas concerning photos and similar topics. Should I store photos as dng, jpg, rw2 or whatever? Hmmmm.....
@@training7574 It sounds like you almost have a nice workflow for you there, and yes Bridge works best with Photoshop with editing, the challenge with Lightroom is that you have to "load" the photos into it.
As for storing, it all depends on your need RAW is good for editing, but takes up space, DNG is a good way to save space but still be able to edit but is only really useful if you stay with Adobe. I would only convert to jpg if you are all done with editing and happy due to the compression involved.
Happy photo memory-making 😁
You are so right. Such an amazing product for free. Have you figured out how one might use Bridge keywords and have them searchable in Google Photos?
Sadly Google Photos doesn't like Keywords, so anything you do in Bridge will not appear in Google. However a little work around I have found is if you rename the photos with some helpful words in the filename you can search for filenames in Google Photos, so a little helpful, but not totally! Sorry!😀
So, if you have the Adobe Photography Subscription you get 2 seats (can use on 2 computers at one time). But if you have a 3rd or 4th computer, by using Bridge on those devices you also get Camera Raw which is what Lightroom Classic uses for RAW files.
Yes the seats thing can get annoying but you can keep logging in and out of versions of computers to keep for needing to upgrade... annoying but possible.
Also yes Camera Raw is pretty amazing for free also! 😁
I'm using Bridge as I add metadata to old scanned photos hoping to identify everything on a time-basis and store under a Year folder. Bridge can Filter or Search on that Year folder just great.
My question is - is it best to merge all my Year folders into a single Master folder and add the Year as a keyword - then Filter/Search across all my years to see an aggregated view?
The more Year folders you have, the longer it takes to find a place, holiday or wedding say unless in a single Master folder.
So when it comes to foldering you are right it is quicker if you have one folder to find stuff, but also not very helpful for finding your files if you are outside of Adobe Bridge, as Finder and Explorer are not always great at searching the keywords. If you are keen on having a single Master Folder, my thought would be to sort in subfolders while you are sorting and keywording and then rename everything using your folders to include dates and events to you can search in the filename for the detail that is also in the keywords. I hope that helps! 😁
Thanks
I'm trying to use it to sort a couple of thousand stock images.
First I need to filter out the images that are to small and then keyword the rest ready for upload.
If the images that are too small are duplicates you can find them with PhotoSweeper (Mac) or Duplicate Cleaner Pro (PC), or you could create a smart collection in Adobe Bridge using the dimensions and find them that way. 😁
Hi thanks for your good videos. What do you think about Photo Mechanic? is it better or the same to do a fast selection of shooting? thanks
Photo Mechanic is another great option but you can only use it for free to 30 days, but I would say it is a step up from Adobe Bridge as it helps you a little more with finding and editing your best shots, especially in batches. Another bonus is it is not another one of those annoying subscription services, so you get to pay once and use it all the time. I would definitely check it out if you are looking for a great way to add extra details in keywords and batch editing. 😁
with editing the photos, does it retain the picture quality? Would this keep me from needing to save my many photos as tif files while scanning them in?
It does retain the quality because you are actually not loading the photos anywhere you are just using a program to play with them on top of where they are. But I would always recommend you scan as TIFF anyway as then you can edit with better resolution and always convert to jpeg when you are done. 😁
Wonderful heads' up - thank you!
Glad you found it useful!! 😁
谢谢，非常实用。
Hi Amanda, this is a very nice review, thanks!!
Wondering if you have any idea of why the zoom tool is not working on my computer.
When I open the zoom box, only one quadrant looks sharp, the other 3 are blurry.
Thanks again!
Are you talking about the zoom tool when looking at the thumbnail view? My first thought is where are you storing the photos, are they on your computer or on the cloud as it could be an issue reading the photo files.
Are the images clear if you open them normally?
Hi@@amandalittlecott the problem was solved by installing and running Bridge with Rosetta. Thanks again!!
Great! I'm glad you got it solved!😊
So how would you get images with a specific keyword from Bridge and copy those files that are probably across several sub folders to copy to Dropbox?
So, I would use the Collections feature. You can find it in the Essentials area in the bottom left. Select the top most folder level of all you photos, create a new smart collection with the keyword you are looking for. Then go into the Collection and move them to where you want them. I hope that makes sense 😁
Brilliant, fam. Thank you. I dumped LRC cuz....Catalog. I'm using ACR instead. Back into Bridge after 10 years.....I can't even remember what I forgot.
Oh tell me about it, I have a memory like a fish, I have to write down how to do everything as I jump between programmes!! 🐠
@@amandalittlecott Haa! too funny....I have to ask Siri to remind me what my name is once in awhile.
@@alx7157 love it, I think I need that life hack too 😆
@@amandalittlecott Dig it, I can remember her name, but not mine!
@@amandalittlecott I enabled her with a British accent, cuz.....way better than American...
Someone suggested using bridge to organize my family pics. I've been looking for something that (I envision with check boxes) let me check off child 1, Walt Disney World and a year and see all the pics (and videos?) we took that have child 1 in them taken at WDW in that year. or check child 1 and child 2 to get all pics with both of them in there. Yes, I have to look at each pic beforehand and check the appropriate boxes. And child 1 would be under family so I can check family and see the child 1 and other family in there (hierarchical I think the word is?)
And WDW is under florida, under USA. So you can check wdw or even under that, have a checkbox / folder - MK, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, water parks, etc.
Does bridge do that? Or the others people have mentioned? photo mechanic? DxO? Faststone?
I've looked for years for something like this. I'd think it exists?
I watched this video but not sure if bridge can do it with check boxes? You have to drag it into folders for each person, each location?!
Bridge can only do that if you have put all that lovely information in the keywords of that photo. You can then use the smart collections feature to do that. If you want the app to do the searching for you like Apple Photos then check out Photo Mechanic or Mylio. They will do some of the work for you. 😊
hi thank you for this, it is a good stsrt to bridge, i never knew this was so powerful, i have much to learn, wish you could set mine up for me, lol
I am sure you have got it! I have to say I still find things tucked away that it can do! For free it is so good! 😁🙃
You noted at one point you can add keywords, but then didn't show anything about doing that? It seems it might be a key to creating a form of 'collections' if you use consistent keywords? Is there any way to use metadata as a basis for collections? I had glanced at Bridge, & saw it had TWO different levels of metadata. 1 was basic, as you showed, but one was more advanced, allowing more free use of words, which seems they could be a basis for collections? since you say bridge is like an explorer, which should mean you can search within it based on words??
Check out these I have done into a bit more detail into metadata and smart albums
ruclips.net/video/RaOWp-l-0Ek/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/8rQLLInbLw4/видео.html
😊
Ha, I just canceled my LR subscription but never actually used Bridge. Does it stack the RAW/JPG version of the same photo like LR?
Unfortunately it doesn't have the stacking option like you get in LR but you could try smart collections depending on what you are trying to achieve. 😊
Now what really interest's me is how many 100mb files you can cram into one single folder and open that from an external SSD with out crashing :) ( and how much RAM one needs doing this with a Macbook Pro or Air )
A very good question but a difficult one to answer, if you do want to have a folder of large files and open them in Adobe Bridge I would just say you will need patience as it builds the thumbnails for you to view. As for RAM if you are working with large RAW files you will need a decent level of RAM if you are going to get anything done. I would suggest keeping your folders and files as small as you can to the level of detail you want to work with. Also don't forget to back up that external hard drive, should the worst happen. 😁
I am having trouble seeing some pictures. Is there any way to zoom in on a preview?
You can't zoom the preview but if you are thumbnail view, use the little slider at the bottom of the content area and you can make the thumbnails super large! 😁
You recommend 'A Better Finder Atributes' for changing dates. (Bulk scans therefore no original date.). Does Adobe Bridge not do this?
Yes it can, but with Better Finder Attributes you can do a ton in a batch and it is great for videos... it is just quicker.
But yes if you have patience you can with Adobe bridge 😊
Thanks! LR has become a nightmare for me on a technical front...I can't edit anything and Adobes attempt at fixing fails at the end of a day so, I'm on to Bridge and CR for speed. I am going to need to time synch images from different photographers and cameras after a wedding. Is there an easy way to do this in Bridge (LR was pretty simple)?
Bridge works slightly differently than LR, for LR there is all that loading, but Bridge is like Finder your just point it where you want it to look. So as long as you synch everything either in the background in one location or you can use Bridge to sort it all as well (just like using Finder or Explorer). Is that what you were looking to do? 🤔
@@amandalittlecott Not really. In LR you can identify the different cameras being used, determine which camera you want to be the main camera (timeline) and adjust all the other cameras to fall in line by changing those capture times. I guess I'll have to use LR for that one feature at least.
@@jeffseely1 Ah now I get what you were after. You can ID the camera on Bridge through the metadata. You can't filter by the camera but you can create Smart Folders by camera model to get them all in one place, that is about as far as it goes. The LR functionality of allocating a main camera etc is not there, it is unfortunately not that fancy 🙃
It's 2023 and Bridge (2022), again, can't display Nikon-RAW-files. Over the decades it sometimes could, sometimes not. That, combined with the really weird Adobe-workflow (which is closer to Stockholm-syndrom than working with images) makes Bridge a no-go option. XnView (free for personal use) actually does display NEF-images and therefore will stay my go-to-programm for organizing images.
That is great that you have found a workflow that works for you! I agree Adobe programmes at times can make your head spin when trying to use them! 🙃
I'm using iCloud and it's not showing in Adobe Bridge. Apple community boards have mentioned Bridge doesn't recognize the iCloud "library" system. Do you know of a work around to resolve this problem?
Hi Robin, yes you can see it you just need to go to the View menu in Adobe Bridge and select Show Hidden Files, then go through the following file path /Users/[your name]/Library/Mobile Documents/iCould Drive/ and you should be able to find all your files 😁
Is it better this one or photo mechanics?
So if you are looking for free then, Adobe Bridge would be your best bet. Photo Mechanics only offers a free trial for 30 days and then you need to purchase. But as you pay it is definitely more epic with what it can do. I have played around with it in the past and have been pretty impressed for the price you have to pay, also as an added bonus it is currently still a one-shot purchase rather than one of those annoying subscription services you have to pay for!!
Great program for free!
Yes I know, they keep that one very secret!!🤫
honestly I have a folder with about 6000 photos, all of the photos are from an extracted archive that was suppose to place the photos in a folder for each set but it didn't do it so now I have a bunch of sets in one folder and I need to organize it. I'm trying to find a software that will do this for me so I don't have to spend hours doing it myself. I was hoping this program could do that but it's looking like it can't.
Ah well if automatic foldering is what you are after check out The Big Mean Folder Machine for the Mac (ruclips.net/video/noV64uvMu3k/видео.html) or PhotoMove for the PC (ruclips.net/video/LinUMCDa38s/видео.html), hopefully that will make it easier. 😁
Adobe Bridge is not free?
Is there a download link to a free version?
I have over 200,000 photos that got dumped and duplicated by a data recovery company on to a 12tb drive. I need to sort all this mess into folders by date and filter out duplicates, any suggestions?
I most definitely do... check out some deduplication options here ruclips.net/video/OeQYx542Dyk/видео.htmlsi=J6Gx4Upc57tahipk and for folders if you are on a PC then check out PhotoMove ruclips.net/video/LinUMCDa38/видео.html or for a Mac try Big Mean Folder. Happy sorting! 😊
@@amandalittlecott thank you!
Is this good to just find duplicates & organize?
This is not going to help the Duplicates, you need to check out Photosweeper for the Mac (ruclips.net/video/vpaPl2wzyQ0/видео.html) or Duplicate Cleaner Pro for a PC (ruclips.net/video/D1Mq8Rqhs9Y/видео.html) they are great for getting rid of duplicates. As for sorting yes it can help, it is a bit manual but it will help. 😁
So Bridge works on Linux?
Unfortunately, it doesn't work on Linux, but check out Darktable as a good alternative that will work on Linux 😁
Ah yes but does it allow to edit the tag data for a PDF file?
To edit and add tags in the pages of a PDF document you have to do that in Adobe Acrobat. You could use Bridge to keywords and ratings, but they will only be visible in Bridge and nowhere else, as those things don't exist in the file make up. 🙂
Well, technically it's not FREE since you do have to pay the subscription (either way it wouldn't be "free" as you have to have a license of some sort -- either an old CS6 license or a current subscription to get some form of Bridge to use. However, it is probably the most under-rated tool that is included with PS and LR though, that many people don't use, and it has many of the features of LR (although perhaps in a less elegant, and less straight-forward manner).
Oh man yes it is totally underrated, none of that messy loading and exporting than with LR, so for a quick sort I love it. You can get the basic functionality with just an Adobe ID, to get things like Camera Raw editing you do need a subscription. So not so bad 😁
It is indeed free. I have no subscription, and I use it daily.
@@darelldd What version are you using? There is a free CC account type but I do not believe this includes Bridge. However, years ago if you had something like CS6 or some perpetual version of LIghtroom, and your account got converted to a CC Free account during the transition phase to Creative Cloud by Adobe, then you probably got Bridge CC at that time, but I don't think they do that anymore, and if they do, it likely is NOT the latest version, but some older version. And I would think if you had to or tried to re-install it it would eithrr require a paid membership or you would just get stuck with the version you have now, but not any updates. Adobe has sort of clamped down on what is still "free".
from Google photos - bridge - to website ?
So are you trying to get photos to a website? If yes then you are going to have to use Google Takeout to get all you lovely photos out first. Get ready to be patient of you have alot!😊
Unfortunately Bridge can't show Affinity Photo 2 or DxO PhotoLab thumbnails, so the advantage of a non-adobe editor combined with Bridge is not working well. But general raw, dng, tiff and jpg files goes fine. I use it to get the images from my camera card, rename the folder(s) according to my system and some initial sorting using the space bar option. But it's not free - Adobe Creative Cloud follows. Is it spying on you? Probably.
what annoys me the most is the impossibility of labeling the photos while previewing them in fullscreen..
Yes it is not exactly perfect and you would think that would be possible... maybe in a future update 🤞
Frankly, I'm none the wiser - and as I'm perfectly happy with the organising features in Lightroom Classic I'll just go on doing what I do!
Bully for you
Adobe Bridge takes up 3 GB disk space. I wish there was a better photo organizing app for Mac. Apple Photo does not make the cut.. I have not found any so far.
For my sorting I don't just use one programme I use a bunch of apps, like PhotoSweeper and Big Mean Folder Machine. But if you are fan of keywording Adobe Bridge is a great free option, but yes not perfect. 🙃
@@amandalittlecott Thank you Amanda. That's useful.
@@thatsatastybite Happy to help.. happy sorting!!😁
Amanda, Is there a AI plugin for facial recognition for Adobe Bridge? - Go Wrexham. -bob
Not that I have found no. TAG your photos is another programme that can help you.
@@amandalittlecott Have you found a program that can sort by Image, Graphics or Screenshots then allow you to bulk delete? Go Wrexham,
@@Schatz_and_Krum_German_Parts no not yet, but if you use Lightroom, you can get an Excire Foto plug in that allows you to search by similar images. That is the best I have found.
Canon DDP4
Nice!
What kind of dog is that in the background?
My Hippo or Eeyore?? 🤔
its NOT FREE
since when?
Don't do it. You have a creative cloud account on your system, an invasive piece of shit software.
The fancy transistions are so irritating I stopped watching the video.
Really? I thought it was well presented and enhanced the watch experience
Can't see the point of this. What in heaven's name is the point of rating your own photos? Additionally, if you have any sense of organisation at all, you'd keep different types of photos in their own directory in any event. As far as metadata is concerned, the only useful info can be obtained by looking at the properties in File Explorer. Seems utterly pointless to me.
Rating: That depends wholly on how you want to use it. I rate my photos based on lighting, composition, angle, does it have any points of interest in colors, etc. I'm sure you've taken a photo and said, "..it's a nice photo because it has "X" but it's not great, so I'll hold on to it, but probably won't share it.". If you don't do that, then don't. No harm no foul. Folders: Folders are a great way if you're just using a single attribute. For example "Lake Photos" or "Family Photos", but what if you want multiple tags? For example, if you have a "Family" photo at the "Lake"? Do you put it in both folders taking up duplicate space? Just food for thought. May not be for you, but that doesn't mean it's pointless.
Hey Li
When I view many similar photos of the same kind, ratings are nescassary to remind myself which one I favor. I rate them from 4-5 stars. 4 stars means, something is missing. 5 star means the photo meets all my expectations. I also color label the photos, that marks the type of worktype I set on them. My flow is quite manual but I have just now learned how to use bridge, in this video. The metadata cannot be accessed by normal softwares. It is camera settings such as aperture, shutter speed, ISO, Focal-stop as well as other camera settings. IPTC core should state copyright name (this is made on the camera or by other softwares). Also copyright message (if made). When you share a file with someone it should strictly sate a message and copyright name in capital letters when looking at the file details in file explorer.