Should I be using Adobe Bridge?

[Hooligans Imagery]

You should be able to load those presets into ACR. Perhaps try Googling "loading presets in Photoshop ACR". I have presets in ACR that I have loaded.

So the response on Lightroom Queen was this: Not directly, it of course you can do that indirectly as follows. In Lightroom Classic apply the preset to a raw image, and then write metadata to this file. Open the image in Photoshop (ACR will open) and save the settings as a new preset.

So when someone asks if ACR is the same, no it is not quite but close. These presets are effective and you can synchronize them to other images.

 

[wotan1]

To summarize where I am I recently moved from PC to MAC which required me to completely reorganize my Lightroom catalog earlier this year. I also switched to Z9’s roughly two plus years ago. As the result my inventory of images has greatly expanded.

In addition I have not been completely happy with Lightroom editing tools. I feel I will benefit by much heavier involvement with and understanding of Photoshop.

I have a friend who is an experienced and accomplished high end architectural photographer. He made a number of recommendations on a workflow that makes sense to me. His advice is similar to the system being used by Karen.

I at this point have seen enough of Photoshop and Adobe Bridge training that I feel Adobe Bridge will be the best way to implement the workflow I need. Meanwhile I can continue to work with my Lightroom catalog until I have things set up the way I want so I can continue to function.

I now know what I have to do and can start putting things in motion. I also have people to talk to if I need help.

 

[Replytoken]

For a birding trip, I do use LRC, because Bridge would not allow me to scroll through thousands of images vs. LRC I can build 1:1 previews. And that is THE ONLY reason I’m using LRC, To scroll through a larger amount of photos.

If that is all (and I literally mean "that is all") you are using LRC for, then there are cheaper and possibly faster alternatives for scrolling through large amounts of images. FastStone Image Viewer is free and can display up to four images at a time and runs quite quickly (Windows only). And Fast RawViewer is now also able to display up to four images at a time as well. Both are pretty quick. PhotoMechanic is still a favorite among sports shooters, but they are now moving to a subscription model as well.

--Ken

 

[bleirer]

One middle ground you could try from lightroom is to right click and chooses to edit as smart object in photoshop. When in photoshop you can double click on that layer and pick up and alter your lightroom edits but in camera raw instead of lightroom. Another cool trick is to right click that same layer in photoshop and choose new smart object via copy. Now you can independently double click either layer to do different edits, then add a mask to keep or hide different parts. Down the photoshop rabbit hole you go.

 

[jfredrick]

A very accomplished photographer friend of mine suggested I use Adobe Bridge to organize my images and workflow.

Do any of you use Bridge? Also where do I go to get training so I know how to use it.

Yes! There are several great tutorials on Youtube. Bridge is a FREE and powerful photo organization tool! I have tried Lightroom, Photo Mechanic, ACDsee, and others and prefer to use Bridge.

I use Faststone (FREE) for culling and DXO Photolab and Photoshop for editing favorite photos. Each photo shoot is simply kept in date/location named folders. Photos are tagged using Bridge and easy to organize and find. I setup various Collections as well such as Birds, Insects, Animals, Plants, People, Family, etc.... Photos are easy to find regardless where you store them.

Looking for all of your Eastern Meadowlark Photos? Just select your Birds Collection and click on the Filters Tab. Select or click on the Eastern Meadowlark box from your list of birds and there you go! Suppose you want only Meadowlark photos shown that you took with your Z8, 500mm pf lens, aperture f/8.0, with 2:3 aspect ratio, landscape orientation, and on a specific date! The Filter pulldown lists various photo stats (from the camera metadata and also your tag words) and the number of photos in each stat. You simply click the box next to what you want to see. Fast and Very powerful!

 

[wotan1]

I have decided to go all in on Bridge.

I just added a high capacity backup drive that should be more than adequate to handle anything I throw at it for the next decade.

I have to do some reading and studying to develop my workflow plan but I think It will be easier to do working through Bridge. I can divide up my files among different drives as needed.

 

[Replytoken]

I have decided to go all in on Bridge.

I just added a high capacity backup drive that should be more than adequate to handle anything I throw at it for the next decade.

I have to do some reading and studying to develop my workflow plan but I think It will be easier to do working through Bridge. I can divide up my files among different drives as needed.

Whatever plan you decide upon, I would encourage you to test it out with a handful of test images (i.e. copies of images that you can throw away). Some ideas just do not scale well, and it is generally best to learn that early in the process rather than later when it is much harder to "undo" what was done.

Good luck,

--Ken

 

[jfredrick]

I have decided to go all in on Bridge.

I just added a high capacity backup drive that should be more than adequate to handle anything I throw at it for the next decade.

I have to do some reading and studying to develop my workflow plan but I think It will be easier to do working through Bridge. I can divide up my files among different drives as needed.

You can run 2 or 3 file management programs at the same time to compare and test things to see which one you like with no harm or no foul. That is what I did. The physical location of your files will not change or alter the files. Some programs will add sidecar files with proprietary metadata that may or may not show if viewed in another file management programs. Bridge does not use sidecars.

Editing files from Bridge is easy. Just select a file to open your edit program of choice (I use DXO or Photoshop). Edit and save with a new name back to the same folder (you set this as a default in your edit program). The original file is never altered.

You can create a workspace in Bridge with your favorite selected window layouts. Below is how I like my birding layout. I color code my RAW, JPG, and processed files. You can also rate files and add keywords to quickly find files from that or any camera data via the check boxes in the Filter Tab.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[wotan1]

My friend came up with some very sensible suggestions on how to structure my workflow and organizational structure.

Before I can test out his system I need to go through some training so I know how to work it all. Doesn't look that complicated.

I have a farly clear sense of what I want to do and I think it will work fine one I get my bearings.

 

[Anjin San]

My friend came up with some very sensible suggestions on how to structure my workflow and organizational structure.

Before I can test out his system I need to go through some training so I know how to work it all. Doesn't look that complicated.

I have a farly clear sense of what I want to do and I think it will work fine one I get my bearings.

Why is it that your friend doesn’t like Lightroom? There are a lot of people that are scared, intimidated or something about the catalog…and TBH I’ve never understood that. As long as you only move files around in LrC and not in Finder or Explorer…LrC is both the primary image management tool and editing tool. If it’s the catalog…then perhaps Lightroom instead of Classic as it doesn’t use a catalog and has a Local browse tab so you don’t need to put everything (or actually anything) in the Adobe cloud. For me…using Bridge only makes sense if one does editing only in Photoshop or something else…and Classic and Lightroom have more features (I think, never really compared them) than Bridge…and Bridge’s tools are largely similar to those in goth versions of Lightroom. There’s nothing wrong with avoiding them and using Bridge…but as far as I can see there’s no inherent advantage to doing that way other than dear/loathing/whatever for the catalog…and I’ve never understood that…and Lightroom instead of Classic avoids the catalog. Since there’s no catalog in Bridge and it doesn’t create .xml files…where are the edits stored…I presume they’re added to the image file and while Adobe’s products can read the edits there I’m not sure that doesn’t lock your edits out of getting into another editor…if that’s true you’re locked into Adobe and only Adobe. Sidecar .xml files will get I,ported or read by pretty much any other solution you might want to eventually use.

As I said…is there some inherent advantage to going the Bridge only route? One still needs to manage locations for files and rename (if one renames files) and all that…and doing it all in a single app vice several apps seems to make more sense. I do create sidecar files alongside the images as well as having them in the catalog so nothing lost there…and I believe in the long term LR and LrC will reach feature parity. Of LR was built from the ground ther than being ported from Classic…it is likely a cleaner, more modern tool codebase and there’s some advantage to leaving the aged cruft behind. I think that maintaining two codebases will eventually lead to the elimination of Classic and the catalog and using only sidecar files as a cost saving move.

 

[wotan1]

My friend who advises me has had a long and successful career as a commercial architectural photographer. He has worked with all sorts of processing platforms including Adobe and Phase 1.

In Adobe he prefers Photoshop over Lightroom I think because it gives him more precise and complete control over the image.

He has an established workflow structure that he showed to me in a short lesson. The workflow makes good sense to me. His approach turns out to be remarkably similar to the approach taken by Karen.

From what I see those who prefer PS or other editing platforms to Lightroom would prefer Bridge to the Lightroom catalog system.

Personally I have had problems with the Lightroom catalog system because it wars with the computer operating system's file organization. I have had to change drives and computers from time to time and when you move things in the computer file system Lightroom does not follow or accept these changes and images get lost. I am currently struggling with finding some of my images that were imported into Lightroom. I know i have them but Lightroom can't find them.

From what I can see Bridge is good because it works better with the computer file system and it is much easier to create folders and subfolders and move documents around.

I don't believe using Bridge limits you to Adobe processing solutions. I know he uses Phase One processors in his business and he still uses Bridge to organize his workflow and file system.

 

[ButlerKid]

My friend who advises me has had a long and successful career as a commercial architectural photographer. He has worked with all sorts of processing platforms including Adobe and Phase 1.

In Adobe he prefers Photoshop over Lightroom I think because it gives him more precise and complete control over the image.

He has an established workflow structure that he showed to me in a short lesson. The workflow makes good sense to me. His approach turns out to be remarkably similar to the approach taken by Karen.

From what I see those who prefer PS or other editing platforms to Lightroom would prefer Bridge to the Lightroom catalog system.

Personally I have had problems with the Lightroom catalog system because it wars with the computer operating system's file organization. I have had to change drives and computers from time to time and when you move things in the computer file system Lightroom does not follow or accept these changes and images get lost. I am currently struggling with finding some of my images that were imported into Lightroom. I know i have them but Lightroom can't find them.

From what I can see Bridge is good because it works better with the computer file system and it is much easier to create folders and subfolders and move documents around.

I don't believe using Bridge limits you to Adobe processing solutions. I know he uses Phase One processors in his business and he still uses Bridge to organize his workflow and file system.

Photoshop is much more accurate than LR when masking, clean up or doing complex tasks. I preferred using adjustment layers....but that is just me. I can also use Nik, Topaz and DxO when I choose.

Just remember that Bridge is not a catalog system, meaning you cannot search for an image across multiple hard drives, for instance. That is the reason I import images into LR as my last step. Then I can search for images across multiple HD's, find a set of images by how frequently I used various lenses, ISO, focal length, etc, etc. Very helpful.

 

[Replytoken]

Since there’s no catalog in Bridge and it doesn’t create .xml files…where are the edits stored…I presume they’re added to the image file and while Adobe’s products can read the edits there I’m not sure that doesn’t lock your edits out of getting into another editor…

I believe that when you are in Bridge and want to edit an image, and ACR is called up, that .xml files are created. I do not believe that Bridge would write to a raw file. I cannot say with 100% certainty as I am a LRC user, but I have used Bridge from time to time as it is an asset browser, and it can be handy as such.

--Ken

 

[Replytoken]

Just remember that Bridge is not a catalog system, meaning you cannot search for an image across multiple hard drives, for instance. That is the reason I import images into LR as my last step. Then I can search for images across multiple HD's, find a set of images by how frequently I used various lenses, ISO, focal length, etc, etc. Very helpful.

This is an important distinction. LR is a catalog and has many DAM features which can allow fast retrieval of images that have a common feature if one uses Collections (or keywording). LR is also designed to do bulk editing, something that PS cannot do. Make an adjustment or several adjustments to an image in LRC and they can be copied to any number of images in a catalog. Also, LRC is as non-destructive editor. The original file is never touched when editing as the instructions are stored in the catalog.

Both PS and LRC are powerful editing tools, but they take different approaches. And, many folks combine them to get the best of both worlds. I will grant that learning LRC requires a bit of patience (to learn "Adobe logic" as I call it), but learning PS also presents its own challenges, evidenced by a vast community of authors and YT channels with tutorials. I came to image editing from a program called Picture Window Pro and LR made the most sense to me at the time as PS was used for graphic design and editing beyond just photos. But I know that a lot of folks started with PS and still are more comfortable using it. I applaud what can be done in PS, but the learning curve always seemed daunting compared to LR. And I wanted a program that provided me with DAM features.

--Ken

 

[LouiseDan]

I used Bridge for a while but found that it was too limited on the search functions that LRC has. My folder structure is "each year has a folder and each month has a folder inside the year folder", I use keywords heavily, I use a few collections. In LRC (Classic) I can search my entire catalog for keywords, images taken by a certain camera, by date, by rating etc. with Bridge I could not do that, Bridge only searched the folder that was active at that time. The search function was the deal breaker for me.
I prefer the layout of ACR but I am used to LRC develop module so until Bridge has an actual database or I find something comparable to LRC for the catalog, I am sticking to LRC.
My perfect scenario would be for Adobe to separate the Library module out and I could use ACR and PS for all of the editing. Having to have LRC running all of the time is a pain in the ... but if it is not running then the catalog gets messed up when I work on images in PS. I don't use the masking or the "new" features in LRC as I already do them in PS with better accuracy.

 

[jfredrick]

I want to chime in to address a few things mentioned above.

Bridge is a DAM (Digital Asset Management) software. LRC is also DAM software.
See here to show a list some DAM software

Bridge has ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) for Raw file editing or you can use ACR hosted within Photoshop. Settings allow to save edited files with a new name.
See here for further explanation

LRC can do batch edits and so can Photoshop
See here to see how

Lightroom Classic is a great to manage and edit your files tool "all in one"!. It also can auto backup your files if this is what you want.

I preferred to back up files as needed manually using Bridge. Bridge is FREE. I also have DxO Photolab Pro Version which is also a DAM software but I only use it for the noise reduction and initial lens sharpening features. Both LCR and Bridge are great tools!

 

[Anjin San]

Bridge is a DAM (Digital Asset Management) software.

Bridge is no more a DAM than Finder/ Windows Explorer is…it just shows you a view of whatever folders you aim at it. It’s a RAW developer with a file browser. A DAM does stuff like keywords, collections or the equivalent, and search capability. LR or LrC is a DAM and editor. There’s nothing wrong with using the Bridge and PS for a PP process…but you do ge5 the file converted from RAW to tif or psd which is a drawback. But really…either approach works and neither is inherently better than the other, so we all use what seems right for us.

 

[jfredrick]

Bridge is no more a DAM than Finder/ Windows Explorer is…it just shows you a view of whatever folders you aim at it. It’s a RAW developer with a file browser. A DAM does stuff like keywords, collections or the equivalent, and search capability. LR or LrC is a DAM and editor. There’s nothing wrong with using the Bridge and PS for a PP process…but you do ge5 the file converted from RAW to tif or psd which is a drawback. But really…either approach works and neither is inherently better than the other, so we all use what seems right for us.

07. Filtering Images And Creating Collections​

Bridge can filter images to show us just the photos that meet certain criteria. We can view only images with a five star rating. Or only the images shot with a certain lens, or at a certain focal length. Bridge can combine photos into collections that make it easy for us to group related images together. Collections can even group images that are scattered across different folders or even different hard drives. And smart collections in Bridge act like dynamic search results. Smart collections tell Bridge to automatically add any images to the collection if and when they meet the criteria we specify.

See Here at Photoshopessentials.com Site

The above site explains the search functions across different hard drives. I have been adding keywords, collections, etc... in Bridge for a long time. Searches work great! I am not saying Bridge is better than LRC by any means. Just stating what it does. I will drop out now.

 

[Replytoken]

LRC can do batch edits and so can Photoshop
See here to see how

I watched the video and it is not at all clear that PS can sync settings to many images like LRC does. In the video, he copies the preset and then manually applies it to images one by one. I would consider that a convenient hack, but not necessarily batch editing.

--Ken

 

[ButlerKid]

I watched the video and it is not at all clear that PS can sync settings to many images like LRC does. In the video, he copies the preset and then manually applies it to images one by one. I would consider that a convenient hack, but not necessarily batch editing.

--Ken

One can synch raw settings for selected images in the Develop module of LR - or in ACR in Bridge.

In Bridge, one can select images and apply keywords, ratings, etc to all images at once.

 

[Replytoken]

One can synch raw settings for selected images in the Develop module of LR - or in ACR in Bridge.

In Bridge, one can select images and apply keywords, ratings, etc to all images at once.

Thanks for this clarification. Can Bridge also sync develop settings? If I, for example, set a WB, adjust the highlights, noise reduction and sharpening, can Bridge sync these adjustments to a whole set of images, or is it just limited to metadata?

--Ken

 

[ButlerKid]

Thanks for this clarification. Can Bridge also sync develop settings? If I, for example, set a WB, adjust the highlights, noise reduction and sharpening, can Bridge sync these adjustments to a whole set of images, or is it just limited to metadata?

--Ken

All raw settings are done in ACR......they cannot be done in Bridge. To do anything with raw settings, one must do it in ACR.

In Bridge you can open one image or numerous images into ACR. Then in ACR you can apply settings to one image and then synch those settings to other images (all images or just ones you select) that are also open in ACR. Or you can select several images, and then apply settings to those images.

Ratings, keywords, etc are done in Bridge.

 

[bleirer]

All raw settings are done in ACR......they cannot be done in Bridge. To do anything with raw settings, one must do it in ACR.

In Bridge you can open one image or numerous images into ACR. Then in ACR you can apply settings to one image and then synch those settings to other images (all images or just ones you select) that are also open in ACR. Or you can select several images, and then apply settings to those images.

Ratings, keywords, etc are done in Bridge.

If I recall, acr has a slide show display if you load multiple images that you can sync similar to lightroom. Is there a limit to how many can be loaded?

 

[Replytoken]

All raw settings are done in ACR......they cannot be done in Bridge. To do anything with raw settings, one must do it in ACR.

In Bridge you can open one image or numerous images into ACR. Then in ACR you can apply settings to one image and then synch those settings to other images (all images or just ones you select) that are also open in ACR. Or you can select several images, and then apply settings to those images.

Ratings, keywords, etc are done in Bridge.

Thank you. I should have been clearer in my post as only ACR can do development adjustments. When I wrote my question, I did so assuming that Bridge could invoke ACR. In essence, Bridge and ACR are quite intertwined if one wants to do what has been described above. I have no issue with using this combination as opposed to LRC, but as I stated above, PS and LRC function quite differently. And, both can be used in conjunction with each other if that is desired.

--Ken

 

[bleirer]

One other subtle difference is that lightroom has the quick develop panel in the library, which gives relative adjustments to multiple shots rather than absolute. Yeah I said subtle, but I don't think acr has this.