3. Bridge

The Adobe Bridge application is aptly named because it serves as a link to the programs in Adobe Creative Cloud. You will initially find that Bridge is useful for viewing both thumbnails and large previews of your images before you open them into Camera Raw or Photoshop. Dig a little deeper, and you will find it offers a wealth of other useful features as well. In Chapter 1, you used Bridge to synchronize the color settings for your Creative Cloud programs. Here we show you first how to use Bridge to download photos from a digital camera. Then you will learn how to preview, examine, label, rate, sort, and filter image thumbnails in the Bridge window; customize the Bridge workspace; organize thumbnails into collections and collapsible stacks; search for, move, copy, and assign keywords to files; and open files into Photoshop. Finally, you will find instructions for exporting the Bridge cache.

Note: Adobe Bridge must be downloaded and installed separately from Photoshop.

To launch Adobe Bridge:

Do one of the following:

In Windows 7, click the Start button, choose All Programs, then click Adobe Bridge CC.

In Windows 8, display the Start screen, then click the tile for Adobe Bridge CC.

In the Mac OS, click the Adobe Bridge CC icon in the Dock. Or in the Applications > Adobe Bridge CC folder, double-click the Adobe Bridge CC application icon.

In Photoshop, press Ctrl-Alt-O/Cmd-Option-O.

If you want to have Bridge launch automatically at startup, but without the Bridge window opening, go to Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K), display the Advanced panel, and check Start Bridge at Login. This is called “stealth mode.”

When you start downloading images from a camera, the default application or dialog for acquiring images in your system may launch automatically. Instead of using that application, we recommend using the Photo Downloader application that is included with Bridge, the instructions for which we provide here.

To download photos from a card reader via Photo Downloader:

1. Take the card out of your camera and insert it into the appropriate slot in the card reader.

2. Plug the card reader into your computer. If the default system application for acquiring photos launches, exit/quit it.

3. Launch Bridge, then click the Get Photos from Camera button at the top of the Bridge window. The Photo Downloader dialog opens.A If an alert dialog appears and you want to make Photo Downloader the default capture application, click Yes (as we do); if not, click No.

4. From the Get Photos From menu in the Source area, select your card reader.

5. In the Import Settings area, do the following:

To change the save location, click Browse/Choose, then navigate to the desired folder. Click OK/Open to assign that folder and return to the Photo Downloader dialog.

To create a new subfolder within the currently selected folder, choose a naming convention from the Create Subfolder(s) menu, or choose Custom Name and enter a folder name (or choose None for no new subfolder).

To assign recognizable names and shorter sequential numbers to your digital images instead of the long default number, choose a Custom Name option from the Rename Files menu, then enter a name and a starting number. A sample of your entry displays below the field.

Keep Preserve Current Filename in XMP unchecked.

Check Open Adobe Bridge to have the photos display in Bridge when the downloading process is complete.

Also keep Convert to DNG and Delete Original Files unchecked.

To send copies of your photos to a designated folder on an external hard drive (as a backup), check Save Copies To, click Browse/Choose, choose a location, then click OK/Open. This will be your first backup copy.

6. If you want to download select photos (instead of the whole batch) from your memory card, click Advanced Dialog to expand the dialog.A Below the thumbnail window, click UnCheck All, then check the box below each photo you want to download. Or hold down Ctrl/Cmd and click multiple photo thumbnails, then check the box for one of them; a check mark will appear below each of the selected photos.

Optional: In the Apply Metadata area, enter Creator and Copyright info to be added to the metadata of all the downloaded photos. (This metadata will display in Bridge.)

To switch back to the smaller Standard dialog at any time, click Standard Dialog.

7. Click Get Media to begin the downloading process. When it’s completed, the Photo Downloader dialog is dismissed automatically. Since you checked the Open Adobe Bridge option, your photos will display in a new window in Bridge. Don’t worry about previewing or opening them just yet. We’ll step you through that process later.

8. Unmount your card reader.

9. We recommend that you copy your photos to a removable hard drive.

A You’ll learn the functions of the Bridge features throughout this chapter.

The large sections of the Bridge window are called panes. Each pane contains one or more panels, each of which is accessed via its own tab: Favorites, Folders, Filter, Collections, Content, Preview, Metadata, and Keywords. In the default workspace, Essentials, the panels in the two side panes let you manage files, preview image thumbnails, filter the display of thumbnails, and display file data; the Content panel in the middle displays file and folder thumbnails. At the bottom of the Bridge window are controls for changing the thumbnail size and layout. (To customize the Bridge window, see pages 28 and 36–37.)

Next, we’ll briefly describe the Bridge panels that you will learn about in this chapter.

The Favorites panel displays a list of folders that you’ve designated as favorites, for quick and easy access. See page 29.

The Folders panel contains a scrolling window with a hierarchical listing of all the top-level and nested folders on your hard drive(s). See page 29.

The Filter panel lists criteria pertaining to the images in the currently selected folder, such as how many have a specific label, star rating, file type, creation date, or modification date. By clicking various criteria in the Filter panel on or off, you can control which images in the current folder display in the Content panel. To expand or collapse a category, click its arrowhead. See page 41.

The Collections panel displays the names and icons of collections, which are thumbnail groups that you create to organize your images. See pages 46–47.

The Content panel displays thumbnails for images within the currently selected folder (and optionally, thumbnails for nested folders). In the lower-right corner of the Bridge window, you can click a View Content As button to control whether, and in what format, metadata pertaining to the current files displays for each thumbnail in the Content panel (see page 37). For any view type, you can change the thumbnail size (see page 36). The Content panel is used and illustrated in many tasks throughout this chapter.

The Preview panel displays a large preview of the image (or folder) thumbnail that is currently selected in the Content panel. Or if the thumbnail for a video or PDF file is selected, controls for playing the video or for viewing the pages display in this panel. Two or more selected image thumbnails can be previewed in this panel, for comparison, and it has a loupe mechanism that you can use to inspect small details. See pages 29–31.

The Metadata panel has two main sections, both of which display data pertaining to the currently selected thumbnail. The placard at the top contains a quick summary (see the sidebar on page 29), and the main part of the panel lists more detailed data, in collapsible categories. In the File Properties category, for example, you can view the current file name, file size, etc. Via the IPTC Core category, you can attach a copyright notice and other data to a file (see page 39). When the thumbnail for a digital photo is selected, the Camera Data (Exif) category lists the camera settings with which the photo was captured. If the photo was edited in Camera Raw, the panel will also show a Camera Raw category in which the Basic tab settings that are applied to the current photo are listed (to add more Camera Raw data to this category, go to Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences, Metadata pane, and check the desired boxes under Camera Raw).

Use the Keywords panel to assign one or more descriptive subkeywords to your images, such as an event, subject, client, or location, so they can be located quickly using other Bridge features (see pages 38–39). You can run a search to find image thumbnails based on keyword criteria, or narrow the display of thumbnails in the Content panel to subcategories of images by checking specific keywords in the Filter panel.

Note: The Inspector panel isn’t covered in this book.

To choose a workspace for Bridge:

Do one of the following:

On the upper toolbar, click Essentials, Filmstrip, Light Table, Metadata (List View for the thumbnails), Keywords, Preview, Folders, or a saved custom workspace.A (If there’s room on the toolbar and you want to display more workspace names, pull the gripper bar to the left.)

From the Workspace menu on the toolbar, choose a workspace.B–C

C The Filmstrip workspace features a large preview of the currently selected thumbnail(s).

Press the shortcut for one of the first six workspaces on the switcher (as listed on the Workspace menu): Ctrl-F1/Cmd-F1 through Ctrl-F6/Cmd-F6. The shortcuts are assigned automatically to the first six workspaces on the switcher, according to their current order from left to right. (Not working? These shortcuts may already be used by your operating system, in which case they won’t work in Bridge.)

To change the order of workspaces on the switcher, drag a name to the left or right.

To learn how to resize the thumbnails in the Content panel, see page 36.

To create a second Bridge window, choose File > New Window (Ctrl-N/Cmd-N). You can display a different workspace and folder in each window.

Drag a folder icon from the Content panel or the Explorer/Finder into the Favorites panel (the pointer will be a + symbol).

Right-click a folder in the Folders or Content panel and choose Add to Favorites.

Via check boxes in the Favorite Items area of Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences > General, you can control which system folders are listed in the Favorites panel.

To remove a folder from the list of Favorites, right-click it and choose Remove from Favorites.

To display and select images in Bridge:

1. Do any of the following:

In the Folders panel, navigate to a folder. To expand or collapse a folder, click its arrowhead.

Display the contents of a folder by clicking its icon in the Folders panel or by double-clicking its thumbnail in the Content panel. Note: For folder thumbnails to display in the Content panel, Show Folders must be checked on the View menu.

Click the Go Back button on the toolbar A to step back through the last folders viewed, or the Go Forward button to reverse your steps.

Click a folder name in the Favorites panel.

From the Go to Parent or Favorites menu on the toolbar, choose a parent or Favorites folder.

Click a folder name on the Path bar (if the bar is hidden, choose Window > Path Bar).

From one of the menus on the Path bar, choose a folder. If another submenu displays, click yet another folder; repeat until you reach the desired folder.

To display thumbnails for images in all nested subfolders within the current folder, choose Show Items from Subfolders from the folder menu. To restore the normal view, click the Cancel button on the Path bar.

2. In the Content panel, do one of the following:

Click an image thumbnail. A colored border appears around it, and data about the file is listed in the Metadata panel. An enlarged preview of the image also displays in the Preview panel, if that panel is showing.

To select multiple, nonconsecutive thumbnails, Ctrl-click/Cmd-click them.

To select a series of consecutive thumbnails, click the first thumbnail in the series, then Shift-click the last one.

A number in the upper-left corner of an image thumbnail signifies that it’s part of a stack (group) of thumbnails. To display or hide the contents of a stack, click the stack number (see pages 42–43).

To cycle through thumbnails in the currently displayed folder, press an arrow key on the keyboard.

To quickly locate and select a particular thumbnail, start typing the file name without clicking anywhere first.

You can control whether thumbnails and the preview render quickly at low resolution, or more slowly and color-managed at high resolution.

To choose a quality option for the Bridge thumbnails and previews:

From the Options for Thumbnail Quality and Preview Generation menu on the Bridge toolbar, choose a preference for the preview quality of image thumbnails:

Prefer Embedded (Faster) displays low-resolution thumbnails and is useful for displaying a high volume of images quickly.

High Quality on Demand displays high-resolution, color-managed thumbnails and previews (generated from the source files) for selected thumbnails and low-resolution previews for unselected thumbnails. This is a good compromise between the two other options.

Always High Quality, the default setting, displays high-resolution thumbnails and previews, whether the thumbnails are selected or not. Rendering is the slowest with this option.

To quickly access lower-quality, faster previewing, click the Browse Quickly by Preferring Embedded Images button on the Path bar; this enables the Prefer Embedded (Faster) option. Click the button again to return to the current setting on the Options for Thumbnail Quality and Preview Generation menu.

The Generate 100% Previews option on the Options for Thumbnail Quality and Preview Generation menu saves actual-size JPEG versions of thumbnails, which in turn enables Bridge to generate higher-quality previews when the loupe is used or when images are displayed at 100% size in Full Screen Preview or Slideshow view. This option uses a lot of disk space and can make browsing slower, so we recommend keeping it unchecked.

To compare two or more image previews:

1. In Bridge, display the Filmstrip or Preview workspace.

2. In the Content panel, Ctrl-click/Cmd-click up to nine thumbnails (the maximum number that can be previewed at a time) (A). Large versions of the thumbnails will display in the Preview panel.

3. Optional: Ctrl-click/Cmd-click an unselected thumbnail in the Content panel to add it to the Preview panel, or do the same for a selected thumbnail to remove it from the Preview panel.

To display a full-screen preview of an image thumbnail:

1. Press the Spacebar to display a full-screen preview of the currently selected thumbnail and hide the Bridge window temporarily.

2. To zoom in or out, press + or – or use the scroll wheel on your mouse (you can drag the magnified preview). If desired, press the left or right arrow key to cycle through other thumbnails in the same folder.

3. To redisplay the Bridge window, press the Spacebar or Esc.

To inspect image details via an onscreen loupe:

1. To make the loupe appear, click an image in the Preview panel;B or if Bridge is in Review mode, click the frontmost image (see the next page).

Note: If the loupe doesn’t appear, it’s because the Ctrl-Click/Cmd-Click Opens the Loupe When Previewing or Reviewing option is checked in Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences > General. To make the loupe appear (or disappear), Ctrl-click/Cmd-click the preview.

2. Click the area to be examined. To zoom in on the loupe display (up to 800%), press +, or to zoom out, press –.

3. To examine a different area, click that area or drag the loupe to it.

4. Optional: If you’re previewing two images using two loupes, you can Ctrl-drag/Cmd-drag either loupe to move them both simultaneously.

5. To remove the loupe, click inside it.

When you put selected thumbnails into Review mode, they display as large previews on a black background (the Bridge window is hidden), and you can cycle through them as if they’re on a carousel. You can also rate thumbnails in this mode.

To preview images in Review mode:

1. Do one of the following:

Open a folder of images.

Hold down Alt/Option and click a thumbnail stack (see page 42).

Select five or more image thumbnails (Ctrl/Cmd or Shift-click them).

2. Press Ctrl-B/Cmd-B, or from the Refine menu at the top of the Bridge window, choose Review Mode. The Bridge window is hidden temporarily, and the images display on a black background.

3. To rotate the carousel, do any of the following:

Drag any image preview to the left or right.

Click one of the smaller previews to bring it to the forefront.

Press the left or right arrow key.

Click (and keep clicking) the Go Forward or Go Backward button in the lower-left corner.

4. To examine the frontmost (enlarged) image with a loupe, click it. Drag the loupe to move it. Click the loupe again to remove it.

5. To rate or label the frontmost thumbnail, right-click it and choose a star rating or a label from the context menu A or press Ctrl/Cmd plus a numeral between 1 and 9. (To view a list of shortcuts, press H.)

6. To take the frontmost image out of the carousel, click the down-pointing arrow in the lower-left corner, or drag the image to the bottom of your screen. (This won’t delete the actual file.)

You can use this method to pare down a selection of images before grouping them as a stack (see pages 42–43) or putting them in a collection (see pages 46–47).

7. To exit Review mode, press Esc or click the in the lower-right corner.

8. Click any image thumbnail to deselect the rest.

Note: To open a raw, JPEG, or TIFF digital photo into Camera Raw (so you can apply corrections to it before opening it into Photoshop), see page 53.

To open files from Bridge into Photoshop:

1. In the Content panel, display the thumbnail for the image(s) to be opened.

2. Do either of the following:

Double-click an image thumbnail.

Click an image thumbnail or select multiple thumbnails, then double-click one of them or press Ctrl-O/Cmd-O.

3. Photoshop will launch, if it isn’t already running, and the image(s) will appear onscreen. If any alert dialogs appear, see the next page.

If a photo has been opened and edited in Camera Raw, it will have this icon in the top-right corner of its thumbnail. If you want to open such a file (or a raw photo) directly into Photoshop — without opening it into Camera Raw first — double-click the thumbnail with Shift held down.

To locate an “actual” file in Explorer/Finder, right-click its thumbnail in Bridge and choose Reveal in Explorer/Reveal in Finder from the context menu. The folder that the file resides in will open in a window in Explorer/Finder and the file icon will be selected.

By default, the Bridge window stays open after you use it to open a file. To minimize the Bridge window as you open a file, hold down Alt/Option while double-clicking the file thumbnail.

To open an image from Review mode in Bridge into Photoshop, right-click it and choose Open from the context menu.

To reopen a recently opened file:

To reopen a file that was recently opened and then closed, choose the file name in one of these locations:

In Bridge, choose from the Open Recent File menu on the right side of the Path bar.

In Bridge or Photoshop, choose from the File > Open Recent submenu.

In Bridge, from the Reveal Recent File or Go to Recent Folder menu, choose Adobe Photoshop > Recent Adobe Photoshop Files. Thumbnails for the recently opened files will display in the Content panel. Double-click a thumbnail to open that file. To redisplay the last displayed folder when you return to Bridge, click the Go Back arrow.

When you open a Photoshop file that is using missing fonts (the fonts are either unavailable or not installed in your system), a Creative Cloud dialog opens. For each missing font, you can let Typekit substitute a matching font from its collection, choose a default font, or open the document into Photoshop without resolving the issue. (To learn more about Adobe Typekit, see page 374.)

Note: To verify that Typekit is turned on for the following task, see the sidebar on this page.

To respond to an alert regarding missing fonts:

1. If you open a Photoshop file in which one or more missing fonts are being used, the Missing Fonts dialog will appear.A

2. From the menu next to the name of each missing font, choose one of these options:

If Typekit finds a matching font from its collection, you can leave that font as the choice on the menu. Note the Typekit icon.

If Typekit cannot locate a matching font, you can choose the default substitution font.

If you want to leave a missing font as unresolved, choose Don’t Resolve from the menu.

If other fonts that are being used in the file are available, you can choose from that list on the lower part of the menu.

(If you want to dismiss the dialog immediately and open the file into Photoshop, click Cancel.)

3. Click Resolve Fonts to close the Missing Fonts dialog and open the document into Photoshop. All matching Typekit fonts that were chosen on the menus in that dialog will be synced to your computer. Note: If you chose Don’t Resolve from the menu(s) for all the missing fonts, click Don’t Resolve instead (same button, different name).

4. If you chose Don’t Resolve from any menu (or you clicked Cancel) in the Missing Fonts dialog, when the file opens into Photoshop, a Font Missing on System alert icon will display on the Layers panel for every layer that is using missing fonts. If you try to edit one of those layers, another alert dialog will appear, indicating that font substitution will occur. You can either click OK to allow the missing font(s) to be replaced by the default font, or click Cancel, make the required fonts available, then close/reopen the document.

In Photoshop, if you would like to reopen the Missing Fonts dialog to resolve missing fonts, choose Type > Resolve All Missing Fonts. Or if you want to replace all missing fonts with the default substitution font, choose Type > Replace All Missing Fonts.

To respond to an alert regarding a missing color profile:

If the color profile of the document you’re opening doesn’t match the current working space for Photoshop, the Embedded Profile Mismatch alert dialog will appear.A Click Use the Embedded Profile (Instead of the Working Space) if you must keep the current profile. Or for consistency with the color management workflow that we have recommended, click Convert Document’s Colors to the Working Space to convert the profile to the current working space. Click OK. See pages 7, 8, 10, and 12.

If the Missing Profile alert dialog appears,B click Assign Working RGB: Adobe RGB (1998) to assign the profile that you chose as the working space for Photoshop. Click OK. See pages 7 and 12.

To respond to an alert regarding missing linked Smart Objects:

1. If the Photoshop document that you’re opening contains Smart Objects that are linked to external files, and if those files were renamed or moved, Photoshop may not be able to locate and update the link(s) to them automatically. In this case, an alert dialog will appear.C Click the Choose button for a missing link. In the Locate Missing File dialog, locate the file, then click Place. A check mark should appear before the file name, and before the names of any other missing linked files that were found in the same folder.

2. Repeat the preceding step for any other missing links, then click OK.

To learn about linked Smart Objects, see pages 272–275.

To quickly hide (and then show) the side panes, press Tab or double-click the dark vertical bar between a side pane and the middle pane.

To configure the Bridge panes and panels manually:

Do any of the following:

To make a panel or panel group taller or shorter, drag its horizontal gripper bar upward or downward.A

To make a whole pane wider or narrower, drag its vertical gripper bar horizontally;B the adjacent pane resizes accordingly.

To minimize a panel or panel group to just a tab (or to restore its former size), double-click its tab.

To move a panel into a different group, drag the panel tab and release the mouse when the blue drop zone border appears around the desired group.

To display a panel as a separate group, drag its tab upward or downward between two panels and release the mouse when the horizontal blue drop zone line appears.

To resize the image thumbnails:

At the bottom of the Bridge window, drag the Thumbnail Size slider.C You could also click the Smaller Thumbnail Size or Larger Thumbnail Size button, located to the left and right of the slider.

To display only full thumbnails, with grid lines between them, click the Lock Thumbnail Grid button at the bottom of the Bridge window. With this option on, no shuffling of thumbnails will occur if you resize the Content panel.

To control how metadata is displayed in the Content panel:

1. In the lower-right corner of the Bridge window, click one of these View Content buttons: A

View Content as Thumbnails (minimal file data), View Content as Details (more file data),B or View Content as List (small icons with columns of data).

2. To control which categories of metadata display below or next to the image thumbnails when the View Content as Thumbnails option is chosen, go to Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences > Thumbnails, then select from any or all of the Details: Show menus. For example, to display exposure settings, you would choose Exposure.

With the View Content as List option chosen, you can change the column order by dragging any column header to the left or right. You can also right-click any column header to access options for changing the column data, inserting and closing columns, and changing the column width.

When the View Content as Thumbnails option is chosen for Bridge, you can toggle the display of metadata on and off by pressing Ctrl-T/Cmd-T. When viewing thumbnails in the Light Table workspace, we prefer to keep the metadata hidden.

To save a custom workspace for Bridge:

1. Do all of the following:

Choose a size and location for the overall Bridge window.

Arrange the panel sizes and groups as desired.

Set the thumbnail size for the Content panel.

Choose a sorting order for thumbnails from the Sort menu at the top of the Bridge window (see page 41).

Click a View Content button (see the previous page).

2. From the Workspace menu on the workspace switcher, choose New Workspace.

3. In the New Workspace dialog,A enter a Name for the workspace. If desired, check Save Window Location as Part of Workspace and/or Save Sort Order as Part of Workspace, then click Save.

Note: Your new workspace will be listed first on the switcher and will be assigned the first shortcut (Ctrl-F1/Cmd-F1). To change the order of workspaces on the switcher, drag any workspace name horizontally to a different slot. When you do this, the shortcuts will be reassigned based on the new order.

To delete a user-saved workspace, from the Workspace menu, choose Delete Workspace. From the menu in the dialog, choose the workspace to be deleted, then click Delete.

To choose colors for the Bridge interface (including the background shade behind the panels and image previews, and the highlight border around selected thumbnails), see page 470.

To reset the Bridge workspace:

Do either of the following:

To restore the default settings to one workspace, right-click the workspace name on the switcher and choose Reset.

To restore the default settings to all the Adobe predefined workspaces, choose Reset Standard Workspaces from the Workspace menu.

To create keywords and subkeywords in the Keywords panel:

1. Display the Keywords panel. To create a new parent keyword category, click the New Keyword button, type a keyword, then press Enter/Return.

2. To create a nested subkeyword, click a parent keyword, click the New Sub Keyword button, type a word, then press Enter/Return (A). Each time you want to add a subkeyword, click the parent keyword first. You can also create nested sub-subkeywords.

You can move (drag) any subkeyword from one parent keyword category into another.

To assign keywords to files via the Keywords panel:

1. Select one or more image thumbnails in the Content panel. If keywords are already assigned to any of those files, they will be listed at the top of the Keywords panel (you can assign more).

2. Check the box for one or more subkeywords.B To remove a keyword from a file, uncheck the box.

Read about the Keywords preferences on page 472.

If you select the thumbnail for a file to which keywords were assigned outside of Bridge (e.g., in Photoshop via File > File Info), those keywords will display temporarily in the Keywords panel, under Other Keywords. To convert a temporary subkeyword to a permanent one, right-click it and choose Make Persistent from the context menu.

To assign keywords to files via the Metadata panel:

1. Select one or more image thumbnails in the Content panel.

2. Display the Metadata panel, and expand the IPTC Core category.

3. Click the Keywords listing, then enter keywords, separated by semicolons or commas. Be on the alert for typing errors!

4. Click the Apply button in the lower-right corner of the panel.C

You can also use the IPTC Core category in the Metadata panel to assign other data to a file, such as a copyright notice. Use the same method as in the steps above (you can press Tab to proceed from one field to the next).

To rate and label thumbnails:

1. Select either View Content as Thumbnails or View Content as Details as the view option for thumbnails (see page 37). Select one or more image thumbnails in the Content panel.

2. When you do any of the following, either a specific number of stars, a “Reject” label, or a colored label appears below the image thumbnail:

From the Label menu, choose a Rating and/or a Label.A

Click a thumbnail, then click any one of the five dots below it; stars will appear.B To remove one star, click the star to its left. To remove all the stars from a thumbnail, click to the left of the first one.C (If you don’t see the dots or stars, enlarge the thumbnails via the Thumbnail Size slider.)

Press one of the keyboard shortcuts that are listed on the Label menu, such as Ctrl/Cmd plus a number (e.g., Ctrl-2/Cmd-2 for two stars, or Ctrl-8/Cmd-8 for Approved).

Right-click a thumbnail in the Content panel, then choose a category from the Label submenu on the context menu.

Right-click in the Preview panel and choose a star rating and/or label from the context menu.

To label the losers with a red “Reject” label, choose Label > Reject or press Alt-Del/Option-Delete.D Via the Show Reject Files option on the View menu, you can show or hide all rejected thumbnails.

You can assign custom names to the labels in Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences > Labels.

To remove ratings or labels from thumbnails:

1. Select one or more image thumbnails.

2. To remove stars, choose No Rating from the Label menu or press Ctrl-0/Cmd-0 (zero). To remove a label, choose No Label from the Label menu or press the shortcut for the currently assigned label. (If the selected thumbnails have different labels, you’ll need to press the shortcut twice.)

The current criterion on the Sort menu controls the order in which thumbnails display in the Content panel. After applying ratings to our thumbnails, we choose By Rating from the Sort menu to display them by rating, in ascending order. The sorting order also affects the batch and automate commands in Bridge, because those commands process files based on the current sequence of thumbnails.

To choose a sorting order for thumbnails:

From the Sort menu on the Path bar, choose a sorting criterion (such as By Rating).A All thumbnails that are currently displaying in the Content panel will be re-sorted. Sorting doesn’t change the order of thumbnails within stacks. Note: If you display a different folder, the current sorting order will apply.

To restore the last sequence of thumbnails that was created by dragging them manually, choose Manually from the Sort menu.

To reverse the current order, click the Ascending Order or Descending Order arrowhead.

To filter the display of thumbnails:

Do either of the following:

On the Filter panel, click the arrowhead to expand any category, such as Labels, Ratings, or Keywords, then check one or more criteria.B For example, to display only files that have an Approved label and a rating of three stars, check Approved under Labels and check the three-star listing under Ratings. To remove a criterion, click the listing again.

From the Filter Items by Rating menu on the Bridge toolbar,C check the desired criteria.

To prevent the current filters (those with check marks) from clearing when you display other folders, activate the Keep Filter When Browsing button on the panel; when activated, the button displays in color.

To remove all check marks from the Filter panel, click the Clear Filter button at the bottom of the panel or press Ctrl-Alt-A/Cmd-Option-A.

To group thumbnails into a stack:

1. Shift-click or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click to select two or more file thumbnails.A The thumbnail that is listed first in your selection will become the “stack thumbnail” (is going to display on top of the stack).

2. Press Ctrl-G/Cmd-G or right-click one of the selected thumbnails and choose Stack > Group as Stack.B A stack looks like a couple of playing cards in a pile, with the stack thumbnail on top. The number in the upper-left corner (the “stack number”) indicates how many thumbnails are in the stack.

To select the thumbnails in a stack:

To both select and display all the thumbnails in a stack, click the stack number (click it again to collapse the stack). The stack will remain selected.

To select all the thumbnails in a stack while keeping the stack collapsed, click the stack border (the bottom “card”) or Alt-click/Option-click the stack thumbnail (the top image in the stack). Note that although the stack is collapsed, because it is selected, the thumbnails it contains will display in the Preview panel, if that panel is showing.

Provided your thumbnails aren’t too small, a slider will display on a bar next to the stack number of a closed stack. You can drag the slider to quickly preview the thumbnails.

To rearrange thumbnails within a stack:

To move a thumbnail to a different position in an expanded stack, click it to deselect the other selected thumbnails, then drag it to a new spot (as indicated by the vertical drop zone line).

To move an entire stack to a different position:

1. Collapse the stack, then Alt-click/Option-click the stack thumbnail. The borders of both “cards” in the stack should now be highlighted.

2. Drag the stack thumbnail (not the border).

If you drag the top thumbnail of an unselected stack, you’ll move just that thumbnail, not the whole stack.

To add a thumbnail to a stack:

Drag a thumbnail over a stack thumbnail, or if the stack is expanded, to the desired position.

To remove a thumbnail from a stack:

1. Click the stack number to expand the stack.

2. Click the thumbnail to be removed, then drag it out of the stack.

To ungroup a stack:

1. If the stack is collapsed, click the stack thumbnail; if the stack is expanded, click the stack number.

2. Press Control-Shift-G/Cmd-Shift-G (Stacks > Ungroup from Stack) or right-click a stack thumbnail and choose Stack > Ungroup from Stack. The stack number and border disappear.

2. Click the New Folder button at the right end of the Bridge toolbar (Ctrl-Shift-N/Cmd-Shift-N). Type a name to replace the highlighted one, then press Enter/Return.

You can move files to a different folder on your hard disk either by dragging them manually or by using a command.

To move or copy files between folders:

Method 1 (by dragging)

1. Select one or more thumbnails (Content panel).

2. In the Folders panel, navigate to (but don’t click) the folder or subfolder into which you want to move the selected files.

3. To move the selected files, drag them over the folder name in the Folders panel (then release), or to copy them, do the same except hold down Ctrl/Option while dragging (a + symbol displays in the pointer). Note: If you want to move (not copy) files to another hard disk, hold down Shift/Cmd while dragging.

You can also move or copy files to a folder in the Favorites panel.

Method 2 (via the context menu)

1. Select one or more thumbnails in the Content panel.

2. Right-click one of the selected thumbnails, then from the Move To or Copy To submenu on the context menu, do either of the following:

Select a folder name under Recent Folders or Favorites.

Select Choose Folder. Locate a folder in the Open dialog, then click Open.

To copy files via the Clipboard, select one or more thumbnails, press Ctrl-C/Cmd-C to copy them, click the desired folder, then press Ctrl-V/Cmd-V to paste.

To delete a file or folder:

1. Click an image or folder thumbnail or Ctrl-click/Cmd-click multiple thumbnails, or Shift-click a series of them.

2. Do either of the following:

Press Ctrl-Backspace/Cmd-Delete, then if an alert dialog appears, click OK.

Press Del/Delete on your extended keyboard, then if an alert dialog appears, click Delete.

Oops! Change your mind? To retrieve a deleted file or folder, choose Edit > Undo immediately. Or to dig it out of the trash, double-click the Recycle Bin/Trash icon for your operating system, then drag the item into the Content panel in Bridge.

To rename a file or folder:

1. Click a thumbnail, then click the file or folder name. The name becomes highlighted.A

2. Type a new name B (for an image file, don’t try to delete the extension), then either press Enter/Return or click outside the name field.

When you download digital photos from your camera to your computer, they keep the sequential numerical labels (e.g., “CRW_3816”) that your camera assigned to them. Via the Batch Rename command in Bridge, you can assign more recognizable names to your photos, to make them easier to identify.

To batch-rename files:

1. Display the contents of the folder that contains the files to be renamed, then select the thumbnails for the files to be renamed.

2. Do either of the following:

Choose Tools > Batch Rename (Ctrl-Shift-R/Cmd-Shift-R).

From the Refine menu at the top of the Bridge toolbar, choose Batch Rename. The Batch Rename dialog opens.A

3. From the Preset menu, choose Default.

4. Under Destination Folder, click one of the following:

Rename in Same Folder to have Bridge rename the files and leave them in their current location.

Move to Other Folder to have Bridge rename the files and move them to a new location.

Copy to Other Folder to leave the original files unchanged but rename the copies and move them to a new location (this is a quick way to duplicate a batch of photos). We recommend using this option, especially if you didn’t elect to copy your photos when you downloaded them.

For the Move or Copy option, also click Browse, choose or create a new folder, then click Open.

5. In the New Filenames area, specify data to be included in the names: Text (enter the desired name); Date Time (choose an option from both menus in the row); and Sequence Number to include an incremental number in the names (enter a starting number and choose a digit option).

To add another row of criteria fields, click the button, or to remove a row of fields, click the button.

Click Preview to view a listing of the new file names, then click OK to exit that dialog.

6. Under Options, leave Preserve Current Filename in XMP Metadata unchecked (unless you need to preserve the old names), but for Compatibility, check any other operating system(s) in which you want your renamed files to be readable.

7. Optional: To save the current New Filenames and Options settings as a preset for future use, click Save, enter a name, then click OK. Your custom preset will appear on the Preset menu.

8. To apply your naming choices to the selected thumbnails, click Rename.

A We entered three criteria in the Find dialog (then we clicked Find).

2. From the Look In menu in the Source area, choose the folder to be searched (by default, the current folder is listed). To select a folder that isn’t listed on the menu, choose Browse, locate the desired folder, then click Open.

3. From the menus in the Criteria area, choose search criteria (e.g., Filename, Date Created, Keywords, Label, Rating, or a category of camera settings), choose a parameter from the adjoining menu, and enter data in the field. To add another criterion to the search, click the button, or to remove a row of fields, click .

4. From the Match menu, choose “If any criteria are met” to find files based on one or more of the criteria you have specified, or choose “If all criteria are met” to narrow the selection to just the files that meet all your criteria.

5. Check Include All Subfolders to include, in the search, any of the subfolders that are inside the folder you chose in step 2.

6. Optional: Check Include Non-Indexed Files to search through files that Bridge hasn’t yet indexed (any folder Bridge has yet to display). As indicated, this could slow down the search.

7. Click Find. The results of the search will be placed in a temporary folder called Search Results: [name of source folder] and will display in the Content panel.B The folder will be listed on the Path bar and on the Reveal Recent File or Go to Recent Folder menu on the Bridge toolbar.

8. To create a collection from the results of the search, follow the steps on the next page.

To discard the current search results and start a new search, click New Search, or to cancel the results, click the Cancel button.

To create a Smart Collection:

1. Click the tab for the Collections panel. (If it’s hidden, choose Window > Collections Panel.)

2. Perform a search via the Edit > Find command (see the preceding page). When the search is completed, click the Save as Smart Collection button at the top of the Content panel.A

3. A new Smart Collection icon appears in the Collections panel. Type a name in the highlighted field, then press Enter/Return.B

To add a collection to the Favorites panel, right-click the icon and choose Add to Favorites.

To delete a collection, click it, click the Delete Collection button, then click Yes if an alert dialog appears (this won’t delete the actual files).

To display the contents of a collection:

In the Collections panel, click the icon or name of a Smart Collection.

If you run a new search for an existing Smart Collection using different criteria, the contents of the collection will update automatically (this is what makes it “smart”).

To edit a Smart Collection:

1. In the Collections panel, click the icon for an existing Smart Collection.

2. At the top of the Content panel or in the lower-left corner of the Collections panel, click the Edit Smart Collection button. C

3. The Edit Smart Collection dialog opens. It looks just like the Find dialog, which is shown on the preceding page. To add another criterion, click the next button, choose and enter data, and choose “If any criteria are met” from the Match menu. You can also change the source folder and/or change or eliminate the original criteria.

4. Click Save. The results of the new search will display in the Content panel.

Note: If you move a thumbnail from a Smart Collection (or move the actual file) into a folder that wasn’t used in the search, it will be removed from the collection, but not from your hard disk. If you delete a thumbnail from a Smart Collection, on the other hand — watch out! — the actual file will be deleted from your hard disk!

You can also create a standard, “nonsmart” collection without running a search first.

To create a standard collection:

1. Do either of the following:

On the Content panel, select the image thumbnails to be put into a collection. In the Collections panel, click the New Collection button, then click Yes in the alert dialog.

While viewing some thumbnails in Review mode (Ctrl-B/Cmd-B), drag any files you don’t want to include in the collection out of the carousel, then click the New Collection button.

2. Type a name in the highlighted field in the Collection panel.A The number of thumbnails the collection contains is listed next to the name.

To add thumbnails to a standard collection:

1. Display the Collections panel.

2. Drag one or more thumbnails from the Content panel over a standard collection icon. B

You can copy and paste, or drag, thumbnails from a Smart Collection into a standard one, or from one standard collection into another. You can’t drag thumbnails into a Smart Collection.

To remove thumbnails from a standard collection:

1. On the Collections panel, click the icon for a standard collection to display its contents.

2. Select the thumbnails to be removed, then click Remove from Collection at the top of the Content panel.C

If you rename a file in Explorer/Finder or move a file from its original location on disk, it may be listed as missing from any standard collections it is a part of, and Bridge will try to relink it to those collections. If Bridge is unsuccessful, do as follows.

To relink a missing file to a standard collection:

1. On the Collections panel, click the collection to which you need to relink one or more files.

2. At the top of the Content panel, click Fix.D

3. In the Find Missing Files dialog, click Browse, click the missing file (the name is listed at the top of the dialog), click Open, then click OK.

By setting the following preference, as we recommend, you can ensure that Bridge will include its own cache data with any files that you copy to a removable disc or to a shared folder on a network.

To set a preference to have Bridge export the cache automatically:

1. In Bridge, choose Edit/Adobe Bridge CC > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K), then click Cache.

2. Under Options, check Automatically Export Cache to Folders When Possible, then click OK.

If for some reason the cache preference is turned off and you need to export the cache for files in a specific folder, you may do so via the steps below. The hidden cache files will be placed in the current folder and will also be included if you move or copy the image files.

To export the Bridge cache for the current folder:

1. Display the contents of a folder in Bridge.

2. Choose Tools > Cache > Build and Export Cache.

3. In the Build Cache dialog, keep the Build 100% Previews option off but check Export Cache to Folders, then click OK.

To display the cache file icons in the current folder:

1. Display a folder in the Content panel.

2. Choose View > Show Hidden Files.

If Bridge is having trouble displaying a particular folder of thumbnails, you can usually solve the problem by purging the cache for those thumbnails. This prompts Bridge to rebuild the cache.

To purge cache files from the current folder:

Do either of the following:

To purge all the cache files from the current folder, choose Tools > Cache > Purge Cache for Folder “[current folder name].” Multiple new (hidden) cache files will be generated.

To purge the cache files for specific thumbnails, select them, then right-click one of them and choose Purge Cache for Selection.