What exactly does Adobe Bridge do?

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

09/07/2014 09:31:50 AM · #1

'Cause in my case all it does is take up space on the HD. I've never used it or had any reason to use it. But I don't want to just go and uninstall it in case doing so messes up my PS CS5.

So can someone explain to me (preferably in non-tekkie terms) what Bridge is supposed to do, and if I can get rid of it safely, how to do so? I am on a MacMini running Mavericks.

Garry

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

09/07/2014 09:34:54 AM · #2

Bridge is essentially the file management/cataloguing component of PS. Its essentially the functional equivalent of Lightroom.

raish

Olympus C-2500L

09/07/2014 09:47:53 AM · #3

I use it all the time as - well - a bridge, really. File management, like the man says. I click on files elsewhere and they open up in all sorts of things. If I open up the folders in Bridge then I can see the thumbnails, the name of the file (the number is what I usually need) and the EXIF. Double click and it opens in PS.

If you don't use it it does nothing and you lose nothing by wiping it. Check further opinions on that last, mind.

Ja-9

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM

09/07/2014 09:50:32 AM · #4

Here is a quick video by Kelby explaining why use Lr vs Br and some very good reasons.

if you want to go a bit further...here's another Br vs Lr

And you may not have Lr but for me it gave me an better understand of why to use Lr vs Br. I have Br but haven't even touched it. I've used Lr for years and LOVE it...it's an amazing tool for my workflow. One other thing that is a huge RED flag is that Br can alter your RAW files whereby Lr can not (according to the video).

I have the CC which includes Br, Lr, Ps, and a few other Adobe products for $10 per month...TOTALLY worth it. Updates are constant and non invasive

JakeKurdsjuk

Canon EOS R5

09/07/2014 09:50:52 AM · #5

Originally posted by Garry:

Bridge is essentially the file management/cataloguing component of PS. Its essentially the functional equivalent of Lightroom.

To be more precise, it's the functional equivalent of the Library Module in Lightroom. Lightroom does a whole lot more than Bridge does by itself.

Garry

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

09/07/2014 10:21:42 AM · #6

Originally posted by backdoorhippie:

Originally posted by Garry:
Bridge is essentially the file management/cataloguing component of PS. Its essentially the functional equivalent of Lightroom.

To be more precise, it's the functional equivalent of the Library Module in Lightroom. Lightroom does a whole lot more than Bridge does by itself.

Very true.

Damon

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR

09/07/2014 11:14:40 AM · #7

One advantage of Bridge over LR that I have found is a quick way to look at the images on your card before you waste the time to import them into LR. It also allows you to catalog other image types that you may not want imported into LR like stock photos or textures. I use both on a regular basis and I think they can compliment each other rather than choosing one over the other.

tanguera

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

09/07/2014 11:37:46 AM · #8

Originally posted by Damon:

This.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS II USM Lens

09/07/2014 02:16:06 PM · #9

So if it's just another import module, then I guess I don't really need it...I find iPhoto good enough for that purpose, and also have ViewNX2 on disk if I ever choose to use it.

FromDaRock

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

09/07/2014 03:52:11 PM · #10

I have used it on several occasions for batch processing.

It makes it easy to pick all files, say at ISO 3200 and run the same denoise actions against them as a group. I don't think there is any way to do such batch processing in PS alone, I think PS can only do it by directory, which is fine if the all contents are the same, but not when they are different.

For example, I download the raw and low res JPG's, and then have an action to open the raw file in PS and apply Topaz Denoise against it. Bridge makes it easy to select the .CR2 files with the specific ISO that I want to run the Denoise action against. I might have separate actions for ISO 3200 vs ISO 6400, for example.

Very convenient when processing hundreds of files from a single event.

JakeKurdsjuk

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM

09/07/2014 05:11:25 PM · #11

Originally posted by snaffles:

So if it's just another import module, then I guess I don't really need it...I find iPhoto good enough for that purpose, and also have ViewNX2 on disk if I ever choose to use it.

Definitely far more than just an import module. It's a metadata management tool, workflow manager, will export directly to a bunch of sites along with allowing you to predefine exports based on size and width (i.e. a DPC preset to limit long side to 800px and size to <300K), allows you to apply custom watermarks, and interface with 3rd party modules (ie. add black bars top/bottom or side/side for instagram). It's also got a great print module that allows you to not only print one at a time, but do things like composites for portraits (1 5x7, 2 wallet, etc). It's also got Map, Book and Slideshow modules that allow you to, well, plot photos on a map by where taken, put together DIY, ready-to-publish photobooks, and do slideshows. Add to that a Develop module that covers 100% of Adobe Camera RAW in a (IMO) far easier to navigate format, with some great tools that include intelligent masking, and it's an indispensable part of my (and many others') workflow.

Sure, there are other tools that do these things, but not all in one place.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

09/08/2014 09:42:13 AM · #12

Originally posted by backdoorhippie:

Originally posted by snaffles:
So if it's just another import module, then I guess I don't really need it...I find iPhoto good enough for that purpose, and also have ViewNX2 on disk if I ever choose to use it.

Definitely far more than just an import module. It's a metadata management tool, workflow manager, will export directly to a bunch of sites along with allowing you to predefine exports based on size and width (i.e. a DPC preset to limit long side to 800px and size to <300K), allows you to apply custom watermarks, and interface with 3rd party modules (ie. add black bars top/bottom or side/side for instagram). It's also got a great print module that allows you to not only print one at a time, but do things like composites for portraits (1 5x7, 2 wallet, etc). It's also got Map, Book and Slideshow modules that allow you to, well, plot photos on a map by where taken, put together DIY, ready-to-publish photobooks, and do slideshows. Add to that a Develop module that covers 100% of Adobe Camera RAW in a (IMO) far easier to navigate format, with some great tools that include intelligent masking, and it's an indispensable part of my (and many others') workflow.

Sure, there are other tools that do these things, but not all in one place.

are you talking about bridge or LR? because LR does all of that.

MadMan2k

Sony Alpha a6400

Tamron 70-180mm F/2.8 Di III VXD

09/08/2014 09:58:49 AM · #13

Bridge does sound intriguing, so I'm trying to see if it will work for what I want to do.

I'm trying to figure out the easiest/fastest way to import my photos and store all of the originals on my NAS (a Buffalo brand 6TB unit).

The laptop I use to view & edit the photos is a Macbook pro, and I'd just as soon not keep any of the originals on the hard drive so it doesn't fill up.

The NAS is out in the garage and so is a windows computer. The NAS has a Direct Copy feature where I can put the SD card reader in, press the button and it creates a new folder for the date & time and copies all the JPEG and movie files. It ignores the RAW files, though, so I mapped drive letters to the NAS and created a batch file on the windows computer to copy the RAW files.

My problem is when I get to the part where I want to view the files on the Mac and select which ones to process. I can't figure out how to get Bridge to read the network folder on the NAS. I can get Lightroom and iPhoto to read that folder, but it's pretty slow. Probably because I'm using a router as a bridge so everything is bottlenecked - I could probably run a network cable above the ceiling if I'm going to keep doing it this way.

Do you guys & gals usually just import straight to the computer you will edit on? Maybe I'd be better off doing that, and just moving everything later on.

When you import with Bridge does it mess with the EXIF data to risk getting disqualified from a challenge here?

Message edited by author 2014-09-08 10:00:15.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

09/08/2014 10:20:55 AM · #14

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

When you import with Bridge does it mess with the EXIF data to risk getting disqualified from a challenge here?

not if you shoot raw.

Message edited by author 2014-09-08 10:21:04.

JakeKurdsjuk

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM

09/08/2014 02:10:27 PM · #15

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

I'm definitely talking Lightroom. Perhaps I misunderstood what snaffles was referring to?

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

09/08/2014 02:48:31 PM · #16

*scratching head* I dunno...I don't use LR. And thanks for the detailed info, Jake. Bridge sounds like it has all kinds of neat features, and it's good to know it can do all that kewl stuff, I just don't have any use any of those features at all. I'm rarely ever on social media (yeah I know, shocking eh) and even more rarely batch-process images. I already do watermarking in PS when needed which again is quite rare.

FWIW here's my workflow: shoot RAW or RAW and jpeg if for a Minimal challenge. Import files to iPhoto. Pick out my faves, export them to the desktop and convert to DNG, then open them in PS CS5 and carry on from there til done, then save the final result as jpeg (or in the case of DPC a save-for-web jpeg) and eh wala, done.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

09/08/2014 04:22:34 PM · #17

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

Do you guys & gals usually just import straight to the computer you will edit on? Maybe I'd be better off doing that, and just moving everything later on.

It's what I do, anyway...

09/08/2014 06:51:17 PM · #18

+1 to what Bear says, except for the lone exception when I put Nikon View NX2 onto my laptop and took it up to a rodeo on Labour Day weekend in the wilds of Northern Ontario. I let the card dump my day's shooting onto the laptop while I changed and went back to the grounds to hear some music and hang out with some of my favourite bronc riders and the rodeo productions head honcho.

Then when I got home I re-dumped the images onto a flash drive and they found their way onto my desktop/PS computer. Home sweet home.

Message edited by author 2014-09-08 18:52:26.

Ja-9

09/08/2014 08:21:49 PM · #19

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

I have my "current year" on a WD Passport External Hard Drive. Once I import from that to my Lr...it's there and ready to go. I only keep the current year in there. Then on my other 2 WD EHD (4T) is where I have all my "past" work. And if I need something from there. I'm import it into Lr then take it out when I'm done.

Originally posted by MadMan2k:

The NAS is out in the garage and so is a windows computer. The NAS has a Direct Copy feature where I can put the SD card reader in, press the button and it creates a new folder for the date & time and copies all the JPEG and movie files. It ignores the RAW files, though, so I mapped drive letters to the NAS and created a batch file on the windows computer to copy the RAW files.

My problem is when I get to the part where I want to view the files on the Mac and select which ones to process. I can't figure out how to get Bridge to read the network folder on the NAS. I can get Lightroom and iPhoto to read that folder, but it's pretty slow. Probably because I'm using a router as a bridge so everything is bottlenecked - I could probably run a network cable above the ceiling if I'm going to keep doing it this way.

Do you guys & gals usually just import straight to the computer you will edit on? Maybe I'd be better off doing that, and just moving everything later on.

When you import with Bridge does it mess with the EXIF data to risk getting disqualified from a challenge here?

I directly download to my Passport (on my computer, current year) from my camera, then import to Lr and clean all that out Jan 1 each year. NOTHING is kept on my C drive but the small JPEG files that are built during the year, family, friends, DPC (larger file...cough). It just bogs me down to much and the computer doesn't run well. At one time I used to do the transfer every 3 months...but now I'm lazier about it...probably not a good thing????

Another thing is how often are you going back to your "older" files...here n there (in comparison for me). I go back for any of the challenges that we have where we can go back to anything we have ever taken in the past, calendar work, family pictures, trips and contest (other than DPC....aaahhhhh is there such a thing???)

All in all. Have you watched the two links that I gave Susan the 2nd one is really good about explaining why you should use Lr vs Br...well, at least it was good enough for me.

Ja-9