Adobe

View and manage files in Adobe Bridge


 

    Navigate files and folders

    • Do any of the following:

      • Select a folder in the Folders panel. Press the Down Arrow and Up Arrow keys in the Folders panel to navigate the directory. Press the Right Arrow key to expand a folder. Press the Left Arrow key to collapse a folder.

      • Select an item in the Favorites panel.

      • Click the Go To Parent Or Favorites button  orReveal Recent button  in the application bar and choose an item.

        To reveal a file in the operating system, select it and choose File > Reveal In Explorer (Windows) or File > Reveal In Finder (Mac OS).

      • Click the Go Back button  orGo Forward button  in the application bar to navigate between recently visited folders.

      • Double-click a folder in the Content panel to open it.

        Ctrl-double click (Windows) or Command-double click (Mac OS) a folder in the Content panel to open that folder in a new window.

      • Drag a folder from Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (Mac OS) to the path bar to go to that location in Adobe Bridge.

      • Drag a folder from Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (Mac OS) to the Preview panel to open it. In Mac OS, you can also drag a folder from the Finder to the Adobe Bridge icon to open it.

    • Use the path bar to navigate:

      • Click an item in the path bar to go to it.

      • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) an item in the path bar to turn on folder “cruising.” Folder cruising allows you to see and go to the subfolders of the selected item. You can also click a right-pointing arrow  in the path bar to cruise the subfolders of the preceding item.

      • Drag an item from the Content panel to the path bar to go to that location.

      • Click the last item in the path bar to edit the path. Press Esc to return to the icon mode.

      Note: Show or hide the path bar by choosing Window >Path Bar.

    Show subfolder contents

    You can specify that Adobe Bridge display folders and subfolders in one continuous, “flat” view. Flat view displays the entire contents of a folder, including its subfolders, so you don’t have to navigate the subfolders.

     To display the contents of folders in flat view, choose View > Show Items From Subfolders.

    Open files in Adobe Bridge

    You can open files from Adobe Bridge, even files that were not made with Adobe software. When you use Adobe Bridge to open a file, the file opens in its native application or the application you specify. You can also use Adobe Bridge to place files in an open document in an Adobe application.

     Select a file and do any of the following:

    • Choose File > Open.

    • Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).

    • Press Ctrl+Down Arrow key (Windows) or Command+Down Arrow key (Mac OS).

    • Double-click the file in the Content panel.

    • Choose File > Open With, followed by the name of the application with which to open the file.

    • Drag the file onto an application icon.

    • Choose File > Open In Camera Raw to edit the camera raw settings for the file.

    • To open photos from a digital camera into Adobe Bridge, use the Adobe Photo Downloader. See Get photos from a digital camera or card reader into Adobe Bridge.

    Change file type associations

    Selecting the application to open a specific file type affects only those files that you open using Adobe Bridge and overrides operating system settings.

    1. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Bridge CS5.1 > Preferences (Mac OS), and click File Type Associations.
    2. Click the name of the application (or None) and click Browse to locate the application to use.
    3. To reset the file type associations to their default settings, click Reset To Default Associations.
    4. To hide any file types that don’t have associated applications, select Hide Undefined File Associations.

    Place files into another application

    • Select the file in Adobe Bridge and choose File > Place, followed by the name of the application. For instance, you can use this command to place a JPEG image into Adobe Illustrator.
    • Drag a file from Adobe Bridge into the desired application. Depending on the file, the document into which you want to place the file may need to be opened first.

    Search for files and folders with Adobe Bridge

    You can search for files and folders with Adobe Bridge by using multiple combinations of search criteria. You can save search criteria as a smart collection, which is a collection that stays up to date with files that meet your criteria.

    1. Choose Edit > Find.
    2. Choose a folder in which to search.
    3. Choose search criteria by selecting options and limiters from the Criteria menus. Enter search text in the box on the right.
    4. To add search criteria, click the plus sign (+). To remove search criteria, click the minus sign (-).
    5. Choose an option from the Match menu to specify whether any or all criteria must be met.
    6. (Optional) Select Include All Subfolders to expand the search to any subfolders in the source folder.
    7. (Optional) Select Include Non-Indexed Files to specify that Adobe Bridge search uncached as well as cached files. Searching uncached files (in folders that you have not previously browsed in Adobe Bridge) is slower than searching just cached files.
    8. Click Find.
    9. (Optional) To save the search criteria, click the New Smart Collection button  in the Collections panel when Adobe Bridge displays your search results. The Smart Collection dialog box automatically includes the criteria of your search. Refine the criteria if desired, and then click Save. Type a name for the smart collection in the Collections panel, and then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS). See Create a smart collection.

    Perform a Quick Search

    Use the Quick Search field in the application bar to find files and folders in Adobe Bridge. Quick Searchlets you search using either the Adobe Bridge search engine or Windows Desktop Search (Windows) or Spotlight (Mac OS). The Adobe Bridge engine searches filenames and keywords. Operating system engines look for filenames, folder names, and image keywords. Adobe Bridge search looks within the currently selected folder and all subfolders, including My Computer (Windows) and Computer (Mac OS). Operating system search engines look in the currently selected folder or in My Computer (Windows) and Computer (Mac OS).

    1. Click the magnifying glass icon  in the Quick Search field and choose Adobe Bridge, Windows Desktop Search (Windows), or Spotlight (Mac OS) as your search engine.
    2. Enter a search criteria.
    3. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS).
    Note: Windows Desktop Search is installed by default for Vista. Windows XP users can download and install it from the Microsoft website. Adobe Bridge detects if Windows Desktop Searchis installed and enables the functionality accordingly. The defaultWindows Desktop Search only indexes to the Documents and Settings directory. To include additional locations, modify your options in the Windows Desktop Search Options dialog box.

    Label and rate files

    Labeling files with a certain color or assigning ratings of zero (0) to five stars lets you mark a large number of files quickly. You can then sort files according to their color label or rating.

    For example, suppose you’re viewing a large number of imported images in Adobe Bridge. As you review each new image, you can label the images you want to keep. After this initial pass, you can use the Sort command to display and work on files that you’ve labeled with a particular color.

    You can label and rate folders as well as files.

    You can assign names to labels in Labels preferences. The name is then added to the file’s metadata when you apply the label. When you change names of labels in preferences, any files with the older label appear with white labels in the Content panel.

    Note: When you view folders, Adobe Bridge shows both labeled and unlabeled files until you choose another option.
    1. To label files, select one or more files and choose a label from the Label menu. To remove labels from files, choose Label > No Label.
    2. To rate files, select one or more file and do any of the following:

      • In the Content panel, click the dot representing the number of stars you want to give the file. (In Thumbnail view, a thumbnail must be selected for the dots to appear. Also, dots do not appear in very small thumbnail views. If necessary, scale the thumbnails until the dots appear. In List view, make sure that the Ratings column is visible.)

      • Choose a rating from the Label menu.

      • To add or remove one star, choose Label >Increase Rating or Label > Decrease Rating.

      • To remove all stars, choose Label >No Rating.

      • To add a Reject rating, choose Label > Reject or press Alt+Delete (Windows) or Option+Delete (Mac OS).

        Note: To hide rejected files in Adobe Bridge, choose View > Show Reject Files.

    Sort files

    By default, Adobe Bridge sorts files that appear in the Content panel by filename. You can sort files differently by using the Sort command or Sort By application bar button.

    • Choose an option from the View > Sort menu, or click the Sort button in the application bar to sort files by listed criteria. Choose Manually to sort by the last order in which you dragged the files. If the Content panel displays search results, a collection, or flat view, the Sort button contains a By Folder option that lets you sort files by the folder where they’re located.
    • In List view, click any column header to sort by that criteria.

    Filter files

    Control which files appear in the Content panel by selecting criteria in the Filter panel. The Filter panel displays the number of items in the current set that have a specific value, regardless of whether they are visible. For example, by glancing at the Filter panel, you can quickly see how many files have a specific rating or keyword.

    Criteria that appear in the Filter panel are dynamically generated depending on the files that appear in the Content panel and their associated metadata or location. For example, if the Content panel contains audio files, the Filter panel contains artist, album, genre, key, tempo, and loop criteria. If the Content panel contains images, the Filter panel contains such criteria as dimensions, orientation, and camera data such as exposure time and aperture value. If the Content panel displays search results or a collection with files from multiple folders, or if the Content panel displays flat view, the Filter panel contains a Parent Folderthat lets you filter the files by the folder where they’re located.

    Specify that Adobe Bridge show or hide folders, rejected files, and hidden files (such as cache files) in the Content panel by choosing options from the View menu.
    • To filter files, select one or more criteria in the Filter panel:

      • Select criteria in the same category (for example, file types) to display files that meet any of the criteria. For example, to display both GIF and JPEG files, select GIF Imageand JPEG File beneath File Type.

      • Select criteria across categories (for example, file types and ratings) to display files that meet all of the criteria. For example, to display GIF and JPEG files that have two stars, select GIF Image and JPEG File beneath File Type and two stars beneath Ratings.

        Shift-click rating criteria to select that rating or higher. For example, Shift-click two stars to display all files that have two or more stars.

      • Select categories from the Filter panel menu.

        Select Expand All or Collapse All from the Filter panel menu to open or close all filter categories.

      • Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) to inverse selected criteria. For example, if you’ve selected GIF Image beneath File Type, Alt-click GIF Image to deselect it and select all the other file types listed.

        Note: If you filter a closed stack, Adobe Bridge displays the stack only if the top (thumbnail) item meets the filter criteria. If you filter an expanded stack, Adobe Bridge displays all files in the stack that meet the filter criteria of the top file.
    • To clear filters, click the Clear Filter button  at the bottom of the Filter panel.
    • To prevent filter criteria from clearing when you navigate to another location in Adobe Bridge, click the Keep Filter When Browsing button  at the bottom of the Filter panel.

    Copy, move, and delete files and folders

    • To copy files or folders, do any of the following:

      • Select the files or folders and choose Edit > Copy.

      • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the files or folders, choose Copy To, and select a location from the list (to specify a different location, select Choose Folder).

      • Ctrl-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the files or folders to a different folder.

    • To move files to another folder, do one of the following:

      • Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the files, choose Move To, and select a location from the list (to specify a different location, select Choose Folder).

      • Drag the files to a different folder in the Adobe Bridge window or in Windows Explorer (Windows) or the Finder (Mac OS).

        Note: If the file you’re dragging is in a different mounted volume than Adobe Bridge, the file is copied, not moved. To move a file to a different mounted volume, Shift-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) the file.
    • To delete files or folders, do any of the following:

      • Select the files or folders and click the Delete Item button .

      • Select the files or folders and press Ctrl+Delete (Windows) or Command+Delete (Mac OS).

      • Select the files or folders and press Delete, and then click Delete in the dialog box.

    Rotate images

    You can rotate the view of JPEG, PSD, TIFF, and camera raw images in Adobe Bridge. Rotating does not affect the image data; however, rotating an image in Adobe Bridge may rotate the image view in the native application as well.

    1. Select one or more images in the content area.
    2. Do one of the following:

      • Choose Edit > Rotate 90° Clockwise, Rotate 90° Counterclockwise, or Rotate 180°.

      • Click the Rotate 90° Clockwise or Rotate 90° Counterclockwise button in the application bar.

    Work with Camera Raw

    Camera raw files contain unprocessed picture data from a camera’s image sensor. Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw software, available in Adobe Bridge if you have Adobe Photoshop or Adobe AfterEffects installed, processes camera raw files. You can also process JPEG (.JPG) or TIFF files by opening them in Camera Raw from Adobe Bridge.

    Use Adobe Bridge to copy and paste settings from one file to another, to batch process files, or to apply settings to files without opening the Camera Raw dialog box.

    • To open JPEG or TIFF files in Camera Raw from Adobe Bridge, specify those options in Camera Raw preferences. Choose Edit > Camera Raw Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Bridge CS5.1 > Camera Raw Preferences (Mac OS). Under JPEG And TIFF Handling, choose JPEG > Automatically Open All Supported JPEGs and/or choose TIFF > Automatically Open All Supported TIFFs. Then, double-click a JPEG or TIFF file to open it in Camera Raw. To open JPEG and TIFF files in Photoshop, choose Automatically Open [JPEGs or TIFFs] With Settings.
    • To open raw files in Camera Raw from Adobe Bridge, specify that option in Adobe Bridge preferences. Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Bridge CS5.1 > Preferences (Mac OS). In the Behavior area of the General tab, select Double-Click Edits Camera Raw Settings In Bridge. If this preference is not selected, double-clicking raw files opens them in Photoshop.
    • See also Open images.

    Use Adobe Device Central with Adobe Bridge

    Adobe Device Central enables creative professionals and developers that use Adobe Bridge to preview how different types of files, such as Photoshop, Flash, and Illustrator files, will look on a variety of mobile devices. This ability can streamline the testing workflows for a variety of file types. Adobe Bridge also provides direct access to Adobe Device Central without having to open a Creative Suite component such as Photoshop or Flash Professional first.

    For example, a designer who uses several Creative Suite components may use a folder in Adobe Bridge to organize a variety of files used in the same project. The designer can navigate to that folder in Adobe Bridge and, in turn, view how a Photoshop image, a Flash file, and an Illustrator file will look on a mobile device.

    Previewing content from Adobe Bridge is also useful if you are reusing existing content. For example, you may have some wallpaper files you created some time ago for a certain group of devices. Now, you may want to test the wallpaper files on the newest mobile devices. Simply update the profile list in Adobe Device Central and test the old wallpaper files on the new devices directly from Adobe Bridge.

    Note: Using Adobe Device Central with Adobe Bridge is not supported in Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac®.
    1. To access Adobe Device Central from Adobe Bridge, select an individual file. The supported formats are: SWF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WBM, MOV, 3GP, M4V, MP4, MPG, MPEG, AVI, HTM, HTML, XHTML, CHTML, URL, and WEBLOC.
    2. Do one of the following:

      • Choose File > Test In Device Central.

      • Right-click and choose Test In Device Central.

      The file is displayed in the Adobe Device CentralEmulator tab. To continue testing, double-click the name of a different device in the Device Sets or Available Devices lists.

      Note: To browse device profiles or to create mobile documents, select Tools > Device Central. Adobe Device Central opens with the Device Library tab shown. For more help with Adobe Device Central, see Create and preview mobile content with other Adobe software.

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