Tài liệu Photoshop cs5 by Dayley part 21 docx

Using Bridge to Organize and Process Photos IN THIS CHAPTER Organizing files using the Bridge application Importing images from camera and memory cards Viewing and modifying image metad

Using Bridge to

Organize and

Process Photos

IN THIS CHAPTER

Organizing files using the Bridge application Importing images from camera and memory cards

Viewing and modifying image metadata

Batch processing images using Bridge and Photoshop Using Mini-Bridge to find and select files in Photoshop

One of the most important yet least loved tasks that is necessary

when working with images is organizing and managing the image files It is difficult to keep files organized in an effective manner, especially with the number of images that get generated by digital cameras

Adobe tries to solve the problem of organizing files by providing the Bridge

application Bridge is designed to simplify the process of importing,

organiz-ing, and finding files Bridge also provides a direct interface to Photoshop

that allows you to take advantage of Photoshop image-processing

capabili-ties The following sections discuss the Bridge application, how to configure

it, and how to use it to quickly organize and manage your image files

Working in the Bridge

Workspaces

The Bridge utility is a versatile application that allows you to create

work-spaces that allow you to easily navigate, organize, and process your images

The purpose of this section is to help you understand how the Bridge utility

is organized and how to customize it to best fit your needs

Understanding the Bridge utility

The Bridge utility, shown in Figure 6.1, is divided into four main areas: the

main menu, toolbar, window panes, and content view controls The

follow-ing sections discuss each of these parts of the Bridge utility

FIGURE 6.1

The main areas of the Bridge utility are the main menu, the toolbar, the window panes, and the content

view controls

Toolbar Window panes

Content view controls Window pane

Main menu

The Bridge main menu provides access to functions of the Bridge utility that you cannot reach eas-ily through the toolbar or the windows in the window panes area The following is a list of the main menu headings with a description of the types of commands that are available in them Many

of these commands are discussed later in this chapter:

l File: Allows you to work with the filesystem to create folders, move files, import files,

view file information, and interact with Photoshop

l Edit: Provides options that allow you to select and copy files, duplicate files, rotate files,

and set preferences for the Bridge utility

l View: Provides settings to configure how files are viewed in the Bridge utility You also

can sort files, change to full-screen preview mode, and start a slideshow from this menu

l Stacks: Provides options to create and configure stacks Stacks are discussed later in this

chapter

l Label: Allows you to add, remove, and change labels and ratings files You can use labels

and ratings to filter files later

l Tools: Provides options to interact with Photoshop, batch process files, manage metadata

templates, and manage caches of files

l Window: Allows you to control which windows are displayed in the window panes You

also can use this menu to quickly switch which workspace to use in Bridge Another option available in the Window menu is New Synchronized Window, which launches a second instance of the Bridge utility that is completely synchronized with the first, so that

if you change images or windows in one, the other changes as well

l Help: Provides access to the Bridge help and the online support for Bridge at adobe

com You also can update Bridge, launch Adobe’s Extension Manager, and get information about the version of Bridge from this menu

Toolbar

The Bridge toolbar, shown in Figure 6.2, provides quick access to many of the features in Bridge without having to navigate the menus The following list describes each of the major areas of the toolbar and what tools can be found there:

l Navigation tools: The navigation tools provide some shortcuts to navigating through the

filesystem to find files The left and right arrows allow you to navigate forward and back-ward through previous navigations You also can click the down arrow to select any of the favorite locations or one of the subfolders in the current path The Reveal Recent File or Goto Recent Folder button provides several options to navigate back to recent locations and files The navigation bar, below the others, shows you each folder in the current path;

you can select any folder to go back to that level

Tip

If you click just to the right of the navigation path, a text box appears and you can manually type in a

file-system path This can be much faster than navigating by clicking folder icons if you know the name of the path

that you want to select n

l Import/export tools: The import/export tools provide options to import a file from a

cam-era, open a file in Camera Raw, and batch rename and output files to PDF or for the Web

l Workspace selection: The workspace selection area allows you to quickly select the

workspace option that Bridge is using This is useful when you want to switch between options when you change from navigating to images and working with them

l Search: Allows you to limit the files displayed by restricting them based on the text typed

in the search field Bridge matches the text against the filename and keywords Only the files that contain the specified text in the filename or keywords are displayed This is extremely useful if you are searching for a specific set of files

l Thumbnail options: These allow you to quickly configure how Bridge builds thumbnails

to display in the content pane Bridge can use the thumbnails embedded in the image for faster preview; however, these thumbnails are not as high quality as the ones Bridge gen-erates otherwise

l Sort and filter: This area provides buttons to filter files by rating and labels and to sort

files by name or different items in the file metadata

l Rotation: This allows you to quickly rotate images 90 degrees to the left or right This is

useful if you are processing images taken with a camera tilted on its side

l File and folder control: This area allows you to quickly create folders and delete folders

and files You also can open files from the Adobe Photoshop Recent File list

FIGURE 6.2

The toolbar in Bridge provides quick access to most of the features without having to navigate the menus

Import/export tools

Navigation tools Sort and filter tools

Workspace selection tools Search tool

File and folder tools

Rotation tools Thumbnail options

Window panes

The window panes area of the Bridge utility provides an area for window panels to dock This area actually contains five different windows panes (refer to Figure 6.1) Each window pane can contain one or more Window panels Different Window panels in a pane can be accessed by clicking the tab at the top of the window pane

You can drag Window panels between panes by clicking the Window panel tab and holding the mouse button down while moving the Window panel to the new pane Also, window panes can be resized by using the control handle in the middle of the pane bars that separate the panes

Window panels are added and removed from the window panes by selecting/deselecting them in the Window menu The following is a list of the Window panels that you can choose to view in the window panes:

l Folders: Displays a folder tree view Use this panel to navigate and find files in the filesystem.

l Favorites: Displays a list of favorite folders You can drag folders from the Content panel

to this panel to add them to the list This allows you to configure a set of folders that you use often to speed up navigation

l Content: Displays a list of contents of the selected folder in the Folders or Favorites

pan-els You can double-click folders in this panel to navigate into them to find files

l Preview: Displays a preview of the image(s) selected in the Content panel You can use

the pane controls to change the size of the preview pane, which changes the size of the image displayed

l Metadata: Displays the metadata information contained in the image selected in the

Content panel Each of the main metadata areas is divided into collapsible/expandable areas To collapse an area, click the downward triangle next to the area title To expand an area, click the rightward triangle next to the area title

l Keywords: Allows you to create new keywords and add keywords to the file(s) that are

currently selected in the Content panel

l Filter: Allows you to quickly limit the files that are displayed in the Content panel based

on ratings, keywords, creation date, and last modified date

l Collections: Allows you to create and manage collections of files A big advantage of

using collections is that the files in a single collection do not need to be in the same folder

on the filesystem

l Export: The Export panel is used to add and manage modules and export presets used to

export images from Bridge to other applications

Content view controls

The content view controls shown in Figure 6.3 allow you to change the view of the Content pane

These tools are useful when you need to switch between viewing lots of images in a folder to more detailed information about a specific set of files

The following list describes the different views for the Content pane:

l Thumbnail size slider: Allows you to quickly change the size of the thumbnails

dis-played in each of the content views using a slider or the smaller/larger button on the left/

right side of the slider

Tip

When working with large number of files, use the thumbnail size slider to shrink the thumbnails so that more

images are displayed in the Content panel, and then scroll down to the area where the files you want to work

with are located and use the slider to increase the size of the thumbnails to more accurately select images n

l View as thumbnails: Shows only a thumbnail of the image and the filename.

l Lock thumbnail grid: Similar to the View as thumbnails option; however, the images are

locked into evenly sized grids This feature is useful if you are working with images that are not the same shape

l View as details: Displays the thumbnail, filename, creation date, modification date, file size,

document type, and some of the metadata such as ISO, focal length, and color profile

l View as list: Displays the files in a more traditional list form with columns for each of the

metadata items This view is useful because you can click the top of any column to sort the images by the values of that column

FIGURE 6.3

The content view controls in Bridge allow you to quickly change how files are displayed in the content

pane

View as thumbnails

View as list

Thumbnail size slider Lock thumbnails in grid View details

Using the Bridge workspaces

The Bridge utility provides several different workspaces that give you a different look at the files you are working with Each workspace automatically sets the number, size, and shape of the win-dows panes and the window panels that are available in each pane The different workspaces com-pletely change the look and functionality of the Bridge utility

Note

Changes you make to a workspace by adjusting window panes and window panels are persistent The same

settings are in effect the next time you switch to that workspace and when you close and reopen Bridge n

Each of these views has advantages over the others You likely will find yourself switching between the different workspaces to accommodate your current workflow The following are the work-spaces defined in Bridge:

l Essentials: The Essentials workspace is the best overall workspace to navigate and find

files and do general organization It provides a large content panel in the middle from which to select files

l Filmstrip: The Filmstrip workspace is great for previewing files It provides a large

Preview panel to view the images

l Metadata: The Metadata workspace is great for viewing the metadata of images A large

content panel allows you to quickly select different files, and a metadata panel allows you

to view the metadata

l Output: The Output workspace is designed to help when you want to output a series of

files to a PDF file or to the Web

l Keywords: The Keywords workspace is designed to help you quickly add and manage

keywords for images

l Preview: The Preview workspace provides the largest area for previewing images The

Content panel is narrow and vertical, which is sometimes difficult to use

l Light Table: The Light Table workspace displays only the content panel This is excellent

for selecting files after you have already navigated to the files you need

l Folders: The Folders workspace is designed to help you navigate the filesystem to find the

folders and files that you need to work with

Organizing Files in Bridge

The true value of the Bridge utility is in the ability to quickly find and organize images Bridge pro-vides direct access to all metadata contained in the images file and allows you to add additional metadata in the form of keywords, labels, and ratings Bridge also allows you to organize photos in

a more usable fashion than a traditional filesystem by arranging them in collections and stacks

When you keep your files organized, you save lots of time looking for images The following sec-tions discuss how to use Bridge to organize your image files

Importing images from cameras and card readers

An extremely useful feature of Bridge is its ability to import files from a camera or card reader directly to your computer filesystem Most cameras and card readers allow you to easily copy files

to your computer, but Bridge offers many more options than just a file copy

To import images from your camera or card reader to Bridge, select File ➪ Get Photos From Camera from the main menu or click the Get Photos from Camera button in the toolbar The Photo Downloader, shown in Figure 6.4, is displayed You can click the Advanced Dialog button

to also display the images on the device, as shown in Figure 6.4 This allows you to select which images to download from the device

FIGURE 6.4

The content view controls in Bridge allow you to quickly change how files are displayed in the content

pane