The Adobe® Bridge workspace consists of three columns, or panes, that contain various panels. You can adjust the Adobe Bridge workspace by moving or resizing panels. You can create custom workspaces or select from several preconfigured Adobe Bridge workspaces.
Adobe Bridge workspace
A. Application bar B. Panels C. Selected item D. Thumbnail slider E. View buttons F. Search
Application bar
Provides buttons for essential tasks, such as navigating the folder hierarchy, switching workspaces, and searching for files.
Content panel
Displays files specified by the navigational menu buttons, Path bar, Favorites panel, Folders panel, or Collections panel.
Preview panel
Displays a preview of the selected file or files. Previews are separate from, and typically larger than, the thumbnail image displayed in the Content panel. You can reduce or enlarge the preview by resizing the panel.
Metadata panel
Contains metadata information for the selected file. If multiple files are selected, shared data (such as keywords, date created, and exposure setting) is listed.
Output panel
Contains options for creating PDF documents and HTML or Flash® web galleries. Appears when the Output workspace is selected.
You can adjust the Adobe Bridge window by moving and resizing its panels. However, you can’t move panels outside the Adobe Bridge window.
- To specify Favorites preferences, choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Bridge CS6 > Preferences (Mac OS). Click General, and select desired options in the Favorite Items area of the Preferences dialog box.
- To add items to Favorites, do one of the following:
- Drag a file or folder to the Favorites panel from Windows Explorer (Windows), the Finder (Mac OS), or the Content or Folders panel of Adobe Bridge.
Select a file, folder, or collection in Adobe Bridge and choose File > Add To Favorites.
To remove an item from the Favorites panel, select it and choose File > Remove From Favorite. Or right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the item and choose Remove From Favorites from the context menu.
An Adobe Bridge workspace is a certain configuration or layout of panels. You can select either a preconfigured workspace or a custom workspace that you have previously saved.
By saving various Adobe Bridge workspaces, you can work in (and quickly switch between) different layouts. For instance, use one workspace to sort new photos and another to work with footage files from an After Effects composition.
Adobe Bridge provides the following preconfigured workspaces:
Output
Displays the Favorites, Folders, Content, Preview, and Output panels. This workspace is available when the Adobe Output Module startup script is selected in Adobe Bridge Preferences.
Metadata
Displays the Content panel in List view, along with the Favorites, Metadata, Filter, and Export panels.
Essentials
Displays the Favorites, Folders, Filter, Collections, Export, Content, Preview, Metadata, and Keywords panels.
Filmstrip
Displays thumbnails in a scrolling horizontal row (in the Content panel) along with a preview of the currently selected item (in the Preview panel). Also displays the Favorites, Folders, Filter, Collections, and Export panels.
Keywords
Displays the Content panel in Details view, along with the Favorites, Keywords, Filter, and Export panels.
Note:
In Mac OS, pressing Command+F5 to load the Keywords workspace starts Mac OS VoiceOver by default. To load the Preview workspace by using the keyboard shortcut, first disable the VoiceOver shortcut in Mac OS Keyboard Shortcuts preferences. For instructions, see Mac OS Help.
Preview
Displays a large Preview panel; a narrow, vertical Content panel in Thumbnails view; and the Favorites, Folders, Filter, Collections, and Export panels.
Folders
Displays the Content panel in Thumbnails view, along with the Favorites, Folders, and Export panels.
- To select a workspace, choose Window > Workspace, and then choose the desired workspace. Or, click one of the workspace buttons in the Adobe Bridge application bar.
Drag the vertical bar to the left of the workspace buttons to show more or fewer buttons. Drag the buttons to rearrange their order.
Workspace buttons and pop-up menu
- To save the current layout as a workspace, choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace. In the New Workspace dialog box, enter a name for the workspace, specify options, and then click Save.
- To delete or restore a custom workspace, choose Window > Workspace, and then choose one of the following commands:
Delete Workspace
Deletes the saved workspace. Choose the workspace from the Workspace menu in the Delete Workspace dialog box, and click Delete.
Reset Standard Workspace
Restores the default settings for the Adobe pre-defined workspaces (Essentials, Output, etc.)
Brighten or darken the Adobe Bridge background and specify accent colors in General preferences. To open preferences, choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Adobe Bridge CS6 > Preferences (Mac OS).
- To brighten or darken the background, go to the General panel of the Preferences dialog box and do the following:
- Drag the User Interface Brightness slider to make the Adobe Bridge background darker or lighter.
- Drag the Image Backdrop slider to make the background of slide shows and of the Content and Preview panels darker or lighter.
- To specify accent colors, go to the General panel of the Preferences dialog box and choose a color from the Accent Color menu.
Switch to Compact mode when you want to shrink the Adobe Bridge window. In Compact mode, the panels are hidden and the Content panel is simplified. A subset of common Adobe Bridge commands remains available from the pop‑up menu in the upper-right corner of the window.
By default, the Compact mode Adobe Bridge window floats on top of all windows. (In Full mode, the Adobe Bridge window can move behind other windows.) This floating window is useful because it is always available as you work in different applications. For instance, use Compact mode after you select the files you plan to use, and then drag them into the application as you need them.
Deselect Compact Window Always On Top from the Adobe Bridge window menu to prevent the Compact mode Adobe Bridge window from floating on top of all windows.
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to hide the Content panel, further minimizing the Adobe Bridge window. You can click the button again to return to Compact mode.
to
return to Full mode, displaying the panels, and letting Adobe Bridge
move behind the current window.In Adobe Bridge, the thumbnail quality determines whether color profile settings are used. High-quality thumbnails use color-profile settings, while quick thumbnails do not. In CS5 only, use the Advanced Preferences and the Options For Thumbnail Quality and Preview Generation button in the application bar to determine thumbnail quality.
If you own Adobe Creative Suite, you can use Adobe Bridge to synchronize color settings across all color-managed Creative Suite components. When you specify Creative Suite color settings using the Edit > Creative Suite Color Settings command in Adobe Bridge, color settings are automatically synchronized. Synchronizing color settings ensures that colors look the same in all color-managed Adobe Creative Suite components.
Adobe Bridge can display menus, options, and tool tips in multiple languages. You can also specify that Adobe Bridge use a specific language for keyboard shortcuts.
You can enable or disable startup scripts in Adobe Bridge preferences. Scripts listed vary depending on the Creative Suite® components you’ve installed. Disable startup scripts to improve performance or to resolve incompatibilities between scripts.
Numerous program settings are stored in the Adobe Bridge preferences file, including display, Adobe Photo Downloader, performance, and file-handling options.
Restoring preferences returns settings to their defaults and can often correct unusual application behavior.
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