ACR, Bridge, PS workflow

I'm enjoying working through Jeff Schewe's ACR/PS book and he has me pretty much sold on the ACR, Bridge, PS workflow.
Can Lightroom add significant benefits?
Any comments will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Donn

Perhaps for printing. In a PhotoPro article* last November (2011) Jeff Schewe writes "let me disclose the fact that I'm partial to and perhaps a bit biased toward the Lightroom Print functionality."
* The Right Resolution page 2 <www.digitalphotopro.com/technique/workflow/the-right-resolution.html>

Similar Messages

Full ACR + Bridge LE = a missing product ?

This could be the wrong subforum to ask (and Im sure someone will tell me), however, heres the story and the question:
Two of my kids (9 and 12 years old) are currently making their first steps in digital photography. So we tested different software for image processing, including Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and PS Elements 6. Purpose was to find something simple while still getting best possible results in the given context. Following are our impressions:
1.) ACRs ability to open Raw as well as JPG files was found to be very useful. In many cases, a separate Pixel-editor such as given with main Photoshop or PSE was not necessarily needed anymore (even though my heart is with the main Photoshop platform).
2.) Bridge was loved. Whereas LR and PSE soon got ignored due their Organizer and this DAM import/export thing. Ive heard that Mac users are more familiar which the procedure. However, were on Windowz boxes. We (I) expect a Browser to show the files in the given file structure as it is.
3.) ACRs functions were found to be too much reduced in PSE. Full ACR including e.g. the HSL tab etc. would be preferred.
Anything in the pipeline (or anything missed) which could be called Full ACR + Bridge LE (light edition), while running on Windowz ?
Please note that this is not a question about pricing and getting the best for least money. If it costs as much as (lets say LR), so be it.
Peter

Hi Peter,
Just a comment on your LR import/export issues. I agree and dislike the way it requires importing images, but I've got a work around that is semi-satisfactory (for me anyway).
I've imported a single folder at the top level, under which all my own folder structure is organised. When I have added images to this structure I "synchronise" the top level folder, which basically just imports the new images into the LR database.
It's far more time consuming than it should be (especially as the folder grows bigger), but atleast it means LR sticks to the folder structure that _I_ want, and it's not as tedious as manually importing each new folder.
For me, the editing abilities of LR are good enough that a trial of PS (and PSE) sat idle because I never needed to edit in it.
Hope this helps,
James

Smart Object - How do I keep ACR from changing workflow options?

Open image in Photoshop as a Smart Object from Lightroom.
Double-click to change the RAW characteristics.
When I return to Photoshop, my image has been changed... Color space is changed, bit depth is changed, size is changed........
I believe I know WHAT is doing it - the Workflow Options in ACR are set. HOW DO I TURN THEM OFF?
I can't find a reset, and I can't get it to stop messing with the image. I've SPECIFICALLY UNCLICKED the "Resize to Fit", but
it STILL takes my 2600x3300 pixel image and returns it as 1824x2321 pixels.......
Where and how do I reset this thing?

I ABSOLUTELY agree...... That's exactly, I believe, how it's SUPPOSED to work.
Except that mine didn't.
I opened a 12.2 MP RAW file.
And made absolutely no changes to the workflow uptions at the time of opening.
But instead of "Image Sizing" saying "Default 12.2 MP", it said "3.6MP"
Resize was turned OFF
Width was 2321 px and height was 1824 px, BOTH GRAYED OUT.
Upon leaving ACR, I had a 2321x1824 file.
Eventually, after wasting another hour screwing around with it, I finally blew away all of Bridge AND the preferences and all that,
and rebooted since the %$#)(*& Adobe CC thing wouldn't figure out there was no more Bridge, and resintalled...........
Now, when I open a file in there, at LEAST it knows it's 12.2MP.
It STILL wants to change the Space to sRGB, which I NEVER use from here, and the Depth to 8-bit, which again, I never use in ACR,
but I can set those back to what they should be...
So, in this case, by using a large enough bludgeon, I appear to have gotten around the problem. Now I'm just waiting to see how soon it screws up again.

ACR/Bridge deleting wrong pictures. Help please!

Usually my workflow to post process as fast as possible around 600 - 800 pictures I shot on the same day/same subject, was to select batches of 100 pictures and open them in ACR. Then adjust brightness / contrast, cropping, etc. and deleting the undesired ones.
After making these changes on ACR, click the done button, choose the next 100 pictures, and repeat this process 8 times and I was done.
Now with CS3, I've found that if I do this too fast (clicking on done after working 100 images and selecting 100 more) the photos I deleted still there and what is worst, the ones I wanted to keep are being deleted. I´m not sure about this, but I think that even the changes made to one picture were applied not to that one, but to the next one (can this really be happening?) It seems that the sidecar XMP files info is being applied to the wrong photo.
Is anyone else having the same problem?
What can I do to prevent it?
Running on Win XP, 1Gb RAM.
TIA for your help.

Have not seen that mentioned, but that does not mean you are the only one. One caveat when running Bridge is to not make any changes until the flies are loaded, as it can cause freezes, crashes and other problems. That is the spinning arrow at bottom left corner, wait until it stops. If working fast that may be a factor in your case. Worth taking a look at.
Another thing to look at is the cache size in ACR. Go to Edit>Camera Raw Prefenences and look at cache size. Default is 1 gig, but some users have jumped this to 10 gigs to solve problems.

Image Corruption in ACR/Bridge CS 6:

Shooting 1D mk lV, all image shot in RAW; Mac Pro Dual Core Xeon, ATI Radeon HD 5770. Downloads are via card reader.
Bridge/ACR will randomly take the first image I open and corrupt it. It could be per set of images or just the first image of the day. This is usually not a problem as my first images are usually just test/set up shots. This morning it screwed me royally.
I edited a shoot last night and put my highlight images into a separate folder. I then did ACR corrections and ran a batch for logo'd sample images and sent them to the client.
This morning I start up my computer and open the highlight image folder, select the 5 highlights, click on 'open in camera raw' and they pop up and after 2 seconds the first image corrupts.
I have tried copying the image to other drives as well as to my Mac Pro laptop and it does the same thing every time. Purging cache for selection doesn't work.
Copying the original in finder to another drive doesn't work (this has worked in the past).
This has happened in the past and I did find a fix of deleting a certain file in the adobe library (and it recreates it). I did save the page where I found the fix but haven't been able to find it.
I have re-created the ACR cache as well as the Bridge caches. After recreating the caches and clicking 'purge cache for selection' it briefly pops back the original and then corrupts again.
I've tried increasing cache size and various cache options.
When I view the file in finder, the tiny thumbnail shows the correct image but the preview shows corrupted image.
If I view the image in Canon's Digital Photo Professional, it pops up for a second normally and then corrupts itself.
I'm guessing it's a deep cache issue...I have well over a million images that have passed through CS6. I regulary clean my caches but am I missing something somewhere???
Any suggestions from anyone???

Doubleclicking on the files in Bridge causes that quicktime or VLC or itunes (depending on the file format) will open that, but bridge does not handle anything?!
Bridge CC and Bridge CS6 both handle my .mov files from EOS 1Dx and iPhone without any problems. The show in the preview window and can be played with sound in this same window. (MacPro with 10.8.4)
Purging cache is what it is, it dumps the previous cache of the preview and forces Bridge to create a new one, nothing else is set to default.
First try a reset of preferences and hold down option key while restarting Bridge and choose reset prefs. then try again.

ACR & Bridge Panel artifacts

I am posting here as it might get seen by Adobe engineers. It is difficult to find a bug report link for Bridge CS6 (unless I am completely missing something).
I am running the following machine:
MacBook Pro 17" (late 2011) - highest spec model that one could purchase at the Apple store in Seattle.
Intel 2.5 Ghz. i7, 8 GB RAM, Anti-Glare screen. Upgraded with OWC Electra 480 GB SSD.
Mac OS X 10.8.2 currently installed (clean install with all updates from Apple - including the Java 6 update 5 - applied).
Disk Permissions repaired and Disk verified.
Starting with OS X Mountain Lion at 10.8.0, I noticed there are artifacts in some of the panel fields of both the Bridge preferences sheet and the ACR panels at times. This does not interfere with functionality of the programs, but is just not something I have seen in previous versions of Adobe CSx or under OS X 10.6.x through 10.7.x. I am assuming this has to do with OS X 10.8.x compatibility, but wanted to post for exposure of problem and to see if anyone else has noticed this issue.
Here are images:
As you can see, there are artifacts in some of the fields.
I have been able to reproduce this in Bridge CS6 on the Labels panel by simply going to and away from the panel after relaunching Bridge CS6. The ACR issue shows up when I select the Adjustment Brush icon to view the panel, and then some of the artifacts show in other panel fields (including the Basic panel) once they have been 'activated'? It looks to me like the artifacts are coming from other panel labeling for fields, but can't be sure.
Hopefully one of the Adobe employees or engineers will see this and report it. I had sent an email to Adobe with the Bridge labels panel image attached about a month ago, but no word back on that one.
Again, this is a clean install with the defaults all in place. Other programs are running without artifacting (Office 2011, Sketchbook Pro, Apple programs, etc.).
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

Moved thread to Bridge forum for better responses and visibility.
@CorkyO - You could use the bug report form here: https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform
For reporting bugs with Bridge, you need to use Photoshop Feedback portal here: http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family and it will be looked into by Adobe.

ACR/Bridge can handle files LR can't?

Bridge 4.04, ACR 6.3, LR 3.3
Bridge/ACR can see and process Leaf Volare HDR files, LR can't see them to import them (No Photos Found).
Why one and not the other?

I know Leaf Volare files aren't officially supoorted by ACR/LR, however, it is working in Bridge/ACR.
Would prefer LR though. Is there a way?

Lightroom / ACR / Bridge?

Where can I get an overview on the functions / purposes and overlap, if any, in regards to these programs? I am currently using CS4 and Thumbs Plus.
Thanks, Airpix

airpix wrote:
Thanks John, I've been Googling all morning without much luck
I just put in lightroom versus photoshop.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=lightroom+versus+photoshop&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org .mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Aperture and ACR workflow

For those who find Aperture's Camera RAW conversion too primitive, the program can be used in a simple workflow that maximizes your productivity while insuring maximum quality conversion.
1- IMPORT your RAW images into Aperture and add keywords and other tags.
Aperture brings in the RAW image UNALTERED.
2- COMPARE AND SORT your images using the EXCELLENT TOOLS in Aperture.
You can also freely experiment with versions to test ideas for everything from exposure to B&W conversions.
3- SELECT YOUR BEST IMAGES inside Aperture.
Most of us working in the professional world are really only interested in using the top 1% or less of a typical shoot. It is only those that need to be converted as output for Giclee printing or as digital masters for retouching and CMYK printing.
4- EXPORT THOSE BEST IMAGES using the export "DIGITAL MASTERS..." command.
Many of us find Aperture's RAW conversion to be excellent but for those who don't, you can choose at this point all your selected images, which by now should be a very short list, and export them as UNALTERED RAW files to a folder outside of Aperture.
5- CONVERT those exported camera RAW images using whatever conversion program you want, for many it will be ACR, and do any extra retouching in Photoshop.
And for those worried about Aperture's filing system, you can store these exported "Best Images" exactly like you used to do, in old fashioned folders on your hard disk, in whatever categories make sense to you.
For those of us producing professional work on always shorter deadlines, Aperture is an outstanding tool that makes our job much easier.
Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Tom, first allow me to congratulate you on starting a practical thread. Now that many of us own Aperture, and I'm not saying the issues threads aren't useful, figuring out where it fits in our workflow is a fine idea.
Here is my (pre-Aperture) workflow, and some ideas for an interim (working with what we have) post-Aperture flow. I'd really appreciate any advice or suggestions.
Pre: Conversion mostly in ACR/Bridge (occasionally in C1Pro-generally fleshtones). Color Space generaly set in camera as Adobe RGB, same for PS. Preliminary sharpening with PhotoKit, noise reduction if necessary with neat image or noise ninja, adjustments, aspect ratio crops, etc. Save as TIFF/16bit layered if necessary/add "Base" to filename when saving. Reopen in PS for output specific sharpening, save flattened copy. Open in ImagePrint-Print. Library has been on external HDs, backed up to duplicate HDs which are taken off premises. Current library size:700Gigs and growing fast.
Post: Import into Aperture from Card, also backup RAWs to DVD. As suggested here, do sorts and picks in Aperture. Maybe do some crude adjusting for low res images for client proofs (web or contact sheets-sorry, haven't tried using Aperture with Epson drivers or tried the web posting). Export RAW picks for conversion and editing elsewhere (I have tested and the camera EXIFs are still there in PS (I'm not sure they will be on re-import?). So, now I've got a RAW with an attached .xmp, one or more Tiffs. I can reimport the TIFFs, but can I re-associate them with the Master? Is there any way that I can import the .xmp and associate it with the master? So, I can pick, web, go to printer and archive (although I'll hit a disk space issue-ideas there?)
I tried to do this without asking for changes in Aperture, but not using Aperture where I felt it was immature. There are already enough discussions about conversion, editing and storage. The interface is promising and I would welcome any shortcuts you can come up with. Meanwhile, I'm going to try with new shoots, and a few existing shoots for experimanetation, but leave my old library intact. Then I'm going to put Aperture's library on an 800Gig external eSATA RAID0 -two disk; and back up to another. Wish me luck.

Save Image in ACR 5.6 vs. Open/Save from Photoshop CS4

Apologies in advance if this turns out to be cockpit error. Recently started shooting again, after a long hiatus, and boy there have been some changes over the past few years. I feel like Rip Van Winkle.
Was used to early versions of ACR with CS2 and thought I was doing just fine finding my way around a new PC using ACR 5.6 RC with Photoshop CS4, when I processed my first shoot using the two. Followed my old/usual raw workflow with Photomechanic selects -> Bridge -> batch processing with Photoshop, when I noticed the JPEGs PS was saving from my PS Action didn't reflect adjustments I had set in ACR/Bridge.
The Action was pretty simple, just did an open, a few simple adjustments, profile/mode conversion, and a save as JPEG. I tried running the Action two different ways, once from Bridge and once directly in PS, and got the same result.
Scratching my head (this stuff used to work fine), I opened all the images into ACR from Bridge, clicked Select All, then clicked Save Images, and saved them as JPEGs into a folder. This worked, where each JPEG written reflected the crop, WB, exposure/brightness, contrast/black settings I had made through ACR/Bridge.
Any idea what I've overlooked? I tried this using both 32-bit and 64-bit PS. The PC is running Win7 RTM x64. The camera body is a Canon 7D, which is why I installed ACR 5.6 RC. I'm otherwise really tickled with everything. Nice to see the progress made by everyone in the industry while I was away. Thanks in advance...
-David

Dr. Powell wrote:
Any idea what I've overlooked?
If you are running an action during a Batch operation you need to be sure that either you DON'T record ad Open step and select Suppress File Open and Color Profile Warnings in which case the Camera Raw settings in play for a given image will be processed in or make sure you _DO_ record an open step making sure you select the correct workflow settings (color space, resolution, etc) but without making ANY adjustments while recording the open step and make sure you've selected the Override Action Open Command...
It's confusing until you understand what it is your are or not recording...
When you record a an open step while selecting the Workflow settings and NOT making any image adjustments all you are recording is the workflow settings. Then in Batch you tell the Batch to ignore the Open command and only use the Workflow settings...
Otherwise you don't actually need to record an explicit open step...you won't have any absolute control over what Workflow setting are in play-but since the Workflow settings are sticky you can open an image to double check the settings and click Done and then you've set the Workflow settings manually (not in an action).
The other oddity when recording an open action step in Photoshop is that the actual command to open must come from Photoshop...this may seem simple but it's not. I keep a spare raw file on the desktop so when recording an Open action I can start in Photoshop and turn on recording then drag & drop the raw file onto my Photoshop Icon to make sure Photoshop is opening the image then click to set the Workflow settings and specifically do NOT make any other image adjustment steps (they would also be recorded) and continue with the Open, then whatever other steps you need to add before recording the Save and Close steps (yeah, same tricky deal on the end with the Save As recorded and the Override Action Save As Commands...
If all of the above makes your eye's glaze over (the best time to learn how to do this stuff is NOT when you are under the gun or a deadline) I suggest you try using Image Processor...easier to set up and learn, not nearly as powerful as a Batch Action though...

Best reason for a built-in downloader in Bridge

I just heard the best reason to have a photo downloader built-in to Bridge. I already own Downloader Pro from Breeze Systems which is a bit complicated to set up, but has great functionality. But, because it's not integrated into Bridge, my workflow has extra steps in it that aren't necessary.
So now I just read that the new RawShooter Premium has a great feature. It has a built-in downloader and while doing the download, it is also building all the thumbnails. Thus, when the download finishes, there's no extra step to scan your whole directory and then build thumbs. This is a huge workflow time savings. My typical workflow consists of. Pop the CF card into the reader, Downloader Pro pops up. I type in a job code to help name the directory meaningfully and hit OK. I walk away while while it downloads.
I come back after it downloads. I point Bridge at the new directory. I walk away again while Bridge builds it's thumbs.
If Bridge has a built-in downloader and was building thumbs during the download, I'd save a whole step in my workflow and a bunch of time.
It makes some sense to build thumbs during the download. After all, the entire image is going through RAW during the download anyway. It's better to do whatever needs to be done to the images on the first pass rather than putting them on disk with the download process and then coming back and reading them all over again to make thumbs.
I'm writing this not because I'm thinking about switching to RAW Shooter, but because I'd like to see Bridge improve and take this extra step and time out of my RAW workflow.
BTW, it would also help to allow Bridge to continue to build thumbs when I have the ACR window open. Now, as soon as I open a RAW image, all thumb building stops until I finish with the ACR window. The fact that Bridge won't build thumbs in the background while using ACR is a real pain and is why I have to walk away and wait for Bridge to finish building thumbs before starting the RAW edits.
--John

>
Adobe is fully committed to an injest feature.
I hope Adobe offers a richer downloader in the future that's competitive with other downloaders and that covers all the workflow steps involved in transferring images (auto-recognition of an inserted CF card, directory creation by a user-specified rule, directory naming including custom naming, ability to split into multiple directories by day from the same card, super fast download, download verification, card clearing, thumb building, etc...) all done with one interaction at the start of the download process.
I may experiment with pointing Bridge at the download directory and letting it start indexing at the same time as my downloader is getting the images. That might save one "walk-away-from-the-computer" step in my current workflow.
I think it's a cop-out to not offer to delete the images from the CF card after download. The user should be prompted and it should be a feature the user can turn off, but it's a mandatory step in any photo workflow, every other downloader I've seen offers this option (even the one in Photoshop Elements). If some users want to only delete images by reformatting in the camera, that's their prerogative. I only reformat every once in a while and I've never had a problem and doing it from Downloader Pro saves me a workflow step.
The ideal downloader would verify that every image was successfully transferred to the PC, inform the user that everything has been transferred and then prompt to clear the card with an option to turn off this feature.
One thing that is happening in the photo marketplace is that programs like RawShooter and Aperture have 100% focused on all aspects of the RAW workflow for the pro or enthusiast that shoots RAW. While I appreciate and use many of the RAW workflow improvements in the latest ACR/CS2, I hope we see the same kind of focus from Adobe. Downloading files from the card is just one piece of that workflow and Adobe doesn't have a competitive offering in that area now.
--John

I am unable to get same preview image colors in Bridge and Lightroom

I am unable to get same file preview in Bridge and Lightroom. The Lightroom preview image (in both the Library and Develop) is more de-saturated. But the exported/saved jpegs match. If I try to match the Lightroom preview image to the Bridge preview image, the resulting Lightroom export colors are off. I have tried this with images with no changes and with changes and the result is the same. I have Lightroom 5.6 and CR 8.6. I am using the latest version of Bridge.
I contacted Adobe support and followed all instructions to try to fix but the problem remains. This comment was made after several solutions were tried, including updating Lightroom. :
Adobe: there would be little difference in case of preview of Bridge CC and Lightroom 5. However, after exporting it would be same. Both use different technology at the background and work in a different way. The preview which you see in lightroom is not the actual image but incase of Bridge you see the actual image ( original ). That's the reason there is a color variation between previews.
Me: But how can I then use the Lightroom preview to get accurate colors when processing a RAW file? If I do adjustments to the RAW file in Lightroom it looks different when exported. That doesn't seem to make sense when Lightroom is designed for photograhy
Adobe: Please check in develop module of lightroom.
Me: Nothing changes in the develop mode. The image looks the same as in the preview/Library mode.
This screenshot shows the unmodified images in Develop (Lightroom) and ACR (Bridge). The color differences are significant.
Lightroom exported jpeg file, unmodified from preview image in Develop (which looks like Bridge preview image not the Lightroom preview)
Bridge saved jpeg file, unmodified from preview image in ACR
Any suggestions on what I need to do to Lightroom to make it show accurate colors. If not, I don't see any point in using it to process files.
Thanks, Marie

Bridge is just a browser. It displays according to the embedded color profile but assumes sRGB for all untagged images.
In Lightroom library previews use Adobe RGB and in Develop the working space is Pro Photo RGB.
The real question is why use both Bridge and Lightroom. Stick to one, not both.

Adobe Bridge CS 4 missing file properties

I'm working with photoshop files (CS 4) and a few seem to have dropped some of the metadata from the file properties in the bridge browser. Dimensions, Resolution, Bit depth, and Color Mode are missing, and the Color Space is listed as Untagged, even though it is in fact tagged as Adobe 1998 in the Photoshop file. It's as if I inadvertently hit it a quick key to dump the information, as it has only occurred on a couple of files. The thumbnail appears smaller too. Any ideas?

I tried all of the above to no avail. I saved a copy in another folder and the file still had the diminished thumbnail and missing data. I added another layer (the files contain many layers and adjustment layers) to the file, cropped and re-saved and it picked up the missing data on the new version. I made some benign changes on my original, but alas it didn't work.
When I get a chance I'll do some more testing on this. It may have something to do with I import certain layers. I have been flowing layers in from both Aperture and Bridge, and from the latter, sometimes as smart objects. So maybe there is something going on there.
Except for this minor glitch, and some more serious PS stability issues, I am preferring the Bridge/Photoshop workflow to the Aperture/Photoshop workflow, and I'm thinking of jettisoning Aperture altogether in favor of the "browser" method of managing files.
I appreciate all the suggestions and will get back to this problem soon. But for know I have to meet a deadline.

Camera Raw in Bridge

decided to add descriptions and keywords to my canon raw images in Bridge. No problems so far. Now I want to look at the same images from another installation. I see the images, but no descriptions and keywords.
I have tried to copy the Camera Raw cache to the other installation, but this didn't help. I also tried to copy the Bridge cache, with no success.
Both installations are up to date

Sidecar xmp files will be created if you have that option selected in Camera Raw preferences. With this ACR option, bridge-entered meta data will go into sidecar xmp file even if raw files have never been opened in acr (Bridge will create an xmp file if one does not already exist).
Without acr xmp sidecar files option, have you tried in Bridge: Tools > Cache > Build and Export Cache? Or set Bridge Preferences > Cache > Automatically Export Cache to Folders When Possible.
And creating dng files should work too, albeit with the extra operation to create them. View the dng files at the alternate site instead of the raw files.

Adobe Bridge CS^

When I double click on a picture I want to have it automatically open in Brodge CS6 but not working, this works in Bridge CS5. I wanna no longer open pictures with Windows Viewer and open then with Bridge but it does not work, I set Bridge that default program to open all JPG files but still not working.
Please HELP!

I tried all of the above to no avail. I saved a copy in another folder and the file still had the diminished thumbnail and missing data. I added another layer (the files contain many layers and adjustment layers) to the file, cropped and re-saved and it picked up the missing data on the new version. I made some benign changes on my original, but alas it didn't work.
When I get a chance I'll do some more testing on this. It may have something to do with I import certain layers. I have been flowing layers in from both Aperture and Bridge, and from the latter, sometimes as smart objects. So maybe there is something going on there.
Except for this minor glitch, and some more serious PS stability issues, I am preferring the Bridge/Photoshop workflow to the Aperture/Photoshop workflow, and I'm thinking of jettisoning Aperture altogether in favor of the "browser" method of managing files.
I appreciate all the suggestions and will get back to this problem soon. But for know I have to meet a deadline.

ACR, Bridge, PS workflow

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