How to see photos in bridge

Question

Hi all,
In general liking adapting to imac but..
I keep running into problems when using non-apple software, such as the excellent adobe photoshop.
I find it quite frustrating that 'finder' and other apps (apart from iphoto and aperture) cannot 'see' the contents of the iphoto library.  I want to be able to do this in Bridge NOT iphoto/aperture.  (I know you can see into iphoto in finder by right click then looking in 'masters' - why did they not design it so you can simply see photos in finder by clicking the 'iphoto icon'?!!!) 
The reason one needs to be able to see into the iphoto library in Bridge is to allow you to select and 'drop' multiple images/logos into one open/blank file in photoshop's workspace so you can then do design work (beyond more straight forward single photo editing).  The way around it is to use iphoto to find what you need then drop all the files onto the desktop - then, they are visable in Bridge in the 'desktop' tab.
It is far more simple to just be working within the one program -in this case photoshop-  open minibridge, then find the files you want and drop into photoshop.
I hope this makes sense to someone who can help me with this?
Thanks
Reuben

Answer 1

I'm not sure why it is I must make a choice to use one or the other?
Well of course, you don't have to it's just that it makes no sense to use both. It's a bit like trying to write your novel in two different word processors - it's possible, but makes more work, is unecessarily confusing  and makes for needless complexity, but hey, if that's what you're into...
I'm not using iphoto at all but Aperture instead (much the same in the sense they are both photo viewers...
Neither are "photo viewers" and and that might be the start of your problem. They are both databases. When it comes to editing the principle deficit is compositing... this sort of thing:
Lets say I need to create a collage of four images, with a logo and a bit of text.
That's exactly what you would use an external editor in either app for.
I really do not understand why apple do not allow you to see into your iphoto library?  Take finder for example, say I want to upload an image to the web.  Usually you click upload, the finder window pops up, you look in the left hand column for your photos, click on the 'pictures' tab then onto iphoto library.
That's because you don't understand what iPhoto and Aperture are... You think they are photo viewers like Bridge, but they are not. They are Photo Managers built around a non-destructive workflow. As with any database to get data out you need to export it.
Bridge is a photo viewer, Photoshop is an editor. Not only different apps but entirely different types of apps. The nearest thing in the Adobe ecosystem is Lightroom. A'l of these are database, and like any database, you need to export the data.
These apps replace the Finder for anything you want to do with your Photos. Remember the Finder is a file manager. These apps are photo managers. It's a key difference:
Remember that file is just a container -  a box - for your Photograph. Think of it this way:  In my iTunes Library I have a file called 'Let_it_Be_The_Beatles.mp3'. So what is that, exactly? It's not the song. The Beatles never wrote an mp3. They wrote a tune and lyrics. They recorded it and a copy of that recording is stored in the mp3 file. So the file is just a container for the recording. That container is designed in a specific way attuned to the characteristics and requirements of the data. Hence, mp3.
Similarly, that Jpeg is not your photo, it's a container designed to hold that kind of data. iPhoto is all about the data and not about the container. So, regardless of where you choose to store the file, iPhoto will manage the photo, edit the photo, add metadata to the Photo but never touch the file. If you choose to export - unless you specifically choose to export the original - iPhoto will export the Photo into a new container - a new file containing the photo.
As for uploading, sharing to other apps and so on, there are hooks built into every single Open or Upload dialogue in the OS. In the case of Uploading to a website the first one of these is what you want:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4491
Your entire library, searchable, with the actual dialogue.
So, what you're missing, at heart, is that these apps are not "Apple's version of Photoshop" or whatever, they're a different kind of app, with different aims and uses.