If you see a great link you want to share, just add adobe to your del.icio.us network and add "for:adobe" as a tag.  That way it will bubble up into the system - the tags and links are being organized and managed by a team in our learning resources department.

 The Adobe Design Center has an article on how to use del.icio.us and tag for the creative community.

We get a lot of feature requests, and we have limited resources – so we have to prioritize the best we can. Thanks to Arno for going back and following up on each of these requests.

1-click keyword image reveal option please

A "Move to Folder" command

A Nitpick - smaller selection tiles, please

Batch Rename should show progress

Best reason for a built-in downloader in Bridge

Cancel searches

Chance attribute of cache files to hidden

Do not reset filter when switching folders

DPI or PPI

Faster searching, and better criteria

Feature Request: Better dimensional meta data displayed

progress indicator in the status bar

RAW+JPEG pairing

search by height/width priority

Select Rated

Selection of landscape or portrait orientation?

Sort lists folders first

Stack photos

Star rating system improvement

Text size option

The download will be available on Adobe Labs in the early hours Pacific Standard Time on December 15.

The Bridge team has been hard at work building new features. Here is a quick top 10 for Photoshop users:

1. Quick thumbnails for faster previews of image files
2. New Loupe tool for zooming in up to 800%
3. Smart image previews for multiple side by side comparisons
4. Image Stacks for visually grouping like files together
5. New Filter panel for fast navigation of rated and labeled files
6. Camera LCD display for quick overview of image settings
7. Download from camera and auto apply metadata templates, rename and convert to DNG
8. Enhanced slideshow for viewing, zooming, rating images
9. Easy to create metadata templates for quickly embedding key information in files
10. Enhanced workspace layouts and customization of presets

Matt Kloskowski over at NAPP has published 2 great videos on the new Loupe Tool and Stacks feature in Bridge.

Below is a description I've borrowed from one of our engineers - thanks Akiko!

The File Info library allows users to create their own panel definitions, place the definition file in a specified location on the disk and display the specified data in the File Info dialog panels.

Custom File Info Panel documents

Now, you can display the File Info custom panel data in the Bridge metadata pane. To do that, just add the 'fbname' property in the panel definition file for any data field you would like to display in the Bridge.

For example, the following expression will be displayed in the File Info dialog

static_text(name: '$$$/AWS/FileInfoLib/Panels/Camera1/Make=Camera Make:');
edit_text(locked: true, xmp_namespace: 'http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/', xmp_path: 'Make');

as

Camera Make: (dynamic value)

where 'Camera Make:' is a static text field used as a label for the edit text field next to it to display the data defined in the 'http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/' XMP namespace and 'Make' XMP path of an XMP packet being loaded.

To display the same data in the Bridge metadata pane, the same expression can be modified as:

static_text(name: '$$$/AWS/FileInfoLib/Panels/Camera1/Make=Camera Make:');
edit_text(fbname: '$$$/AWS/FileInfoLib/Panels/Camera1/Make=Camera Make:',
locked: true, xmp_namespace: 'http://ns.adobe.com/tiff/1.0/', xmp_path: 'Make');

The zstring item under fbname will be used as a label in the Bridge metadata pane. This string should be identical to the label zstring used for File into panel display (in this case-->name: '$$$/AWS/FileInfoLib/Panels/Camera1/Make=Camera Make:'). Otherwise, the labeling will be displayed different between the File Info and the Bridge. fbname field will be ignored for the File Info panel display.

The panel title will be used as the topmost label in the Bridge metadata pane.

panel title="$$$/AWS/FileInfoLib/Panels/test/PanelName=Custom Panel Data" version="1" type="custom_panel"

Currently, the supported widget types to work in the Bridge are:

edit_text()
static_text()
cat_container_edit_text()

To display array items such ask Keywords, you can set 'container_type' property for the cat_container_edit_text(). The values for 'container_type' can be:

bag_struct for unordered array
seq_struct for ordered array

e.g. cat_container_edit_text(xmp_path: 'Keywords', container_type: bag_struct);

The cat_container_edit_text() will always be displayed as read only in the Bridge metadata pane regardless of the value you specify in the 'locked' property.

// both will be ready only in the Bridge
e.g. cat_container_edit_text(xmp_path: 'Keywords', container_type: bag_struct, locked: false);
e.g. cat_container_edit_text(xmp_path: 'Keywords', container_type: bag_struct, locked: true);

Pixmantec was known for its RawShooter raw workflow app and raw processing engine. As the press release says:

"Adobe plans to integrate Pixmantec raw processing technologies into Lightroom™ and wherever customers will be working with raw files."

Pixmantec has also posted a FAQ.

So, what does it mean for Bridge? Right now, we're working on the next generation of Bridge. We have a bunch of cool features planned, but more importantly we're spending a lot of time improving our performance. Tuning an app's performance takes a very long time. In fact, you're never really done with it. It can also require big changes to your code base, which is why we've been limited in the improvements we've been able to make to Bridge 1.0. We're going to continue to focus on that for a while.

We can't detail yet how Pixmantec will help out, but you should expect improvements that will be fairly transparent in how Bridge works. That is, we're expecting it will mostly be work behind the covers. Also, although we want to bring out those improvements to you as quickly as possible, we don't have a timeline yet (it takes a while to figure all this out).

So, stay tuned for now, but feel free to share with us how you envision the integration of the Pixmantec raw engine in our products.

Thanks to John Nack for the link.

To update, select Help > Updates in Bridge or almost any other Adobe applications. Select More Details >>>, then click on Adobe Stock Photos 1.0.7.

If you cannot acces this update for some reason, a workaround is to disable Adobe Stock Photos. To do so, launch Bridge, select Preferences > General > Reveal. In the window that opens, locate the file AdobeStockPhotos.jsx and move this file to your desktop. Quit and re-launch Bridge and Adobe Stock Photos is now disabled.

A couple of other worthwhile updates: Adobe Camera Raw 3.4 and Photoshop 9.0.1.

You can download the ACR 3.4 plug-in for Windows or for Mac OS X.

Follow the installation instructions carefully to make sure you have put the plug-in in the correct location. To verify that you have the plug-in installed correctly, launch Bridge, select the Camera Raw Preferences command (in the Bridge menu on Mac OS and in the Edit menu on Windows). The window title should indicate the correct version.

Photoshop 9.0.1 features enhanced stability and can be downloaded for Windows or for Mac OS.

Launch Adobe Bridge and select Help > Updates. This will launch the Adobe Updater to check for available updates. The 1.0.4 update requires 1.0.3 since it is a patcher rather than a full install.

Problems addressed in 1.0.4:

* Improved interoperability with Epson R-D1 generated JPEG files - EXIF information is now preserved properly when updating XMP.
* Hasselblad / Imacon 3F (*.fff) Files no longer being corrupted by XMP updates
* Improved security fix for external URL handling
* Improved support for SSE2 processors - should now launch and work on all Pentium 3s and up
* Changed "Lightbox" workspace to "Light Table" workspace.

Thanks to the Bridge team for getting this out in the midst of an aggressive Bridge 2.0 dev cycle.

Gunar

From the Lexar Press Release:

Lexar Smart Download To Offer ActiveMemory Functionality For Adobe
Creative Suite; New Module Will Improve Digital Imaging Workflow for
Photographers Using Adobe Bridge
PMA 2006
ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2006--Lexar Media, Inc.
(Nasdaq: LEXR), a world leader in advanced digital media technologies
today announced Lexar(R) Smart Download, an intelligent acquisition
plug-in module that will allow photographers to rapidly download and
manage images directly from their memory cards via Adobe(R) Bridge, a
component of Adobe Creative Suite (CS2). On display at the Photo
Marketing Association International Show (PMA), the new plug-in will
make it possible for photographers to leverage advanced features offered
by Lexar Professional ActiveMemory(TM) CompactFlash(R) (CF) and Secure
Digital(TM) (SD) flash memory cards and will provide a productivity
boost with the ability to manage multiple concurrent downloads using
Lexar's Professional Firewire and USB 2.0 CompactFlash Readers.

With Bridge 1.03 (mac | win), customers can access the list of keywords that Bridge uses in an XML based format. Previously this information was stored in a more binary, harder to edit format - the .abdata file.

The Adobe Bridge Keywords.xml file is available in these locations:

Mac:
(username)/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Bridge/

Windows:
C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Adobe\Bridge

Simply edit the file in a text or XML browser and save. Re-launching Bridge will read in the new keywords list.

I would be interested to hear how customers would like to manage their keywords.

Gunar
Adobe Bridge Product Manager

So, is there a new version of Bridge? And what does it mean if you have both the Creative Suite and Production Studio on your machine?

Well, no, it's not a new version. The latest version of Bridge is still 1.0.3 (if you don't have it already, you can download the free update for Mac OS or Windows).

However, there are some new features in Bridge when running with the Production Studio. How do we do it? With something we call "feature clipping": based on the serial numbers and products you have activated on your machine, various features get enabled or not. For example, if you've purchased the Creative Suite, you'll see the Color Settings synchronization dialog and Bridge Center. Only if you have Illustrator installed will you see commands related to Illustrator. That way, you get an app that's relevant to you.

When designing Bridge we've given a lot of thought to keep things simple and avoiding putting in your face features that are not relevant to you. For example, only when you click on a PDF file will you see a controller that allows you to go through all its pages. If you never use PDF files (say it ain't so!), that feature never gets in your way.

In addition, Bridge is extensible via a rich Javascript scripting API. This allows us to add new commands and features without making changes to the core application.

Having a single core application allows us to keep it simple for you and for us: you have a single app to kepp track off, not multiple "variants", you can use the same app with any combination of products you want, and we can put all our resources on testing and improving an app that benefits all our customers.

So, what are the new features in Bridge with the Production Studio? If you invoke Bridge from Premiere, for example, double-click of files of any type and they will be imported in Premiere, instead of their usual application. This is a feature we call "Smart Import". The code-name for that feature was "who's your daddy?", but for some reason someone thought "Smart Import" was better... :-)

You'll also notice that the animation presets and templates have an animated preview: we're using XMP to embed an animated-GIF preview, and play it back in Bridge.

When the Production Studio is installed, Bridge will also extract metadata from dynamic media files, such as Quicktime .mov.

So, give Bridge a go with the new Production Studio and let us know what you think and what you'd like to see in future versions.

There's a couple of ways to do this.

If Bridge is already running, you can drop an item (file or folder) onto the Preview pane in Bridge. Bridge will switch to that item's location. On Mac OS X, you can also drop an item on the Bridge icon (whether Bridge is running or not) and this will also reveal that item in Bridge.

If you are using Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), you can install an Automator Plugin at the following path: ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder/. This will add a "Reveal in Bridge" command to the Finder contextual menu.

If you are using Windows, download this .reg file and double-click it. It will modify the Windows registy to add a new "Reveal in Bridge" command to Windows Explorer's contextual menu.

Arno Gourdol.
Adobe Bridge Engineering Manager.

Lightroom is highly tailored for a pro photographer workflow - Bridge is designed to be the file management hub for the creative professional. Yes, yes there will be some overlap in areas such as DNG, Camera Raw, and metadata, but that is a good thing.

One way to think about it is, where the photographer workflow ends, the creative professional workflow begins. Bridge is focussed on being at the center of the creative workflow - for print, web and video.

Adobe's approach to file and asset management is to be as open as possible since this drives interoperability. Almost all our applications support reading and writing of XMP - our open source metadata standard - as do many of our partner solutions. The more intelligence (metadata) we put in the file, the more intelligent and efficient workflows we can empower. And the more choices you will have as a consumer.

Gunar
Bridge Product Manager

Bridge is the file management hub of the Creative Suite, a place where one can manage, organize and view their creative assets.

It is also a very extensible platform, that include services such as Adobe Stock Photos and management of Version Cue projects. For Photoshop and Suite customers, Bridge also includes Camera Raw.

If you are a javascript developer, you should check the Bridge Javascript reference guide (pdf).

Make sure you have updated to 1.03 via downloads (mac) (pc) or from the Updates link under the Help menu.

Gunar
Adobe Bridge Product Manager