50 c h a p t e r 2: BRIDGE ■ Advanced This section (shown in Figure 2.10) contains several settings. These are mat- ters of personal preference and we leave them unchecked. Figure 2.10 The Advanced section of the Bridge Preferences contains a number of additional settings. Software rendering can be helpful for those with older computers and/or lesser graph- ics cards whose hardware can’t take advantage of some of the features in Bridge. For those with better graphics cards and newer computers, it’s better to use the hardware acceleration. If you’re not sure, you can easily try checking this option to see which way Bridge works better for you. If you want to use previews that match the resolution of your monitor to more easily assess critical sharpness in your images, check the option Generate Monitor-Size Pre- views. If you always want Bridge to launch when you log in, check that option. Output We leave the Output Preferences options set at their default values. Downloading Images We’re sure that you are anxious to look at your images immediately after returning from a photo shoot. Of course, you need to download the images from your memory cards before you can get started. CS5 includes an excellent downloader that makes this task easier than ever. Start by inserting your digital media into the card reader. In Bridge, click the camera icon near the top left of the interface . Choose File > Get Photos from Camera. A dialog box appears for the Photo Downloader. Click the Advanced Dialog button in the lower-left corner to access the interface shown in Figure 2.11. 607343c02.indd 50 4/11/10 11:03:10 PM 51 ■ DOWNLOADING IMAGES Figure 2.11 The Photo Downloader is an extremely ecient way to download and rename your images. Ph ot os by EllE n An on Note: We recommend using an accessory card reader rather than connecting your camera directly to the computer. This is partly because we just find it more convenient to use a card reader, especially when we have a relatively large number of images to download. However, we also prefer keeping the camera safely in the camera bag rather than sitting on the desk with a cord attached, with the risk that the cord might accidentally get pulled and the camera might crash to the floor. Begin by choosing a location for your pictures. Click the Choose button to navigate to the desired location on your computer, and use it to create a new folder if necessary. Which folder you copy them to depends on your own organizational struc- ture. Hopefully you’ve set up folders to organize your images systematically, such as by the location, date, or other attributes of the images. If not, now is a good time to start. One way to do this is to store your images in a location folder that you create within Pictures. Then in the Create Subfolders drop-down menu, choose Shot Date. That creates a subfolder within the location folder for each day so you can use the same location folder for multiple days of shooting while still keeping images organized by date. Of course, you could also choose to create folders in Pictures based on Events or Subject Matter or whatever is logical to you. At a minimum, create a new folder to reflect the event you’ve just photographed or the location. 607343c02.indd 51 4/11/10 11:03:11 PM 52 c h a p t e r 2: BRIDGE ■ One of the handy features of the Downloader is the ability to rename the files while importing them. CS5 added the ability to give an Advanced Name to your files. We like this option because it enables you to specify exactly how you’d like to rename the file. We like to use a custom name followed by the original file name. That way the original name that was assigned by the camera acts as a sequencing agent, while the custom name allows us to add text that makes it easier for us to readily recognize the files. For example, in Figure 2.12 we’re renaming some files that were shot at Black Fly in Nevada. We added BlackFly to the original filename. You can use the + and – radio buttons at the end of each line to add or subtract options for naming your files, as well as click on the drop-down menus in each line to specify what option to add to the name. We often choose a custom name that reflects the location, although some people prefer to use the species or subject name. Back in the main Photo Downloader dialog, it’s a good idea to check the option Preserve Current Filename in XMP so that if the file gets saved and renamed again later, you can more easily find the original raw file. (For more details on using this feature, see the instructions in the “Renaming Your Images After Import” section later in this chapter.) Figure 2.12 Take advantage of the new options for renaming les in the Advanced Rename section of Photo Downloader. Although it may seem silly since Bridge is already open, we recommend check- ing the option Open Adobe Bridge under Advanced Options. Doing so opens a second Bridge window that automatically displays the images you are downloading. That saves you from having to navigate to them later. We do not recommend converting the images to DNG unless you have a specific reason to want DNG files. We also recommend against using the Delete Original Files option. It’s safer to wait and reformat the card in your camera. We recommend that you always store your files in at least two places since hard drives can fail. Photo Downloader enables you to simultaneously save copies of the images to a second location by checking the Save Copies To box and then choosing the desired location. Obviously, if you want to use an external hard drive as your backup, it must be connected to the computer. It’s a good practice to create a metadata template containing your basic contact information such as your name, email, website, phone, or whatever information you want to include. Then you can select that template in the Apply Metadata section of 607343c02.indd 52 4/11/10 11:03:11 PM 53 ■ DOWNLOADING IMAGES Downloader, and it will apply the information to each file during the import. We’ll explain how to do that shortly. Lastly, if you want to import only some of the files from the card, click the Uncheck All button, and then manually check those you want to import. When you’re ready, click Get Photos. A new Bridge window will appear, preset to the folder containing the newly imported pictures, which will already be renamed and have your contact metadata attached. That’s pretty slick! Once you’ve copied the images, the originals are still on your digital media card. Until you need to use that card, it serves as a backup copy just in case some- thing goes wrong in the meantime (though you should still be backing up the images on your hard drive as well). When you’re ready to use that digital media card again, reformat it in the camera to remove the existing images and reinitialize the card. Creating a Metadata Template In today’s digital world it’s important to label your digital images with your contact information. Otherwise it’s very easy for the image to become separated from any infor- mation about you, and if it’s a good image, you might discover that it’s being used in a variety of ways while you’re not getting credit or money from it. Attaching contact (and copyright) information to the file removes any excuses for someone not to contact you before they use it. The easiest way to do so is to create a template that can be applied to all your images as you import them. To create a metadata template, go to the Metadata panel, click the small fly-out menu in the upper-right corner, and choose Create Metadata Template, as shown in Figure 2.13, or go to Tools > Create Metadata Template. In the resulting dialog box, fill in the desired fields. Be sure to check each field that you want to include in the tem- plate. Even if text appears, if the field is not checked it won’t be included in the template. Name the template—for example, Contact Info—and click Save. The template you just made will be available in the Downloader to apply to all images as you import then, as well as in the Metadata panel. You can apply the template from the Metadata panel by selecting the images and then going to the same fly-out menu and choosing Append Metadata. Select your template from the list that appears. Note: If the Metadata panel is not visible, go to Window and toggle on Metadata. Figure 2.13 Create a metadata template to quickly add contact and copyright information to your les. 607343c02.indd 53 4/11/10 11:03:11 PM 54 c h a p t e r 2: BRIDGE ■ Note: To view the metadata information you add, either go to the Metadata section of Bridge or choose File > File Info. Although you can add information to an individual image from File Info, you cannot save the information as a template there. Renaming Your Images After Import Sometimes you may import images without renaming them and want to rename them later, or perhaps you want to change the name you initially used. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to rename all or some of the images in a folder. To rename your images, take the following steps: 1. Either select the particular files you want to rename or select a folder in the Folders panel. In the latter case, the renaming will be applied to all the files in the folder. 2. Choose Tools > Batch Rename in the Bridge menu to open the Batch Rename dialog box (see Figure 2.14). Figure 2.14 To rename images after you’ve imported them, use the Batch Rename dialog box. 3. Choose whether to use a preset naming convention. By default this will be set to Last Used. You can save any naming convention you establish as a preset by clicking the Save button and naming it. It will then be added to the list of preset names. To remove a preset, select it and press Delete. 4. Select whether you want your renamed files to be in the same folder, copied to another folder, or moved to another folder. If you copy or move them, specify where by clicking Browse. 5. Under New Filenames, we like to create a name that tells us essential identify- ing features about the images. This could be text that describes the place (such 607343c02.indd 54 4/11/10 11:03:12 PM 55 ■ BRIDGE VIEWS AND WORKSPACES as Erie) or the subject (lake), along with a date and/or the original preserved filename and an extension. The number of components you use is your choice: I• n the first drop-down box under New Filenames that says Current File- name by default, choose Text. The text box to the right will prompt you to type text. This is where you type the location, subject, name, and so on. T• o the far right of this row are + and – radio buttons. Click the + button to get another drop-down box to add more parameters to your name. We recommend using the Preserved Filename, which is available as one of the options when you click the drop-down menu in each line because it creates a distinct filename for each image. I• f you do not use the Preserved Filename, then we suggest that you choose a sequence number (or letter) from the drop-down menu. Usually we spec- ify a three-digit number, but if you don’t use the date in your naming schema, you may prefer to use at least a four-digit number. You’ll see a preview of your new name at the lower right. Note: Bridge will automatically preserve the file extension, so you don’t have to use Extension as your final choice. 6. Under Options, if you did not previously save the original filename to the XMP metadata, you can choose to keep the original filename in the metadata for the file. If you are renaming copies, this can be helpful in the event you want to refer back to the original files. 7. Under Compatibility, it’s a good idea to select both Windows and Mac OS (your current operating system is selected by default). Bridge Views and Workspaces We know you’re eager to check out your images, but most nature photographers find that the default configuration (see Figure 2.15) of Bridge isn’t a very efficient way to work. Fortunately, Bridge is easy to customize, and making a few changes can mean the difference between thinking that Bridge is awkward to use and thinking that it’s wonderful. The Bridge interface is composed of pods that can be moved and adjusted in size either manually or by using one of the presets, or a combination or both, to enable easier access to whatever features you’re using. We’ll show you several of the variations that we find most helpful. Renaming Your Images After Import Sometimes you may import images without renaming them and want to rename them later, or perhaps you want to change the name you initially used. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to rename all or some of the images in a folder. To rename your images, take the following steps: 1. Either select the particular files you want to rename or select a folder in the Folders panel. In the latter case, the renaming will be applied to all the files in the folder. 2. Choose Tools > Batch Rename in the Bridge menu to open the Batch Rename dialog box (see Figure 2.14). Figure 2.14 To rename images after you’ve imported them, use the Batch Rename dialog box. 3. Choose whether to use a preset naming convention. By default this will be set to Last Used. You can save any naming convention you establish as a preset by clicking the Save button and naming it. It will then be added to the list of preset names. To remove a preset, select it and press Delete. 4. Select whether you want your renamed files to be in the same folder, copied to another folder, or moved to another folder. If you copy or move them, specify where by clicking Browse. 5. Under New Filenames, we like to create a name that tells us essential identify- ing features about the images. This could be text that describes the place (such 607343c02.indd 55 4/11/10 11:03:12 PM . ■ Advanced This section (shown in Figure 2 .10) contains several settings. These are mat- ters of personal preference and we leave them unchecked. Figure 2 .10 The Advanced section of the Bridge Preferences. the lower-left corner to access the interface shown in Figure 2.11. 607343c02.indd 50 4/11 /10 11:03 :10 PM 51 ■ DOWNLOADING IMAGES Figure 2.11 The Photo Downloader is an extremely ecient way. accidentally get pulled and the camera might crash to the floor. Begin by choosing a location for your pictures. Click the Choose button to navigate to the desired location on your computer, and