iPhoto and Adobe Bridge Workflow

I have to disagree with some of the post above. Bridge and iPhoto can be used together as part of a workflow.

I do agree that you should not use Bridge to edit or manage photos under the control of iPhoto.

The work flow I use is as follows:

1. Shoot in RAW
2. Import RAW images using Image Capture onto my iMac. I save them to the following folder structure s ~/Pictures/Photo Shoots/<date>/<subject>/Originals
3. Use Bridge to Batch Rename / Apply Metadata / Reject Images
4. Once I have selected the images I wish to keep I use Photoshop to apply any edits e.g. crops / levels etc...... I then save the images as tiffs in ~/Pictures/Photo Shoots/<date>/<subject>/Masters
5. I then import the finished images as jpegs into iPhoto

I find this works well as it allows me to take advantage of Bridge/Photoshops RAW management and editing capabilities (iPhoto is lacking in this area), and then use iPhoto to publish Web Galleries, email images, Sync with iPhone and Apple TV etc......

The other advantage is you can manage and archive your RAW/Tiff versions (Originals/Masters) outside of the control of iPhoto. Also If I ever want to edit a photo in iPhoto I can go back to the RAW/Tiff file instead of using the jpeg.

I suppose I'm curious as to how people might make use of Photoshop, Bridge and iPhoto in the most useful way possible.

They don't - iPhoto and bridge are simply not compatible - they both do the same thing differently and can not be used together

Most people who use iPhoto as their photo organizer and want PhotoShop as their editor simply set PS as the external editor for iPhoto and use iPhoto for organization and viewing and PS for editing

then merely use iPhoto as the last means of displaying them?

iPhoto is not well suited to this use - it is a photo organizer and includes a viewer for its photos but you have to import photos into it to use it and there are much better ways to view photos if that is all you want

Some have tried doing this with a referenced library but invariably run into big problems down the road - iPhoto works very well when it maintains the library but not so well when you do the maintainence - read the boards for some of the disasters that occur with referenced libraries and the difficulties of converting back to a managed library



LN

As Larry says, Bridge and iPhoto are incompatible. Bride can easily damage an iPhoto Library, so bluntly, you need to choose between them. For my money, iPhoto will do all that Bridge does and then some.

You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.

Regards

TD

Using Photoshop (or Photoshop Elements) as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.

1 - select Photoshop as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.

2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.

3 - however, if you get the navigation window that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.

This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..

NOTE: With Photoshop Elements 6 the Saving File preferences should be configured: "On First Save: Save Over Current File". Also I suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always.

If you want to use both iPhoto's editing mode and PS without having to go back and forth to the Preference pane, once you've selected PS as your editor of choice, reset the Preferences back to "Open in main window". That will let you either edit in iPhoto (double click on the thumbnail) or in PS (Control-click on the thumbnail and seledt "Edit in external editor" in the Contextual menu). This way you get the best of both worlds

2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.

3 - however, if you get the navigation window that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.

This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..

TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 6 and 7 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

With respect, that's not using Bridge, Photoshop and iPhoto together. That's using Bridge and Photoshop and then when you're finished, importing to iPhoto. In fact, you're quite explicit in this

you can manage and archive your RAW/Tiff versions (Originals/Masters) outside of the control of iPhoto. Also If I ever want to edit a photo in iPhoto I can go back to the RAW/Tiff file instead of using the jpeg.

If you popped one of the jpegs into a Word File, would it be a Bridge/Word workflow?

The point remains, it is not wise to use Bridge on pics that are managed by iPhoto.

Regards

TD

The original question was:

+'Would it be best to use Bridge to organize and work with the photos directly out of my camera (including RAW files) and then merely use iPhoto as the last means of displaying them?'+

At no point is it implied that the two applications will be working on the same set of images. So I'm not sure what your point is.

The question also asked:

+I suppose I'm curious as to how people might make use of Photoshop, Bridge and iPhoto in the most useful way possible.+

Which is exactly what I described (how I use the applications together). I also clearly stated that I agree that they should not work on the same set of images. So again I don't really understand the point your trying to make.

Hey guys.

my problem is really that I shoot in Raw with a canon 350D for work and use bridge for all my PS,AI and ID files work wise. problem being I now have to use iphoto to edit my raw files even though I have set the iphoto to use the external PS to edit, but cannot use bridge as a quick view when sifting through all my photo's.

I use iphoto for personal use, with either my 350D or my little 960IS, so what i tend to do, is create a folder under my user ad Dan artwork and then sub folders for each cat, hence PHOTOS. then in iphoto I get info on the one event photo i have just shot, then drag it d into my new folder, now I can see my work photo's and edit view bridge using PS and its neat raw pre edit, which is 10 times superior to iphoto's edit.

by doing it this way i have cleary have iphoto for personal and bridge photo's for work stuff, yes its a pain in the backside and probably a wrong way of doing it, but until i have more time to sit there and organise myself better, it will have to do.

failing that, by having PS as your editor, you can always "save as " after editing and then store it somewhere else thus having bridge recongnise it and then keep the original in iphoto ???

lucasweb,

Thanks for the suggested workflow. As iphoto 6 will not open up the raw files from my new camera, I will give this a try.

Repeating my first post in this thread

iPhoto and bridge are simply not compatible - they both do the same thing differently and can not be used together

Most people who use iPhoto as their photo organizer and want PhotoShop as their editor simply set PS as the external editor for iPhoto and use iPhoto for organization and viewing and PS for editing

Pretty much everything that can be said about PS, Bridge and iPhoto has been said in this thread - I recommend you read it

LN

LN - No one is saying they are compatible ...... and you've made that point very clear.

What is being suggested is they can be used for different parts of a workflow. It might not be the way you would do it but it suits me just fine.

Opinions other than yours are valid!!

Lucasweb

Opinions other than yours are valid!!

That is EXACTLY why I suggested that they READ the entire thread

Pretty much everything that can be said about PS, Bridge and iPhoto has been said in this thread - I recommend you read it

LN

+"Pretty much everything that can be said about PS, Bridge and iPhoto has been said in this thread"+

Well, no one has really addressed RAW converters here, and the OP did say she/he was shooting RAW.

If you're shooting RAW and own Photoshop, you should absolutely be using Adobe Camera RAW to convert at least your important images- or spend the $$$ for a non-destructive Digital Asset Management application like Aperture $200 or Lightroom $300.

Adobe Camera RAW and Bridge can be used in combination to achieve the same thing, but it's not as intuitive as Aperture or Lightroom.

iPhoto can read RAW files but can not take full advantage of them, and it's not non-destructive because it works on a copy.

Also, when you see the power you have over a RAW image using Adobe Camera RAW, Aperture or Lightroom, you won't want to use iPhoto on RAW files. It's just a waste of RAW power.

I would suggest spending the money for a DAM application. You'll spend that much on Hard Drive space using iPhoto for RAW processing anyway. This is especially true if you choose to keep them 16 Bit- which you should or you might as well shoot jpeg.

In a RAW workflow, iPhoto should only be used for some of the cool consumer level functionality that's not offered in the ProApps.

DLS

Hello all,

I use Bridge and iPhoto 08 in the same way mentioned above. I like to upload pictures from my camera with Bridge, because I like Bridge's upload options more. In Bridge, I reject photos I don't like and do quick fixes via PS Elements 6. I also do my initial applying of keywords.

When I have my pictures ready, I import into iPhoto. Some of you may be aware of the problem with this workflow from other threads: iPhoto does not show all the keywords from Bridge. It is not showing my keywords for portrait oriented pictures. All other keywords show in iPhoto. i think it is a flaw with auto-rotate and Exif rotation tags.

I like my workflow, so how can I get all my keywords to show up in iPhoto after import? Any other suggestions on a better work flow? Thanks.