How to see photos in bridge

I don't use Adobe Bridge or Photoshop so sorry if this is a dumb question.

Why use iPhoto at all, can you not import your photos straight from the camera into Bridge (and a standard file/folder structue) and then use Photoshop?

You could if you wish use Photoshop as your image editor in iPhoto.

iPhoto and Aperture use a database type of system to keep track of all the changes, thats why it is not browsable easily in Finder. In fact be careful using Finder, any changes that you make unintentionally could corrupt the database.

You need to make a choice: iPhoto or Bridge. They both occupy the same space in the workflow. If you use one you don't need the other.

If you're using iPhoto then set Photoshop as an external editor:

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.

If you want to use Brideg then don't use iPhoto at all. You can get your photos out of iPhoto simply: File -> Export.

This User Tip

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-4921

has details of the options in the Export dialogue.

Terence will give a much better answer than I can but for now Aperture is similar to Lightroom in that both use a database type structure. Bridge was designed as a file brower to compliment the other applications in the Adobe suite.

I think the database was probably chosen for both Aperture and Lightroom to be able to track changes and hold the metadata of the photos.

There are videos on both Apple and Adobe websites on how to get the best of any of the applications.

Basicaly you decide which workflow works best for you and take that route.

reuben454 wrote:

I really do not understand why apple do not allow you to see into your iphoto library?

Right click on the iPhoto library file, select 'Show Package Contents'

Your photos are in the folder marked 'Originals'

Don't remove or edit anything in that folder, iPhoto indexing won't like it so just make a copy and edit that.

Simple stop using iPhoto to import your images. Brigde, PS, comes with a Photo Downloading App. Use that from now on and place your images in a folder of your choosing.

As to the images that are already in iPhoto as noted above in the iPhoto Library.photolibrary package right click and select Show Package Contents then go to the Masters folder, not the "Originals" folder, and COPY all the images you find in all of the Sub-folder over to that same folder of your choosing.

Then Never Open iPhoto again. You can also restrict from opening to import images with a setting in the iPhoto Preferences on the General Tab.

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.

Guys:

File -> Export, set the Kind to Original

Is the supported way to access the original files, safely and with no risk to the Library. There is no need to enter the iPhoto Library package via the Finder.

Yes but if you want to stop using iPhoto or Aperture there is no sense leaving all those images in the Library Package or leaving the Library on the drive at all.

Terence Devlin wrote:

Guys:

File -> Export, set the Kind to Original

Is the supported way to access the original files, safely and with no risk to the Library. There is no need to enter the iPhoto Library package via the Finder.

Yes, so the supported way is to export them and then drag the Library to the trash and empty.

Photos and iPhoto are what they are because Apple hates to give anyone access to their files without having to go through Apple. File managers, photo viewers, blah blah blah, it's all about Apple maintaining control. And after decades of using their products, most of the time quite happily, I've about had enough. Now we're to put everything in the Cloud, where our files are yet another degree removed from our own control. You can't fight City Hall, but you can move out of town.

For someone who has "decades...using their products" you seem remarkably uninformed.

It's not about Apple maintaining control of anything, you can run any of the photo managers in referenced mode, you're not "supposed" to put your photos in the cloud, it's entirely optional.

Plus, of course, you don't need to use any of these apps at all, but can use any other 3rd party app you prefer.

Perhaps you need to learn a little before making grand statements.