If you are using Photoshop CS2, do you also use Bridge? Why/why not?

I have found Bridge to be a resource hog - slow, clunky and buggy. It's disappointing how much memory it eats up, which I'd rather have available for image editing, so I usually avoid it. It's certainly not compelling enough to go out and buy another gig of RAM. Adobe: gimme back the good ol' file browser, please! :sad:

- Kurt

Like Kurt said.... (exactly!)

I just use File>Open and select the miniature view - never had much need for anything else.

Rô

Ditto. Bloatware!

I use Bridge but agree that it is a huge memory hog. It is also slow and it minimizes after opening each picture. The only thing I really like about it is being able to view a slideshow of all pictures. Other than that one thing, I much preferred the CS1 browser.

Janet

what is bridge? I havent played with it yet and I'm at work right now and only have photoshop 7 :(

http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/bridge.html

I use the thumbnails view in Windows Explorer. That's all the functionality I need usually. When I want more, I use IrfanView Thumbnails or XnView. Besides, Bridge is slow as molasses in winter.

Pierre

Ditto on it being a memory hog...I have a lot of memory and it is still slow and frustrating.

Cathy

That piece of software is such a hog on ressources that I simply do not use it. I greatly preferred the File Browser that shipped with Photoshop CS.

I use the bridge all the time. From an image perspective I use it for sorting, viewing, moving etc. From a photography perspective I use it for processing my raw files, batch processing jpegs for to correct my lighting mistakes, contact sheets and so on. On some occasions I will process my pictures through the bridge without needing Photoshop at all (meaning I had a really good day with my exposure setting..haha).
I have a gig of ram at work and 512mb at home, I dont seem to have any resource problems. The combination of Photoshop and the bridge will beat on my machine at home a little, so I close what I am not using. At work they run all day without any problems.

Hi there, Bill. Welcome to RetouchPRO :bigthmb:

Seems like a pattern is emerging here.....
: 1GB+ RAM - use bridge by all means;
: 512MB - use, but take care;
: 256MB - don't even think about it.
That about right?

Rô

Hi and thanks. Yes that seems to sum it up, oh I do use a seperate hd for my scratch disk on both machines and it does have a positive impact. I am not running history and have 55% of my memory allocated to Photoshop.

Seems like a pattern is emerging here.....
: 1GB+ RAM - use bridge by all means;
: 512MB - use, but take care;
: 256MB - don't even think about it.
That about right?

I have 1GB of RAM too. I don't use a separate scratch disk, dedicate 75% of memory to Photoshop, and have History States set to 40 (and, no, iTunes is not running :)). When I run Bridge with Photoshop, invariably rampant disk thrashing is the eventual result, bogging everything down. Bridge does seem to run fine by itself in 1GB, although it still seems to take a long time to start up.


: > 1GB RAM - go for it;
: 1GB RAM - not while doing serious image editing;
: 512MB - hmmm, maybe by itself;
: 256MB - don't even think about it.

Any closer?

- Kurt

CS2 is the biggest pile of crap to ever come out of adobes lil elves workshop.

I returned mine and went back to cs....it crashed all the time (mac and PC)...color setting were never as acurate, and all the "new" features that they added were a waste of money. Focus on stability within your own app and stop adding things that people never use.

OK, let's put it another way. Bridge is a good useful tool - if you have the capacity.
Today (30Nov2005) the poll results indicate to me that it's pretty much straddling the capacity limits. Some can run it without problems, others should never touch it.

However, every time we start talking about computer capacities we must consider the time frame. Given another couple of years, the idea of a computer running Photoshop with less the 1GB will be laughable (to some it already is). Then everybody will be happily running Bridge and thinking they could never have done without it.

But, also, by then Adobe will have released CS4 - which will need 5GB to run properly..............................

Moral: The "sweet spot" is usually 2 years after release.

Rô

When I said "I am not running history" I should have said "I am not running the History Log" my history states are at 100. I really shouldn't type unless properly caffinated.

Moral: The "sweet spot" is usually 2 years after release.
Rô
I think that nails it Rô. It's interesting that just over decade ago hardware capabilities far outstripped the software (incl. OS) available at the time, and was under utilized. Now the reverse is true.

- Kurt

I really prefer the File Browser for locating and viewing possible shots for a project, but Bridge does have some nice features. Batch rename is great and searching for stock photos was never easier.

Perhaps you should update your computer before updating Photoshop? :aghast:


CS2 is the biggest pile of crap to ever come out of adobes lil elves workshop.

I returned mine and went back to cs....it crashed all the time (mac and PC)...color setting were never as acurate, and all the "new" features that they added were a waste of money. Focus on stability within your own app and stop adding things that people never use.

Not only Bridge is a huge program that takes a lot of resources, it also appears to be buggy... every now and then gives you some weird messages.

I usually use ACDsee... that program opens very fast and has a lot of coolfeatures that you canuse if you need to resize or color adjust something really quickly for the web and you do not feel like openning Photoshop.

I like it :)

Try it.

I use it all the time and haven't had any problems so far. The thing I like is that I can preview my psd files which I can't do in Explorer. I have 2 GB RAM so I haven't noticed it being a memory hog.

The power of the automated actions on multiple files is great. I use the bridge to take care of the teadious work. Just make an action and use the batch. I have 2gb ram, and have never had a problem. I suggest upgrading your computer if possible and use the bridge.

On the other hand, if you only work with one file at a time it would just be icing on the cake.

My first posting, so please forgive any errors. I've found Bridge especially useful for batch renaming of large projects, such as weddings - and for organizing images to use in a DVD slideshow (weddings again.)

You know, I just tried bridge again today a couple of times thinking that it would be easier to use for some batch stuff. I wrote earlier on in this thread that it is bloatware and I certainly have to reiterate that. I am running an iMac G5, 1.8GHz, 768MB RAM, Photoshop CS2 and it seems to me that there are several combinations of things that run much smoother and faster than bridge. The finder alone in mac OSX is quick with previews and sorting files etc. I just drag the file(s) to Photoshop and go from there. I also use OSX's own Automator or a little app called photo Drop for batch processing. I find working through bridge to be slow and far more trouble than it's worth.

That said, if Santa had brought me a matched set of 1GB RAM sticks to bring my puter up to 2GB, it might not be as much of a problem. ;)

i hardly use adobe. i use Nikon View to view my images. by far it IS the fastest view. even faster than ACDsee8. on my laptop of 2.26Ghz and 2Gb ram. it can view almost 20 D2x NEF files per second. unlike adobe bridge 1 image per 2-3 secs.