Workflow - File Management

File management within a digital workflow includes importing, reviewing, organizing, and backing up your images. Whether you choose to do these tasks manually or with the assistance of software depends on your individual needs.

Adobe provides two products that can help manage image files, the latest version of these tools are Adobe Bridge CS5 and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3. Though the two tools share some similarities, the products were designed to meet different requirements.

Bridge versus Lightroom

Adobe Bridge CS5 is an organizational software component that is included with various Adobe Creative Suite applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Fireworks, Flash Professional, and Dreamweaver to name a few. Adobe bridge is meant to be a common link (or bridge) for files those applications might share. Bridge is a file browser by design and you must tell it where to look for your files. From a photography perspective, Bridge assists in importing, reviewing, and organizing (to a much lesser degree than Lightroom) files. Bridge allows you to rate, label, and apply keywords to images. Images can be opened in Camera Raw and Photoshop from within Bridge for final workflow output.

Adobe Lightroom 3 is a photography software application that manages files, provides editing ability with built-in Camera Raw functionality, allows exporting to Photoshop for final retouching, and provides functionality for output such as printing or the web. From a file management standpoint, Lightroom operates as a database instead of a file browser like Bridge. If setup properly, locating files will be much easier and faster using Lightroom's database than searching for files within Bridge. Lightroom assists in importing, reviewing, and organizing files. Like Bridge, Lightroom allows you to rate, label, and apply keywords to images.

Importing Images

Before you can begin your editing workflow with images shot from a digital camera, you are going to need to get those files off your camera and onto your computer hard drive or external hard drive. Both Bridge and Lightroom have import functionality that lets you not only select/create the folder where to import your images, but also have options to rename the files as they are being imported, convert them to DNG files, and add metadata such as copyright information. Lightroom goes one step further by letting you add keywords that apply to all the imported files and allowing you to backup the imported files to another location.

Of course there is always the manual method of copying the files yourself from the compact flash or SD card to your selected folder location. This is not a bad method as long as you use a well thought out hierarchical folder structure. For instance if you worked on landscapes throughout the U.S., you might have a folder structure something like "United States\North Carolina\Outerbanks\Ocracoke" with addition subfolders underneath Ocracoke named for the date the images were taken on. Importing your images manually works fine with Bridge because it is a file browser. But Lightroom uses a database and will not be aware of your images unless you import through Lightroom's import function. Lightroom must import your images from the camera or from an existing image folder before you will be able to see them within the application.

Review and Delete Unacceptable Images

There's no reason to go any further at this point until you get rid of the junk. Unwanted files take up disk space and waste time during organizing. Why add keywords or include in a collection a file you will never use.

I usually delete images in two phases (or passes). The first phase I delete the images that are obvious throw aways. These images are out of focus, large exposure mistakes, or ones where the shutter was released accidently. These are the images I don't have to compare to other images to know they are bad.

The next pass is more selective and may require zooming in on the subject to check detail or comparing like images so that only the better ones are kept. Adobe Bridge has a full screen and review screen mode where you can cycle through selected images and mark them for deletion. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has a Loupe, Survey, and Compare view that allows you to also cycle through images and tag them for deletion.

Review and Organize Images

At this point you are ready to rate your images, organize your files into collections, or maybe add additional keywords to select images.

Optimize Images

Now it's time to edit/retouch the top rated images. Start your post processing through Camera Raw via Photoshop or Lightroom's built-in Camera Raw within its Develop module.

Next Tab >

Adobe Bridge CS5 Shortcuts

The following are the some Bridge shortcuts I find helpful, especially the ones within the Review/Compare section. Note the shortcuts listed below are for a Windows OS, for Mac users substitute Command for Ctrl and Option for Alt.

Review/Compare

1. Normal Mode (Content panel and Preview).
   • "Ctrl A" - Select all.
   • "Ctrl Shift A" - Deselect all.
   • "Arrow Keys" - Select image in Content panel.
   • "Shift Arrow Keys" - Select multiple images in Content panel.
   • "Alt Click" - Select all items in a Stack.
   • "Tab" - Hide all panels except for Preview.
   • "+" - Zoom in with Loupe tool.
   • "-" - Zoom out with Loupe tool.
   • "Click and drag" - Move Loupe Tool around image.
   • "Ctrl ]" - Rotate image clockwise.
   • "Ctrl [" - Rotate image counter-clockwise.
   • "Ctrl O" - Opens the selected image in Photoshop or Photoshop Camera Raw.
   • "Ctrl R" - Opens the selected image in Camera Raw.
   • "Ctrl Alt O" - Toggle between Photoshop and Bridge (if Photoshop is already open).
   
   
2. "Ctrl B" - Review mode
   
   • "H" - Displays a dropdown of Review shortcuts. Press again to make the shortcuts disappear.
   • "Left and Right Arrow Keys" - Select next or previous image.
   • "Down Arrow Key" - Remove image from the review selections.
   • "+" - Zoom in with Loupe tool.
   • "-" - Zoom out with Loupe tool.
   • "[" and "]" - Rotates image clockwise and counter-clockwise.
   • "O" - Opens the selected image in Photoshop or Photoshop Camera Raw.
   • "R" - Opens the selected image in Camera Raw.
   • "<" and ">" - Decreases or increases ratings. Actually the keys are the "," and the "."
   • "1 thru 5, and 0" - Assigns a rating to full screen or review image.
   • "6 thru 9" - Assigns a color label (red, yellow, green, and blue) to selected image. Press again to remove.
   • "Esc" - Exit review mode.
   
   
3. "Space" - Full screen mode
   
   • "Arrow Keys" - Revolve through selected images in full screen mode.
   • "Click" - Zooms in to 100% when in full screen. Click again to zoom out.
   • "Click and drag" - To move image around when zoomed in full screen mode.
   • "+" - Zooms to 100%, 200%, 400%, and 800% when in full screen mode.
   • "-" - Zooms out by the above ratios when in full screen mode.
   • "[" and "]" - Rotates image clockwise and counter-clockwise.
   • "O" - Opens the selected image in Photoshop or Photoshop Camera Raw.
   • "R" - Opens the selected image in Camera Raw.
   • "<" and ">" - Decreases or increases ratings. Actually the keys are the "," and the "."
   • "1 thru 5, and 0" - Assigns a rating to full screen or review image.
   • "6 thru 9" - Assigns a color label (red, yellow, green, and blue) to selected image. Press again to remove.
   • "Esc" - Exit full screen mode.

Misc.

1. "Ctrl K" - Preferences.
2. "Ctrl I" - File info.
3. "Ctrl F" - Find.
4. "Ctrl \" - Go to next Content view style.
5. "Ctrl Shift \" - Go to previous Content view style.
6. "Ctrl Shift L" - Slide show options.
7. "Ctrl L" - Slide Show.

Stacks

1. "Ctrl G" - Group as Stack.
2. "Ctrl Shift G" - Ungroup from Stack.
3. "Ctrl Right-Arrow" - Open Stack.
4. "Ctrl Left-Arrow" - Close Stack.
5. "Ctrl Alt Right-Arrow" - Expand All Stacks.
6. "Ctrl Alt Left-Arrow" - Collapse All Stacks.

Ratings and Labels - Normal mode

1. "Alt Delete" - Reject.
2. "Ctrl 0" - No Rating.
3. "Ctrl 1" - One star.
4. "Ctrl 2" - Two stars.
5. "Ctrl 3" - Three stars.
6. "Ctrl 4" - Four stars.
7. "Ctrl 5" - Five stars.
8. "Ctrl 6" - Red
9. "Ctrl 7" - Yellow
10. "Ctrl 8" - Green
11. "Ctrl 9" - Blue

Filter - Normal mode

1. "Ctrl Alt A" - Clear Filter.
2. "Ctrl Alt 1" - Show 1 or more stars.
3. "Ctrl Alt 2" - Show 2 or more stars.
4. "Ctrl Alt 3" - Show 3 or more stars.
5. "Ctrl Alt 4" - Show 4 or more stars.
6. "Ctrl Alt 5" - Show 5 stars.
7. "Ctrl Alt Shift 1" - Show 1 stars.
8. "Ctrl Alt Shift 2" - Show 2 stars.
9. "Ctrl Alt Shift 3" - Show 3 stars.
10. "Ctrl Alt Shift 4" - Show 4 stars.
11. "Ctrl Alt Shift 5" - Show 5 stars.

< Previous Tab Next Tab >

Adobe Lightroom 3 Shortcuts

The following are some Adobe Lightroom 3 shortcuts specific to file management. Other shortcuts can be found in the Adobe Lightroom 3 Help PDF file. The shortcuts listed below are for a Windows OS, for Mac users substitute Command for Ctrl and Option for Alt.

Number 1 shortcut... "Ctrl /" - Opens a shortcut listing for the particular module you are in.

My favorites for reviewing images

1. "Ctrl /" - Opens a shortcut listing for the particular module you are in.
2. "Shift Tab" - Toggles Panels off and on.
3. "F" - Toggles through full screen modes.
4. "L" - Toggles through Lights Out modes.
5. "E" - Loupe view.
6. "G" - Grid view.
7. "Space" - Jumps to Loupe view when in Grid view.
8. "Space" - Toggles zooming between 100% and fit to screen when in Loupe view.
9. "N" - Survey view.
10. "/" - Remove selected image from Survey view.
11. "C" - Compare view.
12. "P" - Flags an image as a pick.
13. "X" - Flags an image as a reject.
14. "U" - Remove flag from an image.
15. "\" - Toggle Library Filter Bar off and on.

Viewing Images

1. "E" - Enter Library Loupe view.
2. "G" - Enter Library Grid view.
3. "C" - Enter Library Compare view.
4. "N" - Enter Library Survey view.
5. "D" - Open selected photo in Develop module.
6. "L "and "Shift L" - Cycle through Lights Out modes.
7. "Ctrl Shift L" - Toggle Lights Dim mode.
8. "F" - Cycle through screen modes.
9. "Ctrl Shift F" - Toggle between Normal and Full-screen.
10. "Ctrl Alt F" - Go back to Normal screen mode.
11. "I" - Cycle Info overlay.
12. "Ctrl I" - Toggle info overly on and off.
13. "Tab" - Show/hide side panels.
14. "Shift Tab" - Show/hide all panels.
15. "T" - Show/hide toolbar.
16. "F5" - Show/hide Module Picker.
17. "F6" - Show/hide Filmstrip.
18. "F7" - Show/hide left panels.
19. "F8" - Show/hide right panels.

Viewing Images in a secondary window

1. "F11" - Open a secondary window.
2. "Shift G" - Enter Grid view.
3. "Shift E" - Enter normal Loupe view.
4. "Ctrl Shift Enter" - Enter locked Loupe view.
5. "Shift C" - Enter Compare view.
6. "Shift N" - Enter Survey view.
7. "Ctrl Alt Shift Enter" - Enter Slideshow view.
8. "Shift \" - Show/hide Filter bar.
9. "Ctrl Shift +" - Zoom in.
10. "Ctrl Shift -" - Zoom out.
11. "Shift +" - Increase Grid thumbnail size.
12. "Shift -" - Decrease Grid thumbnail size.

Comparing images

1. "E" - Loupe view.
2. "G" - Grid view.
3. "C" - Compare view.
4. "N" - Survey view.
5. "Space" - Jumps to Loupe view when in Grid view.
6. "Space" - Toggles zooming between 100% and fit to screen when in Loupe view.
7. "Down Arrow" - Swap select and candidate photos in Compare view.
8. "Up Arrow" - Make next photos select and candidate in Compare view.
9. "Z" - Toggle Zoom view.
10. "Ctrl +" - Zoom in.
11. "Ctrl -" - Zoom out.
12. "Page Up" and "Page Down" - Scroll zoomed photo in Loupe view. Scroll through Grid thumbnails.
13. "Ctrl ]" - Rotate photo clockwise.
14. "Ctrl [" - Rotate photo counter-clockwise.
15. "Ctrl Enter" - Play slide show.
16. "+" - Increase Grid thumbnail size.
17. "-" - Decrease Grid thumbnail size.
18. "Ctrl Alt Shift H" - Show/hide badges.
19. "J" - Cycle Grid views.
20. "Ctrl J" - Library view options.
21. "Ctrl Click" - Select multiple discrete images.
22. "Shift Click" - Select multiple contiguous images.
23. "Ctrl A" - Select all images.
24. "Ctrl D" - Deselect all images.
25. "Ctrl Shift D" - Select only active image.
26. "/" - Deselect active image.
27. "Shift Left Arrow" or "Shift Right Arrow" - Add previous/next image to selection.
28. "Ctrl Alt A" - Select flagged images.
29. "Ctrl Alt Shift A" - Select unflagged images.
30. "Ctrl G" - Group into a stack.
31. "Ctrl Shift G" - Unstack.
32. "S" - Toggle stack.
33. "Shift S" - Move to top of stack.
34. "Shift [" - Move up stack.
35. "Shift ]" - Move down in stack.

Rating and Filtering images

1. "1 thru 5" - Set a star rating.
2. "0" - Remove star rating.
3. "[" and "]" - Decrease or increase rating by 1 star.
4. "6" - Assign red label.
5. "7" - Assign yellow label.
6. "8" - Assign green label.
7. "9" - Assign blue label.
8. "P" - Flag image as a pick.
9. "X" - Flag image as a reject.
10. "U" - Unflag image.
11. "Ctrl Up Arrow" and "Ctrl Down Arrow" - Decrease or increase flag status.

< Previous Tab