Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [249]
Figure 11.12 The Filmstrip workspace ( ) combines a large Preview panel with a narrow Content panel that runs along the bottom using a Horizontal scrolling layout.
Figure 11.32 The Preview panel, showing a loupe close-up view of an image.
If you click anywhere in the Preview panel, this reveals a loupe magnifying glass adjacent to the point where you clicked. This displays that section of the preview image at a 1:1, actual pixels view inside the loupe (but see sidebar on key behavior). You can then use the keys to zoom in (up to 800%) or zoom out again. To close, click inside the loupe. To reposition it, simply click anywhere inside or outside the loupe and drag with the mouse. You can have an active loupe on each image in the Preview panel: just click to add a new loupe, and if you want to synchronize the loupe position so that you can compare close-up details in two or more images at once, hold down the key as you drag the loupe.
Rotating loupe
When you work with the loupe tool and drag it to the corner of a preview image you may sometimes see the loupe spin round to reveal the corner details of the image. This is normal, intended behavior.
key behavior
As was pointed out earlier, if you go to the Bridge General preferences, there is an option you can select where a -click is required to initiate opening the loupe (instead of just clicking). This preference has no effect on using the key to synchronize the loupe scrolling though.
Review mode
Instead of relying on the Preview panel, you can use the Review mode (Figure 11.33) to inspect large numbers of images at once. The Review mode can be accessed from the View menu ( ) and presents the selected photos in a carousel type display that has more than a passing resemblance to the Quick View folder navigation in Macintosh OS X 10.5 and 10.6. You can cycle through the selected photos using the arrow keys in the bottom left corner, remove photos from a selection with the downward pointing arrow, open a loupe view on the foreground image and create new collections. Overall, I would say that the one-click preview feature is better suited for the speedy previewing of multiple images. In light of this it is hard to see how the Review feature adds much to the party.
Figure 11.33 The Review mode.
Managing images in Bridge
As the number of photographs stored on your computer system continues to grow you'll soon end up becoming frustrated as you struggle to find particular photos. This situation is only going to get worse and not better, unless you choose to change the way you import and manage your photos. The metadata tools in Bridge are designed to help you get started with the task of cataloging your image files. These allow you to add basic metadata and keyword information, which in turn can help you categorize the photographs in your image library. Once you get into a regular habit of doing this you'll soon reap the rewards whenever you need to conduct filtered image file searches.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
A lot of people have been asking: if I have Photoshop and Bridge, why do I need Lightroom? I usually point out that Lightroom is a workflow program that allows you to manage your images efficiently all the way from import through to Web or print output. For some people, the combination of Bridge and Camera Raw provides them with all the tools that they need to manage their pictures and work in Photoshop. For amateurs and professionals who are looking for a faster and more streamlined approach for their image processing and image management, Lightroom will be the answer. I do still use Bridge for a lot of file browsing tasks, but I find that I now mostly prefer to use Lightroom since it integrates smoothly with Photoshop and offers