Adobe Bridge had its beginnings as a complementary image manager for Photoshop. It has since become a feature-rich file manager; its integration with the entire creative suite makes it even more helpful to those who use many of Adobe’s products. It can display many file formats, it allows you to move files around on your system, and it can transfer files from one Adobe application to another.
One useful feature is its ability to output groups of files into a single PDF. This can create simple progress reports, technical reviews, or other presentations that utilize unfinished pieces of a project in multiple file formats. This tutorial will give a brief look at file manipulation in Bridge as well as the output feature using ten different file formats (In the attached zip there are .ai, .bmp, .eps, .gif, .indd, .jpeg, .pdf, .png, .psd, and .tiff files). Keyboard shortcuts are shown with square brackets: [Macintosh keys first/PC keys second + OTHER KEYS IN UPPERCASE], menus are shown in italics, and buttons are shown underlined.

Adobe Bridge had its beginnings as a complementary image manager for Photoshop. It has since become a feature-rich file manager; its integration with the entire creative suite makes it even more helpful to those who use many of Adobe’s products. It can display many file formats, it allows you to move files around on your system, and it can transfer files from one Adobe application to another.

One useful feature is its ability to output groups of files into a single PDF. This can create simple progress reports, technical reviews, or other presentations that utilize unfinished pieces of a project in multiple file formats. This tutorial will give a brief look at file manipulation in Bridge as well as the output feature. Even though this tutorial has inset images, a print version is still available in PDF format.

1. Prepare the Workspace

  • Go to Window > Workspace > Essentials Keyboard Shortcut: [command/ctrl + F1]. This will show most of the commonly used Panels.
  • Go to Window > Folders Panel. This will open the panel used to navigate your computer’s files and folders on the left side of the window.
  • Go to Window > Favorites Panel. This will open the panel used to store shortcut locations, called Favorites, on the left side of the window.

2. Create a new folder

  • Click on a folder in the Folders Panel to choose a disk location for the new folder.
  • Click on the Create A New Folder button at the top right of the window.
  • Type a meaningful name into the name textbox for the new folder.

Create new folder

3. Make the folder a favorite

  • Click and hold on the new folder to drag it onto the Favorites Panel, then release.

Note: This will make it easier to move files from different locations directly into your new folder without moving the new folder from its disk location.

4. Move files into the new folder

  • Choose the files you wish to include in the presentation by searching though the Folders Panel.
  • Click and hold on the files in the Content Panel to drag them into the new folder in the Favorites Panel, then release. This will move the selected files into the new folder.

Move files

5. Select the Output Workspace

  • Go to Window > Workspace > Output Keyboard shortcut: [command/ctrl + F4].

Note: This will rearrange the panels, adding the Output Panel along the right side of the window. You can expand and hide each section of the Output Panel by clicking on the triangles beside each section’s name.

6. Choose the files

  • Click the Output Folder in the Favorites Panel.
  • Select all of the files in the folder Keyboard Shortcut: [command/ctrl + A].

7. Format the PDF document

  • Click the PDF button at the top of the Output Panel.
  • Select 5*8 Contact Sheet from the Template dropdown menu.
  • Select Black from the Background dropdown menu in the Document Section.
  • Check the Permissions Password checkbox.
  • Type a password into Permissions Password textbox.
  • Check the Disable Printing checkbox. Because the background is black, it would waste a great deal of ink printing the PDF.

Format PDF

8. Personalize the PDF

  • Check the Filename checkbox in the Overlays section. This will display each file’s name below it.
  • Check the Extension checkbox in the Overlays section. This will display the file’s format extension.
  • Check the Open in Full Screen Mode checkbox in the Playback section. This feature will prompt the viewer of the PDF to let Acrobat use a Full Screen mode.

Personalize the PDF

9. Preview the PDF

  • Click on the Refresh Preview button at the top of the Output Panel. This will generate a low-resolution preview.

10. Output the PDF

Click the Save… button at the bottom of the Output Panel. This will open the Save As dialogue box.

  • Type a meaningful name into the Save As textbox.
  • Choose a location on your disk to save the PDF.
  • Click the Save button to output the PDF.

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