Adobe Photoshop CS6 Importing, Sorting, and Rating

Welcome back to educator.com's Adobe Photoshop CS6 lessons.0000

In the previous lesson we started talking about Bridge and we moved to the Workspace and the Interface.0005

In Bridge 2 here, we're going to look at the Preferences...briefly, the menu bar briefly, and then we're going to deal with importing, editing, rating and filtering your images--filtering meaning getting the best image highlighted so you can easily access it in Bridge, so let's get started.0010

I want to do one quick thing (we got that set) let's go File, Browse in Bridge.0033

I'm already in a folder with a cool shot I took in Death Valley, check this.0039

This actually happened, this raven flew in and dropped down on this dead tree in this desolate shot, just a nice touch--this is not a Hollywood prop, he really got in there and I caught it, really proud of that one.0045

OK, let's go up to the top--on a Mac, go to Adobe Bridge, Preferences, in a PC go to the Edit menu down to the bottom to Preferences, and we'll pull up the Preferences box...go to your General tab, Appearance we talked about the last about how you can adjust you Interface, and you can independently adjust the background tonality as well, kind of cool, or the accent color for the buttons, or the highlighted surround on the thumbnails.0059

Under Behavior, if you're going to use Bridge as your primary editing program, and you're going to download your images from Bridge, go ahead and check this box.0094

When a camera is connected it will automatically launch Adobe photo downloader.0105

Double click edits Camera Raw settings and Bridge--unnecessary.0111

If you double click it open into Camera Raw anyway.0115

Favorite items at the bottom here--by default these are all selected, if there are any that you don't want to be in the favorites panel--favorites being frequently accessed items.0120

I frequently access the Computer at the desktop, not so much Documents--Pictures I can actually take away because I don't use that particular folder...Documents, I don't store anything in there either.0132

So now I've customized that, the only other one we need to deal with is Metadata...you'll see there is just a ton of material that's in Metadata that's stored in your image, and all of the checked boxes are information that is useable.0145

The only one that I really suggest you do--these by default are not checked...I will recheck the author, copyright and copyright info URL under the IPTC legacy panel, that's a good idea that when you fill that in, in the Metadata (we'll talk about that in the next lesson) when you fill that in, it's embedded in your image.0166

OK, click OK, we're done with that!0190

So, I want to briefly talk about the Menu bar--we really don't need it a lot in Bridge...in Photoshop you're going to use it all the time, in Bridge it pretty much duplicates your Toolbar as almost all of the navigation and useful item tools that you will utilize, as well as your Workspace and sorting methodologies, even labeling right here.0194

So, under the File menu, you might get photos from camera from the file--you're not going to need most of these, return to Photoshop where we'll get photos from camera or the primaries.0222

Boomerang takes you back to Photoshop and the camera gets the files.0234

You can do it this way though as well, OK?0240

Edit menu...if you rotate it, it's an undo here--cut copy and duplicate, you're probably not going to do--select all will select all of the images that you have that are displayed in a folder...(unselect, deselect all) I'm going to go back to the one shot of the raven...rotate, you can rotate from in here--you can also do it from here...it should rotate that image (there it goes) it takes a little while, big image.0245

Oh that's right, its Photoshop file, it's a monster, so it'll rotate this one back...the rotate buttons are here so you really don't need them there, right?0278

Under the View menu...full screen preview if you want to see a full screen that's fine, and you click your Escape key and it goes back.0288

I don't think I really need it--slideshow...I don't really show them in here--I'll make one later.0298

The three view options over here are down in the corner, over here at the lower right, so you don't need that there either.0304

The reason I'm saying you don't need it, is remember every second you save is a second you can work on your image longer--it's all right here on the panel, so why go up here to drag something down when I can just click a button?0312

That's just my own particular feeling, so grid lock rejected blah, blah, blah all of that stuff, forget that one.0326

Stacks...we'll deal with them, you can group up a group of images in a singular, expandable contractible thing.0334

Label...under here your labels; one, two, three four and five star, that's how we label them.0341

Reject to zero...one, two, three, four and five being the best you ever shot...0347

I would rate this particular one here a five star, and you can do it from the label menu (five star) or you can do it right from the thumbnail--see the little dot, if I click the fifth dot I have a five star, and if I wanted to change it I can change it up here, drop to four star, or I could've done it down there just by clicking the four stars.0355

Everything is right there.0374

You can also label by color...in this case select...if you use color labels, a lot of people do, this is a cool idea, they're all right here, different colors, different labels, seconds or yellows, so on and so forth.0376

OK, so that's the label menu.0390

Tools--you might use it, batch rename is a possibility.0394

Photoshop tools, batch processing here is applying actions...you can do that in Photoshop--I'm using Bridge to edit and sort and rate, not to work on the images.0398

Image processor again, it's in Photoshop as well0412

Lens correction--jeez, I'm going to do that in Photoshop--merge to HDR pro, I'll do that in Photoshop.0416

Load files into Photoshop layers--you may want to but they're unworked on files, it's just raw.0422

Photo merge, again, in Photoshop and process collections in Photoshop once again.0428

All this stuff here is in Photoshop but just to let you know, these are the available ones...Photoshop actions inside of Bridge.0433

Window...again there is your Workspace, there is your panels.0443

OK, that takes care of all of the menus, so let's check that puppy off.0447

We worked on the Preferences, we should have checked that off first, we worked on the menu bars so let's get down to the nuts and bolts, OK?0453

Bridge...we're going to import some files from the camera.0462

I've already got a card, I just want to see myself if this is going to find the card, so I clicked it, and there it is!0467

It found the card or the camera, so there's a card in here--it's on the Desktop...or the Computer--I'm going to cancel it for a moment just to show you that if I look at Computer there's the card, I can also just go right there, you see how much easier that is...pow, save some time.0476

By default this is what you'll see as the box: just automatically click it this way and these are the thumbnails--you want to look at the thumbnails anyhow.0494

So this is the same info--by default, they all come in with checkmarks, every one of the images take some time to load the thumbnails--these are full size thumbnails.0503

Now, if you want to download everything in a card, you're ready to go, but if you want to download specific files and pick the ones that you want to take out of the card, then you just let the thumbnails go ahead and load it up--it'll take a moment here, but the first thing you want to do is uncheck all of them--now every thumbnail has been unchecked, it's now ready for your selection methodology.0515

Now here's those ones you saw in the first lesson from Union Station--I have another series that I'm going to download so let's go ahead past them (let it download for a moment) and under here you see that's the only card that's there, we're ready to go.0547

You just keep coming down, it should be just about getting there--it does take a bit of time with large files to load the--here we go.0565

I shot this gentleman sitting in the terminal--I found him quite interesting.0574

If you, for example (let's go back just to demonstrate this one thing) if you want to download a few files that aren't connected, the way to do this is to highlight one, get the blue box...on a Mac hold down your Command key--on a PC your Control key, and then click the next image that you might want to--they're both now highlighted.0579

Continuing to hold down the Command and Control key, I like this image so now there's three highlighted...and again I could go to a fourth one, and if we scroll back up you see there's one, two, three, four images that are highlighted, and if I want to check those for download--I check any one of them and all four will be checked, that's how you do separated items.0610

I'm going to uncheck those and we'll scroll on down to the guy from Union Station waiting for a train...and there it is right there--in this case it's a group of sequential images, I'll highlight the first one and scroll all the way down to the last image of that group.0637

Hold down my (let's see it a little bit more...there it is) hold the Shift key down and click--it highlights the first, last and everything in between.0661

Click, and they're all check-marked, now we're ready to bring them in.0673

And I want to choose a location, and so I'll click the Choose button, and it will show me my navigation methodology for Mac...and I want to put this on the Desktop, so there's the Desktop, and I'm going to make a new folder and call it "Guy at Union Station".0677

I'll create it, then I'll open that folder and now you notice the location is all the way down and there's the folder...do I want to create a sub-folder, maybe you have a folder that you're putting a whole bunch of stuff in sub-folders--you can do that...in this case none.0701

Do I want to rename these files?0722

You can if you wish, I do not want to rename them, and so it's just going to stay with the same file.0724

Actually, I'm going to go through and uncheck some certain items here because I just realized they are both jpeg and raw--I'm going to hold down my Command key and uncheck, and I'm going to go back...no I'll check them all, it's easier--I don't want to waste the time on this--I'll just it otherwise.0733

So what we're going to do, is we're going to open these in Bridge--you can convert them to digital negatives...here's one that I don't recommend.0753

Leave this unchecked.0764

Delete original files--what that will do, is once it downloads them to your computer, it will delete the files off of your card.0768

I'm a believer in keeping them until I'm guaranteed absolute sure that I have my files in two separate places outside of the camera or the camera card.0777

There have been a couple of instances when my hard drive has died, and I lost the files and I had already deleted them off of the card.0790

I recommend not checking the delete originals--you can always go back to the card and delete them later.0798

OK, apply Metadata is basic Metadata and I filled in the creator as Michael Brown in my copyright information, and it's get media time.0805

That's all there is to it, it's now downloading all of those images into that folder in the Desktop.0817

That's the first thing it's doing, at first you'll see it's downloading it here, and then you'll see it ripped through again, which means it's putting them in Bridge.0826

So there they go there, and there they come, right into Bridge, and if you look at your navigation on the Toolbar, it's in the computer down on the Desktop in the Guy at Union Station folder.0837

We've got them all in--it was that simple.0850

OK, so that's importing the images (why do I have two of them, it just doesn't make sense) importing images...File, Browse in Bridge (put that back up here in the corner) now that the files are in, what we would like to do is...I want to do something here...oh we'll save that.0853

Now we have them in, what we want to do is quickly go through these images and pick the best images--now you notice for each image is a jpeg and a raw...they're duplicated--I was doing a test, so I'm only interested in the raw images per se, so we'll hit the first image--we're in my favorite which is a Film strip method with a couple of modifications, and there is the image up here.0880

If you want to check focus, notice the magnifier...click on that and if you move the corner over any spot, it will show you magnified what's under there so you can determine whether or not right there at that little corner (let me just double click on that corner) and it goes away.0905

So that one's in focus but it's a little overexposed and I'm not that cool with it--just what you can do...clicking from one to the...I just clicked it to accidentally open it up, sorry about that...double clicked too quick...you click on an image, and it will give you that image--I don't like the guy in the trashcan so I'm going to use my arrow keys (right arrow to go right, left arrow to go left) that's pretty nice, the raw files are good, now it's time to rate.0925

And what I'm going to do, is I'm going to just call something that looks pretty good a three star to start with--just click the...well my double click's working great...it's working too quick today...just want to click it once, and now you have the three star rating on it.0958

OK, and you notice over here in the filter panel we now have forty images but one of them is a three star and 39 are no stars.0975

We'll go to the next image...I kind of like that in the raw file so I'm going to make that a three star by clicking it...the next image...now we have two images that are fairly similar that I'd like to look at, so I can compare them side by side, by holding Command on a Mac, Control on a PC and clicking the second thumbnail.0986

You can include a third one in there as well, and I can go...I think I like 27 92, I really love the three star but 27 92, if I click that alone I come back to it I'll give it a three star, and we can move on down the line.1009

I don't like this one with the lady...and I'm just moving--that's kind of nice...facial expression--this one is much better...I like that one there, we'll give that one a three star.1031

Move on down the line...oh that's kind of good but they're a little too close...that's interesting so I'll put a three star on that one--in other words we're culling these down, as they say--the lady is too close...the lady looks good in this one, I'm going to give that a three star.1047

The guy and the backpack don't work for me...this is kind of interesting, that's the only one I got, I'll give that a three star...and the guy...that's OK, we'll give that a three star--we're just culling through very quickly--that's it!1071

We've gone through forty images and out of those, eight of them have a three star rating--32 aren't.1085

All we have to do to filter them, and edit further, is to click next to the three star, and that's all we see, are just the three star images down here now.1090

We can see them all, or we can see the three star, so let's start editing through those.1103

I still like that one a lot, but the guy's head is cut off--that bothers me.1108

That's very good, we'll jump that up to a four star--it disappeared because you see over here, it's now rated a four star--I'll check that so it's still included...and I'm looking between these two...I like the lady better with the little blur going there, I'll go four star on that one--I like that.1116

That's the better one with the leg out has got a good look to it, and the lady should be a four star as well.1142

So now we've got it down to three four stars I can remove, and we're down to these and I'll just Command and Control, click and view all three of these images, and in the end, I really think the one that shows everything the best is this 28 02, or this one here is too much of the person--this is more of the train station itself, this is also a good one so I'm going to go five star on 802 and 804, so 802 we'll jack it up to a five star, and 804, and we're done editing--fours are down, those are the two images and we're now ready to take either of those images or both of them off into Camera Raw.1149

It was that easy to filter them down by the ratings.1194

OK, that makes sense doesn't it--by the way, if you decided (and we'll go back to Bridge, and let's open up the three star ratings) if there was one in here that you decided you didn't want, maybe it's a lesser because of this sky, you can change the rating by clicking down to the rating you want--in this case I'll drop it down and we have a two star, or you could have done the same thing up from the label, decrease, increase or just kick the label.1198

OK, that takes care of editing and ratings, that simple.1229

Now, filtering...we'll talk about that for a moment...we already did the filter.1234

We can filter it as you see it--if we want to see every single image in here, there they are--all again with the star ratings and the non-rated ones all together, and if you want to see just the three stars, click and remove those, so it's very, very simple to do that.1241

You can also filter by keywords, date modified, profiles and such but we're talking about quick and efficient...look what we did--we took forty images, and we knocked this down to the two best images in there in no time whatsoever.1260

So there you have how to set your Preferences, a Menu bar--we prefer to use the Toolbar because it's got everything we need and also down at the lower right hand corner.1277

As far as importing images, we got them from the downloader...you can import all of them from the camera card or selectively.1293

Editing and rating is very, very simple, by using the star system or labels if you choose but the stars really are effective and very fast, which is what I really like, and then filtering them is very simple, by going over to the filter panel under ratings and checking or unchecking the associated and appropriate rating to get down to your best images.1302

So there you have how to get images in, how to quickly edit, rate and filter them in Adobe Bridge 2.1330

Come on back for the next lesson, a bit more on Bridge.1339