Working with metadata and keywords

Create up to 100 artboards of any size and then export and print them in different ways to create multiple assets for a single project.

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Requirements

To complete the tasks demonstrated in this tutorial, you need the following software and files:

Adobe Bridge CS4

Sample files

lrvid4013_bri.zip (ZIP, 3MB)

Prerequisite knowledge

Basic knowledge of the Adobe Bridge interface

Working with metadata and keywords

Examine, modify, and take full advantage of metadata in Adobe® Bridge. This tutorial covers how to filter and find images using metadata.

Introduction to metadata

Metadata is information about a particular creative asset. There are two kinds of metadata. Descriptive metadata describes technical features of a creative asset such as the frame rate at which a video was shot. Additive metadata is metadata that can be added to a creative asset, such as keywords and copyright information. In section below, we will review how to access metadata. To view metadata in Adobe Bridge:

1. Find the Metadata panel, which is located in the lower-right corner of Adobe Bridge. The Metadata panel displays different types of information, depending on the type of asset. For example, if you select a movie, Adobe Bridge displays information about the frame rate, the dimensions, the color space, and so on.

   Note: You can include additive metadata by navigating to the Keywords panel. The Keywords panel is located to the right of the Metadata panel and just below the Preview panel.

   

   Figure 1: The Metadata panel
2. Switch to the Metadata workspace by clicking on the Metadata button at the top-right corner of Adobe Bridge. The Metadata workspace expands the Content panel, which also displays the metadata associated with each asset.

   

   Figure 2: Navigating to the metadata workspace
3. To minimize the interface even further, close the Favorites panel by double-clicking the panel tab.
4. To view information about your creative assets, such as the date created, size, file format, and the assigned rating, navigate to the Content panel. The Content panel is located to the right of the Favorites and Metadata panels.

   

   Figure 3: Minimizing the interface
5. To remove or insert a column in the Content panel, right-click/Ctrl-click the column header. A context menu appears listing a range of options. To remove a column, click to deselect it or choose Close Column. To insert a column, choose Insert Column.

   

   Figure 4: Deselecting the Date Modified column
6. To sort images in ascending order by their rating, click the Ratings column header.
7. To sort images in descending order by their rating, click the Ratings column header again.

   Note: Similar descriptive metadata appears in the File Properties panel located just below the Metadata panel on the left side of the window. Keep in mind that you can find the same information in multiple locations in Adobe Bridge.

   

   Figure 5: The File Properties panel
8. The ITPC Core panel is located just below the File Properties panel. Notice the Copyright Notice text box.
9. To add a copyright notice, select the asset and click the Copyright Notice text box. The text box automatically becomes editable. Type in the name of the copyright holder. You can edit any other kind of metadata in the ITPC Core panel by clicking the appropriate text box and entering the new content.
10. Click the checkbox in the bottom of the Metadata panel to save your changes.

    

    Figure 6: Saving metadata changes

Applying keywords to assets

To help you find your assets quickly, apply keywords to them. To apply keywords to an asset:

1. Navigate to the Keyword panel. The Keyword panel is the third tab located to the right of the Metadata panel at the top of the Adobe Bridge window. It contains some default keyword categories titled Events, People, and Places.
2. To create new keyword categories, click the Keyword panel menu, as shown in Figure 7.

   

   Figure 7: Creating new keyword categories
3. Choose New Keywords from the context menu.
4. Type in the desired keywords.
5. To create a subkeyword, select the keyword category you want it to appear under and open the Keyword panel menu again.
6. Choose New Sub Keyword from the context menu.
7. Type the desired word in the available text box.
8. To assign a keyword, select an asset and select the keyword that best describes it from the Keywords panel.
9. To select multiple assets in Adobe Bridge, Shift-click on the first asset and drag down to the last one.

Filtering assets

The advantage of assigning keywords is that you can filter and find images by performing a keyword search using the Filter panel. To filter images:

1. The Filter panel is the middle panel between Metadata and Keywords in the top-left corner of the Adobe Bridge window.
2. Click the headings in the panel to expand the list of filter criteria, which include Labels, Ratings, and Keywords.

   

   Figure 8: Filtering images using Labels
3. To filter your assets, click to select one or more criteria from the list. You can search for images with multiple types of metadata just by clicking multiple criteria in the Filter panel. The assets associated with that criteria appear in the Content panel.

   

   Figure 9: Filtering with two or more criteria
4. Remember that filtering is completely dynamic. To remove filtering criteria, click to the right of the criteria to deselect them.

Searching for assets

Another way to find images is to use the search text box. To search for images:

1. Locate the search text box in the upper-right corner of the Adobe Bridge interface, as shown in Figure 10.

   

   Figure 10: Using the search text box
2. Enter your search terms. A list of results appears in the Content panel.

Where to go from here

• Adobe Bridge Help and Support
• Learn Adobe Bridge CS4
• Bridge overview, by Chris Orwig
• Review mode, by Chris Orwig
• Creating a web photo gallery, by Chris Orwig
• Lynda.com

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License

About the authors