For years, Fireworks users have clamored for some way to manage their files without having to resort to Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder all the time. (It got to the point where many of us were happy using the Files panel in Dreamweaver.) Well, the wait is finally over.

With the release of Adobe Creative Suite 3, Fireworks users have an improved method for browsing and previewing files. You can now use Adobe Bridge CS3 to organize project files and graphic elements. Working with Adobe Bridge provides a seamless experience because it is designed to work with Fireworks, as well as the other products included in Creative Suite 3. It has never been easier to organize and locate your project files.

Fireworks CS3 is now fully integrated with Adobe Bridge CS3. While Bridge CS2 was useful for navigating and finding files, the new version in CS3 has many improvements, including the ability to communicate directly with Fireworks. But that is just the beginning. Bridge CS3 received a massive cosmetic and functional overhaul. It has a brand new interface that you can completely customize to suit your workflow needs. From a visual perspective alone, Bridge CS2 (see Figure 1) and Bridge CS3 (see Figure 2) look quite different.

Figure 1. Bridge CS2 interface with a customized workspace

Figure 2. Bridge CS3 interface with a customized workspace and the new little loupe magnifier

Adobe Bridge CS3 works with all of the products in the Creative Suite 3 family, but this article focuses on how Fireworks CS3 and Bridge CS3 work together as a team. Once you see how useful it is, you may wonder how you ever worked without it.

Adobe Bridge interface

If you have experience working with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (or if you explored the Lightroom beta software on Adobe Labs) you'll notice some similarities between the two applications. Adobe has done an excellent job of integrating the familiar tools and useful features into Bridge CS3. It looks much cooler than it did in its previous incarnation.

Customizing the workspace is very easy: just drag a panel to reposition it wherever you want it. You can change the width of the various panels by dragging the expander bar. And you can free up valuable screen real estate by double-clicking to temporarily collapse panels.

As I explored the updated interface in Bridge CS3, one of the first things I noticed was the improved Filter panel. The sorting options in the Filter panel are much more intuitive in CS3, and there are a wide range of included presets that make it easy to start using it right away.

You can quickly sort by keyword, orientation, date created or modified, file size, filename or dimensions without having to build a search query. After you search, the results appear immediately in the Content panel.

Filtering is handled in a much different way in Bridge CS3. File information is based on the contents and metadata of the folder you are exploring. By selecting criteria in the Filter panel, you can further define your search. For example, if you want to see only the RAW files in a folder, you can select Camera Raw image and Bridge will display the RAW files in the Content panel. If you wish to search for an image with a vertical orientation, you can quickly scan the list of matching files to find the one you wish. You can also filter your search results based on file type, keywords, or the date the file was last modified.

Sorting by keywords is extremely useful. Now you might be thinking, "Keywords? Why (or how) would I sort by keywords?" Well, with the integration of Bridge CS3 with Fireworks CS3, you can now store a whole range of metadata in each file you create. Metadata allows you to organize your files more efficiently, which is especially important when working on large projects (or small projects with many elements). The Keywords panel makes it easy to edit the File Information for specific files, and you can include relevant information such as the author name, copyright, file description, and more directly in the Adobe XMP Data window (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Entering detailed information about each file in the XMP Data window

Adobe's Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) is a labeling technology that allows you to embed data about a file, known as metadata, into the file itself. The ability to save this metadata using Bridge CS3 is a new feature for Fireworks users because previous versions of Adobe Bridge did not share this data with Fireworks. Now when you save a file in Fireworks CS3, the metadata information is embedded in the file, which allows you to sort and organize your Fireworks files. You can also add helpful notes that facilitate communication when working with a team on a project.

Another great new feature is the ability to generate quick or high-quality thumbnail images. If you are working with a folder containing many high-resolution images, this feature is a real timesaver. In addition, you create image stacks to group project files. For example, you can create a reference to a series of related files (various formats of a company logo, for instance) by selecting Stack > Group as Stack. The project files will be grouped together. Image stacks are displayed in the Content panel with a number icon on top, indicating the number of files in the stack (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Image stack in the Content panel (below) showing three files in the stack (above)

Image stacks allow you to group similar files on top of each other, which is a great way to save space in the Content panel. Click the top image to show that specific file, or click the bottom of the stack to see all of the stack's images in the preview area.

Previewing images

The first time I launched Bridge, I encountered an issue when I tried to preview images; they wouldn't show up! As I moved my cursor over the preview area, I could see it changing but I could not see the image.

After reviewing the system requirements for Bridge CS3, I discovered I had an outdated video card. Adobe Bridge CS3 requires that you have a 128 MB video card with the hardware acceleration set to "full." If you are having difficulties previewing your images or viewing slideshows in Bridge CS3, select Edit > Preferences > Advanced and chose Use Software Rendering.

Fireworks integration with Bridge

There are many new features available to Fireworks CS3 users, now that Bridge CS3 is available. These new features include the following:

• Select File > Browse to automatically launch Bridge CS3 and search for the images you need. Bridge CS3 makes it much easier to locate files, compared to using the Mac Finder or Windows Explorer. Once you locate the file you want to work with, simply double-click the filename to open the file in its default application. This new menu item makes it easy to integrate the benefits of Bridge CS3 into your workflow (see Figure 5).

  

  Figure 5. Selecting File > Browse to launch Bridge CS3 from Fireworks CS3

• Select File > File Info to launch the XMP Data window, where you can add metadata information to a specific file, build a metadata template, or apply an existing template to the currently open file. For more information on creating metadata templates, see the series of articles I wrote on the Community MX site, beginning with Getting organized with Adobe Bridge – Part 1: Batch renaming.

  

  Figure 6. Selecting File > File Info to launch the XMP Data window

Preserving and stripping XMP data

When you embed XMP data into a file, its file size increases. The extra file size could be a concern if the images are destined for the web but it may not be such a big deal for production master files, such as the native Fireworks PNG format.

The Fireworks engineers provided us with an ingeniously simple method for dealing with XMP data: If you save a file that contains XMP data (even if you save the file in a web format such as JPEG), the metadata remains with the file. But if you export the file from Fireworks CS3 (exporting means you're optimizing and saving the image for the web), the XMP metadata is stripped from the file in order to keep the file's size as small as possible. There are no preferences to select; simply choose to either save or export a file to keep or discard the embedded metadata automatically.

Bridge integration with Fireworks

Bridge CS3 has a new submenu item that invokes several of the automated processes in Fireworks.

Select Tools > Fireworks > Convert to Grayscale, Convert to Sepia, Invert Color Selection and Batch Process. If you choose any of these menu items, Fireworks will open the selected image(s) and run the corresponding command. If you choose the Grayscale or Sepia options, the effects are created using Live Filters, which means the effects remain editable after they've been applied. This is a real timesaver.

Bridge preferences

By default, Bridge associates all PNG files with Fireworks. You can change the file associations for all file formats (such as JPG and GIF) by selecting Edit > Preferences and making changes in the File Type Associations category (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. Set the desired default file associations in the Preferences within Bridge

If you wish to open a specific file in an application other than the default, just right-click on the file to access the context menu, then choose to open the file in a different application.

If you launch Bridge from Fireworks CS3, the Bridge's File menu will also contain an option to return to Fireworks.

Here's another feature that I think is pretty nifty: Bridge includes a preference option to open TIFF and JPEG files with Adobe Camera Raw. The Adobe Camera Raw option makes it possible to adjust your photographs in wonderfully creative ways. You can crop, color balance, straighten, sharpen and control the photo's exposure as editable options, even on a JPG file. Granted, you do not have the same level of control or flexibility as you would have with a true RAW file, but the fact that you can make all of these adjustments to your files in a non-destructive manner is pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Figure 8. The Thumbnail Preferences include an option to maintain editability of JPEG and TIFF files with Adobe Camera Raw

Where to go from here

I'm going to say it before someone else does: By enabling Bridge CS3 within Fireworks CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, and Flash CS3 Professional, Adobe has done an excellent job of bridging the gap between Adobe's strong products and the former-Macromedia products. To me, Bridge is the nerve center for organizing my projects—and now I can use it all the time while working in my favorite Adobe products. Good on ya, Adobe.

For more information about Adobe Bridge CS3, visit the Bridge product page.

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