How to use Adobe Bridge without Photoshop or Lightroom

Many people use Adobe Bridge with Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom. But what happens when you don't have access to any of those apps and you still want to perform basic actions?

Although use of Adobe Bridge is limited without Adobe's core photo editing applications, it is still possible to take advantage of many benefits from the service. Today, you'll learn how to use Adobe Bridge without Photoshop or Lightroom.

Using Adobe Bridge with a photo editing application will allow you to get the most out of this tool. But in some limited cases, you can use Bridge without Photoshop or Lightroom. In the sections below, you'll discover some of the best ways to do that.

1. Access photos from computers and external hard drives

One of the best ways to use Adobe Bridge without Photoshop or Lightroom is to access photos from your computer or other files. You can do this even if you haven't uploaded the images to your photo editor yet.

Here's how to view images using Adobe Bridge:

1. Go to the Folders tab on the left side of your screen.

2. Navigate to the folders you want to access. You can choose from your computer or a connected external hard drive.

3. Click the left or right arrow key to cycle through each image in that folder.

If you double-click the photo, it will open the Photoshop application so you can only see small previews in Adobe Bridge. If you go down to the bottom, you can choose whether you want to see Grid View , List View or Thumbnail View .

2. View different file types

Combined with the above, you can also view the content in your files and folders - based on different file types. For example, you can choose one of the following options:

1. Camera raw images
2. DNG files
3. Folder

To select one of these, go to the Collections tab and select Filter > File Type .

3. Evaluate images

It's likely that you'll take hundreds of photos during a single trip. And if you're traveling, you might come home with thousands of photos to sift through. If you're not careful with how you organize your files, you can waste a lot of time editing photos you don't want.

Knowing how to implement a quick photo editing process will make completing a project much easier and more efficient. Luckily, Adobe Bridge has a rating system that allows you to more simply choose the photo or design you want to edit.

The star rating system goes from 1-5. To use it, simply click on the number of stars you want to rate your selected image. You can always change this later if you want, so don't worry too much about it.

After rating your photos, you can easily organize your folders based on ratings:

1. Click the filter with the star icon.

2. Choose how you want to organize your photos.

In addition to viewing photos you've starred, you can also choose to view disapproved content.

4. Edit photo metadata

Editing photo metadata can save you a lot of trouble in some cases. For example, if you take photos for a blog, you may notice that the description shows up as an unwanted caption. If you own a blog, you should also make sure that you don't make these mistakes when taking photos for your blog.

In addition to the description, you can adjust the photo location using latitude, altitude, and longitude. Furthermore, you have the option to change the date you took the photo.

To edit a photo's metadata:

1. Select the image you want to adjust.

2. Go to Metadata which you will see in the lower left corner.

3. Edit the boxes you can change.

5. Search for Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a useful website that offers royalty-free content, including photos and videos. You can access Stock directly from Adobe Bridge without using Photoshop or Lightroom.

To access Adobe Stock, navigate to Libraries and select Go to Stock & Marketplace ; on the right hand side. The Creative Cloud app will then open. Here you can use various free libraries and designs in your projects.

6. Export images

Even when using Adobe Bridge without Photoshop or Lightroom, you can still export photos to different locations. To do that:

1. Right click on the image you want to export. If you have a Mac, use control + trackpad instead.

2. Select Export to > Custom Export .

3. Expand Save To and select Specific Folder , before selecting Browse .

4. Select your new file and click Start Export .

5. Click Close when the file has been exported.

7. Delete photos

You can also delete photos in Adobe Bridge:

1. Select the image(s) you want to delete and press the delete key on your computer.
2. A pop-up window titled Reject or Delete? will appear. Select Delete .

Jessica Tanner

Update 22 October 2023