Batch Processing

Let's say you went out and shot 100 photos. You get them back to your computer and need to sort through them. This is called "Batch Processing", or editing multiple images at once. Here's how I tackle it using just the Bridge & Photoshop applications:

1.) BRIDGE: Put them all in a folder and open that folder in Bridge. (on a Mac, I simply drag the folder down to the Bridge icon, but you can also find the folder from within Bridge).

• Choose Filmstrip view at the top right:

• Star your favorites (either under the label tab or on a Mac simply hit "option 1" or "option 2, 3, 4, 5..." to rate them:

• Hit delete to move any bad images to the trash (delete on your keyboard or the trash can icon in upper right).

• Rename all files to something that will remind you of the shoot like "brunch party" or "Sam's Birthday"...etc. Tools > Batch > Rename:

• After you star your favorites, hide the others by going into the star tab at upper right:

• Move these favorites to a separate folder if you wish. Select > All to select your favorite images in Bridge. Then hit return to open them into Photoshop's Camera Raw window (if they were shot Raw). When opening multiple images, they will show up on the side bar like this:

• Adjust the sliders at the right for each image. Optional: Apply the slider changes to multiple images at once by having more than one image highlighted at a time on the left. When you're done, Selct all the images on the left, and hit "save images". Save as hi-res JPGs (do not resize to fit). The window should look like this (save to a new folder):

• I like to organize my folders like this:

I give a folder to each photoshoot, then inside I have 3 folders holding the 3 file types. Hi-Res/Retouched (those hi-res JPGS you made from your raw files, plus do any additional retouching here (aka PSDs with layers). Then later we will export these Hi-Res "master files" to the Lo-Res JPG folder which will be the right size to post online or email.