Tip: using CS5 Adobe Bridge to check raw files

[David Kilpatrick]

Using Adobe CS5 (and possibly earlier) Bridge, set your Preferences preview creation to 'Generate Monitor Size Previews' and the Cache to 'save 100% previews in cache'. It's a bit slower and uses HD space, but most modern computers can handle it so you will never notice.

Now when you select a thumbnail preview, you get the normal larger preview window. Hit the space bar, and this will immediately fill the screen, and will be perfectly sharp (because you have already generated a monitor-sized version).

Now click the mouse over any part of this preview, and the image will zoom to 100% at the spot you have selected (all this happens without entering Camera Raw). The screen will display a message saying the 100% preview is being built. A few seconds later, the blurred version will be replaced by a pixel sharp 100% view. Pressing the spacebar returns you to normal Bridge browser+preview mode.

You can use the arrow keys when in this Bridge-Raw-Preview mode to view each image, and you can use Cmd-Backspace (on Mac) to delete the raw file entirely and move to the next one, if you wish.

This is a very quick way to compare raw files without going into Camera Raw, but having a 100% check (often, you can tell from the full screen preview - at least on a 27" or 30" screen, whether a file needs deleting immediately).

[Philip]

Thanks David. Can confirm this works with CS4 Bridge.

Philip

[KevinBarrett]

Got my new software in, David, and I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to get a full-screen preview in LR3 for import selection. The way you described here may be faster, but I'm still learning and trying to figure out the work-flow.