Last month we reviewed nine of the new or improved features in the recently released Photoshop CS2. But helpful as those features are, they’re overshadowed by CS2’s two major improvements: Adobe Bridge (which replaces PS7 and CS’s File Browser), and a greatly enhanced Adobe Camera Raw.

ADOBE BRIDGE. The old File Browser has evolved into a stand-alone program that can run on its own or from within Photoshop CS2 (or any of the other Creative Suite programs). Instead of just providing access to image files, Bridge can handle files from any Adobe program, thus serving as a "bridge" between them. But it’s much more than just a bridge—it’s a fast and full-featured tool for reviewing, selecting, organizing, and annotating your images. Furthermore, it’s possible to open additional instances of Bridge to have multiple folders accessible simultaneously.

In place of CS’s rudimentary flag/unflag labeling, in CS2 it’s possible to both rank images (zero to 5 stars) and color-code them. For example, it’s possible to display just images with three or more stars, or all images coded green.

Bridge also offers a wide selection of customizable workspaces, including Thumbnails, Filmstrip (a strip of thumbnails plus a large display of the selected one), Details (thumbnails plus metadata), and Slideshow (which sequences through large versions of images and allows ranking or colour-coding them on the fly with a single keystroke). Instead of having to navigate drop-down menus to select among a short list of thumbnail sizes, a slider now enables resizing them on the fly. With the File Browser we were never sure which raw files had been adjusted, but in Bridge, adjusted thumbnails display a "been edited" icon—a minor change, but typical of CS2’s improved usability.

ADOBE CAMERA RAW (ACR). Instead of having to adjust each raw file separately (or adjust one and then blindly apply identical adjustments to other images), it’s possible now to adjust one image in a large window, see the results applied to thumbnails of other selected images, and then, if desired, quickly tweak each one individually.

By default, ACR applies automatic settings for Exposure, Shadows, Brightness, and Contrast. It’s possible to still adjust the sliders to override these settings, turn them off individually via check boxes, or view the unadjusted raw image by pressing Ctrl-U (Mac: Cmd-U). Another major improvement is the ability to make curves adjustments in raw. If someone isn’t comfortable manipulating curves manually, ACR provides drop-down presets for applying medium or strong contrast curves. Finally, it’s possible now to apply non-destructive straightening and cropping in Camera Raw. (The ACR window previews the image that will open in Photoshop, but the raw file retains 100 percent of the original image).

Bottom line: not only will Photoshop CS2’s Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw give higher quality images, they’ll do it in less time.

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