One of the best things Adobe did for Photoshop owners was to add the versatile Collections feature to Bridge beginning with Photoshop CS5. (Bridge is included when you buy Photoshop.) Collections came to Bridge from Lightroom (and Photoshop Elements, which calls them Albums). They are "virtual folders" that organize thumbnail images without needing to duplicate the actual file (and thus saving hard drive space).
However, unlike your actual images, collections in Bridge are stored with the program (application for you Mac owners), not with your pictures. This presents a problem in two situations:
What can you do? The best thing is to create a copy of your collections and save them outside of Bridge, such as on the same hard drive where your photos live. That way the collections get backed up along with your pictures. (You ARE backing up your pictures, right??) And it's a relatively easy matter to copy these collections to the proper place for a new version of Bridge.
The tricky part is knowing where the collections live in the first place so you can make the backup copy. A little judicious searching on the Internet produced the answer to both questions.
Bridge CS5 & CS6 Collections Locations
For Bridge CS6, use the same path but change "CS5" to "CS6".
Windows
Mac
Windows users: After you have made a copy of your Bridge Collections folder, I recommend that you return to the Folder Options and turn off the feature to show hidden files and folders.
Hopefully, in the future Adobe will provide an automated way to transfer collections from previous versions of Bridge to new ones.
Bridge CS6 showing a collection of images |
However, unlike your actual images, collections in Bridge are stored with the program (application for you Mac owners), not with your pictures. This presents a problem in two situations:
- When you upgrade to a newer version of Photoshop & Bridge (i.e., from CS5 to CS6).
- If you need to reinstall Photoshop & Bridge, such as after purchasing a new computer or a hard drive failure.
What can you do? The best thing is to create a copy of your collections and save them outside of Bridge, such as on the same hard drive where your photos live. That way the collections get backed up along with your pictures. (You ARE backing up your pictures, right??) And it's a relatively easy matter to copy these collections to the proper place for a new version of Bridge.
The tricky part is knowing where the collections live in the first place so you can make the backup copy. A little judicious searching on the Internet produced the answer to both questions.
Bridge CS5 & CS6 Collections Locations
For Bridge CS6, use the same path but change "CS5" to "CS6".
Windows
- Windows XP: C:Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Adobe\Bridge CS5\Collections
- Windows VIsta/7: C:\Users\"username"\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge CS5\Collections
- Make sure you are logged in as Administrator.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Choose Folder Options.
- In the Folder Options window, click on the View tab.
- Under Hidden files and folders, choose "Show hidden files, folders and drives".
- Click the Apply button.
- Close the window.
Show hidden files option selected in Folder View Options for Windows |
Location and Contents of Bridge CS5.1 Collections in Windows 7 |
- user / Library / Application Support / Adobe / Bridge CS5 / Collections
- Quit Bridge.
- Copy the Collections folder (either from CS5 or CS6, depending on the version you are using).
- Paste it in a new location that you back up regularly.
I copied mine to my dedicated pictures drive.
Windows users: After you have made a copy of your Bridge Collections folder, I recommend that you return to the Folder Options and turn off the feature to show hidden files and folders.
Hopefully, in the future Adobe will provide an automated way to transfer collections from previous versions of Bridge to new ones.