Finding Files Fast

You may be used to using the Find command in a word processor to search text, and using the traditional Find command in an operating system to search filenames. The Find command in Adobe Bridge goes deeper than that. In addition to being able to search in more traditional ways, you can search metadata (keywords, shot data such as capture date, and so on) embedded in your images by you, your camera, or others. Taking advantage of the ability to search metadata in Bridge can help you select the right files more quickly. If you can retrieve the files you want using metadata alone, you can send those files directly from Bridge to Photoshop; see the section "Working with Adobe Bridge" in Chapter 6.

In the example below, my goal is to apply specific noise-reduction settings to all photos shot at ISO 1600 and that I rated higher than 2 stars from a shoot, so I decide to do a Find on 1600 in the metadata.

To find files:

1.	In Adobe Bridge, choose Edit > Find (Figure 7.1). Figure 7.1.
2.	In the Source section, specify the folder you want to search. (If you need to search more than one folder, set the Look In menu to a folder that contains all the folders you want to search and enable the Include All Subfolders checkbox.)
3.	In the Criteria section, specify what you're looking for using the choices in the first pop-up menu. (If you're looking for criteria that isn't listed, such as ISO or color profile, choose All Metadata and enter it there.)
4.	If you want to search using multiple criteria, click the plus button to add another criterion (Figure 7.2). To remove a criterion, click the minus button next to it. Figure 7.2.
5.	Make sure the Match menu is set for the type of search you want.
6.	It's a good idea to enable Show Find Results in a New Browser Window so that you can preserve the view settings and any selections you might have in the original browser window.
7.	Click Find. The Find Results appear (Figure 7.3). In this example, the original folder has 147 items, and the Find Results window has just 62 items. Figure 7.3.

Use caution when searching on metadata. Bridge metadata searching is not sufficiently precise because not all metadata fields are listed individually. In the ISO search example just given, it isn't possible to search for ISO 1600 because ISO is in a metadata label, not a value in the data itself, so it's necessary to search on 1600 within the general Metadata option in the Find dialog box. However, if a file uses the value 1600 in another metadata field, yet not in the ISO field, Bridge Find still picks up that file. Therefore, when you search using the Metadata option, it's a good idea to double-check your Find results using the Metadata tab.

If the Find function doesn't seem to be finding files that are present, there may be a problem with the Bridge cache. First try doing a Find with the Find All Files checkbox enabled to make sure it isn't a problem with the way you're entering criteria; if Find All Files returns no files for a folder where there are files, then there is a problem. Choose Tools > Cache > Purge Cache for This Folder to rebuild the cache.