Bridge 2023 Open New Window

[Laura26659677p2z7]

Hello,

I am looking to open muliple windows in Bridge 2023. It used to be under file > new window .

Does anyone know where to find this feature?

Thanks? 

[NIX-that]

This is not a complete solution, a new TAB is not the same as a new Window. First, even if you sperate a tab, you still have to retun to the main window to navigate wich is not intuitive and intrupts workflow. Second,  tabs cant operate indpendantly which makes intefacing between progams harder. For example, lets say you move your new seperated tab to another screen so you can view it while still viewing/working in in photoshop, but when you go to work within that tab and potentially pull files from that tab into photshop it makes all windows of bridge come to the front, which hides Photoshop. You can work around but it is an annoying and pointless workflow interuption. It is just easier to have multiple windows! and I dont see the downside of having this feature! Why did you cut it?

[davidp96093347]

Will we ever get an answer to your final question... Why?

[Rubber Johnny]

Never underestimate Adobe's ability to screw things up.  
Adobe's new motto:  "If it ain't broke...we'll destroy it.  Enjoy your subscription anyway!"

[Bermannyc]

Leave it to Adobe to take a simple command (CMD-N)  and make it into three simple commands. I always thought updates and such are supposed to do things like streamline using the App being updated? You guys stink.

[_LucaB_]

This is not a solution, different detachable panels do not work the same way, please revert this feature

[Emi Bicking]

Please allow Bridge to have multiple windows like it used to be in the past... 😭 WHAT A PAIN!!! Why try to fix what is not broken? 

[Russell31225784cj8y]

Agreed.  This is such a dumb problem Adobe has created.

[~ Gil]

Just weighing in as yet another reverted Bridge 12 user. Came looking to see if the "New Window" function was restored before updating to latest version. Glad I checked first. Will continue with Bridge 12. Though I am begining to get concerned that I may have to find another method of working with files and folders if Adobe disables Bridge 12.

[bigxstudio]

This solution is incorrect. Panels and windows are not the same thing and do not have equal functionality. Please add the New Window command back in. This is seriously impacting workflow.

[markr66913952]

Yes totaly agree BRING BACK NEW WINDOW OPTION

Ive spent nearly a week trying to find  a work around this problem. Muy solution is to uninstall all and revert back to a 2021 version of Bridge & Photoshop !

Adobe are great at bullshitting about generative fill which most of us won't use and f**k up the simple things which is why we all use Bridge. Lets face it Lightroom does exactly the same thing but its not as user friendly and doesnt have the same on screen visability options like multiple windows (as far as Im aware ). Is there any other similar option to Bridge out there ?

Im one of those that can only use Macs & Canon cameras because they are so user friendly and you can see where files are give me a PC & I'll be banging my head off the desk in minutes

Attached is a typical use of Bridge for me

[markr66913952]

Not what was asked people want New Window option

[Tom Tom]

It's not what youv'e been asked for. Users need another "window".

[Michal30658209d88r]

That is not a solution, because a new, undocked panel does not allow you to browse to a different file path, as the main window does.

[gary_sc]

Hi @Michal30658209d88r Apparently you've not tried it because it certainly is possible. Whatever is the active Content Panel will be changed by selecting a different folder from the Folder menu or the Favorite menu or by dragging a folder onto the Bridge icon in the Dock (I think this also works on the PC if you drag a folder onto the Bridge icon on the Start menu, but since I'm on a Mac, I've not tested this myself).

[gunderalex]

This is absolutely ridiculous.  Just let us have our second window.  Does it somehow hurt adobe to allow us to use Bridge as we have?  

[jeremyw54803074]

My organization just rolled over into 2023, which within 5 minutes has brought straight to this thread to ask - where has the New Window function gone? 

This is crucial, tried and true, feature that I personally use everyday. It sounds like I'm not the only one. Seeing this feature gone, now replaced with the New Tab function, is incredibly frustrating and disappointing. New Tab, and then floating that to a window, is not a replacement. On the Windows platform, what we have now is a complete and cluttered mess, with a UI that somehow is harsher on the eyes to look at. 

Please tell us that a hot fix is incoming. We can have both that new window and the new tab operations. Please do not remove institutional and basic workflow functions such as this! It only frustrates the long term, professional user.

[gary_sc]

That capability is coming, but Adobe says nothing about upcoming features or ANYTHING. 

If I had to guess and speculate, I'd say it might be here by MAX, Oct 10–12.

[gary_sc]

In the interim, you can go back to Bridge 2022.

In addition, here are some guidelines for using Bridge 2023:

New Workflows

If you look at the Content Panel, note the hamburger menu on the right-hand side (three horizontal lines). To the left of the Hamburger menu, you'll see a plus (+) (red arrow). If you click on that, you'll get a new Content Panel. If you click on the option in the Hamburger menu for a new Content Panel (green arrow), you'll also get a new Content Panel.

The primary disadvantage of these two options currently is that either will default to a "home" position and are not likely to provide access to the folder you want. Fortunately, for any Content Panel that is active (note the blue square and blue line circling the Panel), if you go to the Recent icon in the icons on top, if you select a folder from there, it will open up in that Content Panel.

Likewise, if you select a folder from the Folders Panel. In addition, if you take an image or a folder and drag it to the Bridge icon in the Dock, THAT folder will open in the active Content Panel. Hopefully, soon they will provide both "Open" and "Recent" options in the Hamburger menu.

 

If you have a folder with other sub-folders, you can always right-click on one of the subfolders, and it can be opened in a new Content Panel

 

Once you have two or more Content Panels, you can drag from one to the other by simply mouse-down on an image (or all selected images), then move the mouse up to the title area of the other Content Panel to make it the active Panel and release. IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE before you do anything, then Comand/Control-z and you'll be good. BTW, if you see a blue line around a Content Tab, that means that that is the Active Tab.

Note also that extra Content Panels can be placed and/or moved to any other location in the Bridge window.

I hope this explains some of the new workflows available to you.

[robingriggswood]

Yes, gary_sc

I believe most of the folks commenting with upset already know about the new "Content Tab" workflows in 2023. Those aren’t "Content Panels", by the way -- it even shows in your screenshot that it is a "Content Tab". We are talking about specifically about the lack of "New Window" option. I think your "how to" comment will just confuse (or upset) people in this thread more, if they think you are saying there is an option to have a new, active workplace for a folder.

[gary_sc]

Yes, @robingriggswood, they are content TABS occupying their space in the Content Panel (Adobe's terms FWIW). 

I have a favor to ask you. Since you are very familiar with how these Content TABS work, could you please explain that to others who might not yet have learned about them. TIA. Some people do wish to add to their knowledge about new features in an application.

And please, skim up a few messages and see if the new multi-windows version is coming or not. But I'm sure you already knew that, yes?

[robingriggswood]

You might want to check out the OP's actual post, @gary_sc :

"Bridge 2023 Open New Window

I am looking to open muliple windows in Bridge 2023. It used to be under file > new window .

Does anyone know where to find this feature?"

... that might help you in figuring out what words to use.

Or, you could read the multiple comments from others here in the thread to find out the majority response.

(And, perhaps, notice that your info is a virtual repeat of what has been added to this thread and what others don't want.)

[~ Gil]

Perhaps YOU could start a new thread Gary? One specific to "Suggestions for using Content Tabs". And yes, some of us are aware that the "New Window" option (has not) been included in the recent beta release.

[ShamPhoto]

Okay, a little slow, actually a lot slow, but Adobe has ears after all. 
So now, what happened to using the TAB key to hide the side windows and expand and extend the area for image display? Hey, it still works in Lightroom! Of course, why would I expect the Lightroom people to talk to the Bridge developers? Silly me, of course they act as though they are in competing companies. A shout-out to other image professionals out there, many of us work with Bridge and Lightroom simulataneously and need commonality. Doesn't Adobe respect that?

[Conrad_C]

I can’t speak for Adobe because I don’t work there, but I suspect the Tab key might not be coming back. As a preface to what I am going to write— Lightroom Classic is one of the applications I use the most.

What happened is that Bridge seems to have taken on the traditional panel handling of the Adobe video/audio applications, like Premiere Pro and After Effects. For users of those applications, the Tab key does not hide all panels; instead, you can maximize any panel by hovering the pointer over it and pressing the ` (tilde) key, and restore its previous size by pressing ` again. Other clues about this is that the docking/floating behavior in Bridge 13 (e.g. how panel docking and floating work) is now consistent with the Adobe video applications, and not the Adobe graphics applications.

For example, in Bridge, if you used to press Tab to hide all panels because you want to maximize the Content panel, now you position the pointer over the panel you want (e.g. Content) and press the ` key.

The advantage of the new way is that, as in the Adobe video apps, you can maximize any panel. The old way with the Tab key only maximized the Content panel. Now, the panel that maximizes when you press the ` key is whatever panel the pointer is over.  But it is easy to see why people are upset: There does not seem to be any explanation of why Bridge changed this, and the Tab key change is not mentioned in the What’s New release notes (they do cover the new docking/floating behavior, though).

And now for what is probably an “unpopular opinion”:

I have used the graphics applications (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Lightroom Classic) for many more years than I have been using Adobe video applications, and I spend much more time in the graphics applications than in the video apps. So it might seem strange that I am going to say: I think the Adobe video/audio applications do a much better job with panel management, therefore I like the new way Bridge panels work and I don’t want the Tab key back. There are several ways I think it works better and more efficiently, and I wish the graphics apps all switched over. For example, I would love to be able to press the ` key in Lightroom Classic to temporarily maximize the Folders, Keywords, or Metadata panel, or in Photoshop to temporarily make the Layers panel full height, but the graphics apps can’t do it. Yes, the Tab key is traditional and goes back decades, but when I first learned the video apps, I decided that retraining my old Tab habits to include the awesome ` key was totally worth it for the productivity benefit, which I can now use in Bridge.

But that is only to explain what changed with the Tab key, and why I think it’s actually a good thing. If you and other users want the Tab key back anyway, I can’t say that is wrong, and you should request it. Maybe they can make it a preference setting.

[joeb21851908]

You make a great case for the tilde key across applications. We do easily get used to a way of working, that it's hard to rethink things. But it would indeed be great to use the tilde key in photoshop like you use it in premiere's lumetri to quickly maximize a curve and adjust it on my second screen, then minimize it again. Are you seeing this Adobe? 😅