How do you export/import a workspace in Abobe Bridge?

[Vanessa5E71]

Hello,

How can I export and then import a workspace in adobe bridge. I have the workspace created now I just need to export another computer. Thanks 

[gary_sc · Accepted solution]

Hi Vanessa,

You can see the location by following this Path Bar.

HTH

 

[contestabili]

Has this changed in Bridge 2023? - I don't see the Workplaces Folder nor my custom workspace 

[gary_sc]

It doesn't seem to be.

 

[contestabili]

Strange. I am missing the Workspaces folder. Attached is what I see in my Bridge 2024 folder. Files under SavedWorkspaces or ArchivedWorkspaces are .xml files as opposed to .workspace.

I wonder why I am missing that Workspaces folder. Is your Bridge running on an M1 Mac machine by change? 

[stunning_code154A]

Gary - I've shared workspaces before by copying them in to different computers at this path:

     C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge 2022\Workspaces

I am trying this with Bridge 2023 and it doesn't show. I decided to reverse engineer, so I created a workspace within Bridge 2023, and then tried to find it use Windows File Explorer.  It is nowhere to be found.  Something has changed.  Would you mind taking a look?  Thanks!

[stunning_code154A]

Gary - I just went through this process using Bridge 2022, and it works as it should.  It appears this is another one of the problems with Bridge 2023 - they fixed some, but I keep finding more issues.

[gregreser]

@stunning_code154A I created a new workspace in Bridge 2023 and found it in C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge 2023\SavedWorkspaces

As @contestabili said, these are .xml files and they are very different from the .workspace files. I'm not sure if these .xml files can be shared with other users.

I also have a Workspaces folder which contans an old workspace. Interestingly, this does not appear in the Workspaces list in Bridge 2023. I wonder if was inherited with my other saved 2022 preferences when I installed 2023?

[stunning_code154A]

Thank you, Gary - I noted the same thing.  I haven't tried sharing the XML workspace.  The custom workspaces I created in earlier versions of Bridge show in the 2023 workspaces subfolder.

[gary_sc]

Hi, @stunning_code154A 

Fortunately, Greg is helping you. I'm a Mac user and do not know the layouts or saving patterns on a PC. 

[Tyrehl289439821vx3]

Not imagining that an answer is quickly forthcoming from Adobe, I did a bit of poking around and here is what I discovered.  Bridge 12 and earlier stores workspace information in files that look like  this:

Tethered captures.workspace  

These files are named for the workspace and even though the file tag says .workspace, these are actually .xml files.  Open one up in a simple text editor and you will be able to read the data it contains.

Now in Bridge 13, old workspaces from earlier versions are copied to the Workspace folder, but seem to be converted to files that look like this: 

UserWorkspace_5.xml 

They are stored in a new folder called Archived Workspaces.  The workspace name is no longer a part of the file name and now the only way to distinguish the different workspaces in the list is to open the .xml file, scroll down near the bottom and find the name wrapped in the tag:     <ustring> Tethered captures </ustring>

In the past we have been able to copy the Tethered captures.workspace file from one machine to another and it appears upon the next launch of Bridge. 

I have tried copying the new Bridge 13 formatted .xml files from one machine to another in the proper folder location, but they do NOT appear upon the next launch of Bridge 13

So yeah, it’s broken and I have no idea how to work around it.

[gregreser]

@stunning_code154A do your earlier workspaces appear in the Bridge 2023 workspace list (can you select and use them)?

[gregreser]

The new UserWorkspace .xml files are much more complex than the old .workspace files. This probably due to the ne multiple content panel features. 

I modified one of the UserWorkspace files by changing the <ustring> value to "My New Workspace" and naming the file: myNewWorkspace.xml

It does appear in Bridge 2023:

but I get an error:

The new workspace loads as expected, except the Bridge window resizes down slightly so it's no longer maximized, even though it was saved in the maximized state. I wouldn't be confident about sharing workspaces. There are likely to be some user specific values that will cause a problem.

We definitely need some guidance for Adobe here. Even better would be an export/import workspace feature.

[Tyrehl289439821vx3]

Greg,

I missed the "SavedWorkspaces" folder when I ran the test.  Using the files in that location does allow for the transfer of workspaces from one machine to another.  The unfortunate naming convention of the new file format makes finding the correct workspace to transfer a FANTASTICALLY HORRIFC  TIME WASTING PROCESS.

How hard can it be to name the workspace xml files with the name of the workspace they represent?

[stunning_code154A]

Yes they do.  The appear in the Bridge application and in the workspace file.

I haven't experimented with the XML files, looks like I need to do so.

[Bowserb46]

Hi Vanessa.  Your 2021 problem was solved, then broken again by subsequent versions.  Here we are in 2024.  The ability to SIMPLY export a workspace from your desktop, and then import for your laptop, still doesn't exist.  It appears it never will.  Too bad.  The effort it takes to get Bridge to do what it can do for a user, is lost when you switch computers.  This isn't unique to Bridge or Adobe.  Computers have become a tool that takes so much maintenance that we spend more time working ON the tool then working WITH the tool.

End of rant.

[PaulieDC]

So ONCE AGAIN the developers at Adobe decide to eliminate something that is very important to us. I have .workspace files that I SHOULD be able to import into Bridge 2024 in a clean install on a new PC (therefore nothing to migrate under the hood), and now these workspace files are useless. I've been a software dev for over 20 years which is why I am so ticked. YOU HAVE TO THINK OF THE END USER, not your "great programming ideas" that are going to expand features and leave everyone totally stuck. The Devs broke print preview in Photoshop a few years back and didn't fix it for almost two years. I make large format landscape prints, you can imagine how that went. Not long into the original subscription model, Adobe didn't put proper measures in place and our accounts got severely hacked. We got so much filthy ungodly spam I had to delete my longtime custom-domain email address. Now, we tell Bridge users, TOO BAD what you saved, we decided to change the format and you can't use the workspace you meticulously set up, so just start over. I've been an Adobe customer for nearly two decades, certified in Photoshop and even on the Beta team for the certification exams several years ago. I have time and money invested because there are GREAT tools, like no other, but when the developent team purposely breaks our User Experience, yep, I'm ranting about it. FIX IT, ADOBE... it's very simple: Put a .workspace import feature in Bridge.

</endrant>