Mac OS: Bridge CC 2017 unresponsive - "Building Criteria"

[rosst400]

I started using Adobe Bridge CC 2017 hoping that it would be an alternative Digital Asset Management repository, rather than using Mac's Photo application. I have used it for about a week now with no issues until I imported 900 new images from a couple of days worth of shooting, both video and stills (although predominantly stills) and now Bridge is stuck. It displays a message "building criteria" with a spinning circle in the bottom left hand corner. I have been waiting for almost an entire day for it to finish and the application is not responsive. I can't access the menu or switch folders. I have to force quite that application to close it.

I have tried compacting the Cache, increasing the cache size and even moving the location of the cache to a new folder. But no luck.

The first folder that I created when I commenced using the application seems to be fine. It contains 842 items and it loads fine on start up of Bridge. But then as soon as I select another folder, it hangs on "building criteria" regardless of the number of files contained within those folders.

I have read these forums and there are some issues where users of the Windows version were able to resolve a similar problem that I am having, but I haven't come across anyone using Mac.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have contacted Adobe, but they are closed on weekends. So i'll try again during the week.

[gary_sc]

Hi Rosst,

As I read your issue it does seem that you have left this folder and moved to another. My question is did you have to force quit Bridge to do so or did it leave the stuck folder "willingly?"

I can't say that I've introduced 900 images to Bridge all at one time, usually (for myself) I often have images in sub-folders. The only time I may have given Bridge a minor heart attack is when I've right-clicked the rightmost ">" symbol and selected "Show images from subfolders." When I've done that I know I'm asking Bridge to display over 900 images. I mention all this because when I do that, it just takes time for Bridge to display all of the images and in the lower left corner of bridge there will be a running count of the images it has processed.

One thing you might try is to select that folder and then go to Tools (menu) -> cache -> Purge cache for folder X. It's quite possible that that folder has an electronic glitch that needs to be tossed.

One other thing to try (if that didn't work), is to rebuild Bridge's Preferences. This is done by holding down the Shift-Option-Command keys at the same time you start Bridge. You will be presented with a question as to what you want to do and what you want to do is to Rebuild your Preferences. Admittedly though I do not think that this specific one will help because you can access other folders.

Since you are new to Bridge, let me refer you to three monographs/blogs I did on Bridge. They are:

Bridge Part 1: Making Bridge Work for You - Customizing the Interface

Bridge Part 2: Working in Bridge

Bridge Part 3: Finding Your Images in Adobe Bridge 

Let us know how it works out

[rosst400]

Hi gary_sc,

Thanks for your message. I tried your advice and I am still experiencing issues.

I hopped online and commenced a chat session with Adobe Support. They remotely accessed my Mac and they spent about an hour trying to troubleshoot. So I have to give them credit for helping out. But it appears that the issue may be related to my access rights. I operate on a Mac where I am not the administrator. As much as that can cause issues with operating some programs, I would expect an Adobe software program to function correctly regardless of access levels. The advice from Adobe Support was to try using Bridge with an admin account.

I have decided to ditch Adobe Bridge CC 2017 and I have found another DAM program called NeoFinder. It's not integrated with the other Adobe programs in CC, but it's quick and has been working fine for a couple of days now. It's a shame, but I can't continue to use Apple's Photos App for all my media and Bridge isn't viable either.

Cheers,

Ross.

[gary_sc]

HI Rosst,

Sorry you are still stuck with Bridge, I hate to say this but it's something deep in your system that the likely cause. As stated, I've not had your problem and I've used Bridge since CS2 days.

You never really stated what you needs and expectations for Bridge were. I looked up NeoFinder and it seems to be able to catalog all documents and let you know where they are. Just out of curiosity, have you taken a look at Lightroom? It's catalogs can contain hundreds of thousands of images and its system can let you work on an image even if the hard drive that actually contains the image is not connected to your computer. (No clue as to how it would work with CDs and DVDs of images, most people do not use them any more for archiving due to the low cost of hard drives nowadays.)

Lightroom is a true dynamic database that also lets you work on your images (raw, jpeg, and tiff) in a nondestructive environment that can do a vast majority of the kind of corrections that most people do with PS. However, you can work with Photoshop from Lightroom for a grand coupling of power.

Best,

[rosst400]

I am looking for a more robust management system for all my images and vidoes. I have using the Photos application that comes with Mac OS, but this isn't really designed for large collections of media, nor does it provide a catalogue. I am looking for an application where I can tag my media. I thought Adobe Bridge was the answer and while it meets my requirements, it is not operating correctly.

I'll take a look at Lightroom. I have only been using it to touch up images.

Thanks.

[gary_sc]

Hi Rosst,

FWIW, if you want a robust DAM for all of your images, Bridge is not the application. Bridge is excellent for individual blocks of processing images. For long term storage and maintaining your images (and finding them), Lightroom is where you want to work.

Mind you though that the mental process of working in LR can be a bit confusing in the beginning. There is a mindset to LR that must be accepted (for example, only work with images and folders within LR so that LR's database knows about what you are doing. When you move images and folders around in the Finder or Explorer, you will be spending a lot of time recovering.

Here are a bunch of LR tutorials, scroll around a bit here to look at setting up a Catalog. Once you have that set up you're good.

Lightroom Tutorials by Julieanne Kost

Best,

[rosst400 · Accepted solution]

Hi gary_sc,

Adobe Support called me - which was surprising and were keen to resolve my issue. The following instructions were provided to me via email:

As discussed please try to restart your system in safe boot and check if you still face this issue.

To start up in safe mode:

1.       Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The white Apple logo appears on your display.

2.       Release the shift key when you see the login window.

3.       Then launch Bridge CC and check if it freezes while building criteria.

4.       If it works fine in safe boot then restart the system again without holding Shift key.

Now Bridge is working perfectly fine. So I'll read your tutorial links and stick with it for a while.