Today’s Question: I am using Photoshop and Adobe Bridge. The Image Processor feature I have used in the past has disappeared. Any suggestions to get the option back on the menu?
Tim’s Quick Answer: To get the Image Processor option available in Adobe Bridge you need to make sure both Adobe Bridge and Photoshop have been updated to the same major release, and that the Photoshop startup script is enabled in Bridge.
More Detail: The Image Processor tool can be incredibly helpful for batch processing images. With the Image Processor you can select a group of photos and then generate new images based on the originals. You can specify the file format(s) you want to convert to as well as the pixel dimensions for the derivative images, among other options.
The Image Processor is actually a feature of Photoshop, not Adobe Bridge. It is available by default on the Tools menu in Adobe Bridge, however, which makes it easy to select a large group of images for processing. The feature requires that Photoshop and Bridge are properly connected.
The first requirement is that Photoshop and Bridge be updated to the same major release. For example, the current versions of each are the 2023 versions. So, if you had Adobe Bridge 2022 installed along with Photoshop 2023, the menu commands would not be available under the Photoshop submenu on the Tools menu in Bridge.
In addition, you need to make sure the Photoshop startup script is enabled in Bridge. From within Bridge go to the menu and choose Edit > Preferences on Windows or Adobe Bridge > Settings on Macintosh. Go to the Startup Scripts tab of the Preferences dialog and make sure the “Adobe Photoshop” checkboxes are turned on. I recommend turning on the checkboxes for any other Adobe applications you might use in conjunction with Bridge. Click the OK button to close the Preferences dialog.
You should then quit Bridge and launch it again, at which point you should see the Image Processor option under Tools > Photoshop on the menu in Bridge.
