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“It’s True: Adobe Bridge 2024 Is Completely Free for Everyone, for Life!”
It's True: Adobe Bridge 2024 Is 100% Free for You to Download & Use
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To clarify, a free CC subscription is needed to download and use this, correct?
Hi Cosmo, thanks for your question. It comes with the free level of Creative Cloud, although technically you don’t even need to have that. But it certainly couldn’t hurt, considering all the other benefits you get with that…
There are two ways you can download and install Bridge: The usual way is from Adobe’s Bridge CC page – look for the big blue “Download” button at the upper right, which will download the main Creative Cloud Desktop App (called “CreativeCloudSet-Up” for PC/Mac). After you install & run that, you’ll see Bridge CC listed there (possibly in the “Previous Versions” section), and then you just click “Install.”
Alternatively, you can use the CC direct download links here, which just requires a login with your Adobe ID. Note you must carefully follow the download instructions given on that page (required by Adobe’s servers), before clicking on the Bridge 32-bit or 64-bit Windows or Mac links. That will then download the Bridge CC installer directly to your computer.
Either way will work and give you the full and free version of Bridge CC, as promised above. Once the software is installed on your system, you can easily get all updates to the most recent release (including the latest version of ACR used by Bridge) by selecting Help menu > Updates. Enjoy!
Thanks for this great news……Can I (or anyone else) use Bridge to view CC files outside of a subscription?
Yes Ryan, absolutely. That’s one of the reasons why we believe Adobe has made this a separate free download available for everyone…
Bridge CC can display full-screen views of many Adobe format files & documents, such as PSD, DNG, AI, EPS, INDD, PDF, SWF, and FLV – including page-turning where applicable – and it also can visually preview and thumbnail a ton of other file formats for images, vectors, audio, video, etc. – all without leaving the application. Just select the file(s) you want and press the spacebar.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for your reply but I remain confused. I tried to download it but was told I needed to sign up for a free CC subscription. So do I need to do this or not? A simple, clear response would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Hello again Cosmo, as mentioned in the article and the comment above, there are two ways you can download and install your free copy of Bridge CC…
The first way (the standard method) also gives you a free level of CC membership including free 30-day trials of all CC products, as well as many non-expiring benefits.
The second way (the direct download method) does not give you that, and only requires a log in with your free Adobe ID.
Either way, the installed Bridge CC software is the same, and is fully updateable via the Help menu > Updates.
Hope that makes things clearer.
Please ProDesignTools, could you explain in more detail what are the pros and cons to installing Bridge CC for a CS user ?
Note : I have already read your post, but I don’t find all my answers.
A few questions for example :
What is the impact on the Adobe Camera Raw plugin inside Photoshop CS6 ? Are we still stuck with the 9.1.1 version of ACR, or do we get a new version (current 9.3) ?
If we are unhappy with the Bridge CC version for any reason, can we still go back to the CS version afterwards ?
Thank you very much.
Hey there Evergreen,
Installing or using Bridge CC would not change or update the Camera Raw plug-in/version that is used by Photoshop CS… They are managed separately within each program.
Bridge does install and use the latest Camera Raw plug-in itself for its own functionality, but in a read-only way in order to display and preview the content within your Adobe files. Bridge CC can edit image metadata and the like, however to make changes to the image pixels (and actually open the file for editing) you would use your version of Adobe Photoshop and/or the ACR that comes with it.
So whenever there is a new update to ACR, then your Bridge CC will definitely receive that update for those purposes. By using the current release of the ACR plug-in, the free Bridge CC will always be able to properly manage, display and preview the latest Camera Raw images within its media browser.
To answer your second question – yes, you can go back and use previous releases of Adobe tools at any time, and even have them installed together on the same system. There should be no conflict outside of occasionally the system’s file associations not being connected to the app version that you want. However, you can easily set these back however you like, at any time.
Hope that fully answers your question; if not then just post back!
Thanks so much for the link to free installation for Creative Cloud and Bridge CC. Much appreciated.
You bet Kay – thanks for your note, and glad to help!
The updates of Bridge are not parallel with the other apps. Why? Especially the integration with After Effects sucks. And Bridge is still very slow.
Hi Jan. Bridge CC is its own separate, standalone application. It has its own release cycle. It is no longer tied or bundled together with Photoshop or other tools, although it does work together with them and alongside them.
Also, Bridge CC – like both Photoshop and After Effects – relies on the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in. So if there is a new update to ACR, then Bridge CC will receive that as well – so that it can properly display and preview Camera Raw images within the media browser.
As for performance, are you sure you’re using the latest 64-bit version of Bridge? Have you adjusted your Bridge cache size to be large enough for your purposes? (if you are using many files or big directories)
Finally, have you tried these suggestions to make sure you get the best and fastest performance?
Forums Help: Improving Adobe Bridge CC Speed & Performance?
Or these tips?
How Do I Optimize the Performance of Adobe Bridge?
Pro design tools,
I am still working with Photoshop 5 and lightroom 5.7.
Will this free Adobe Bridge CC be compatible with those older versions?
Yes, definitely Jacoba – Bridge CC is compatible with all previous versions of Adobe tools, and even non-Adobe software…
And Bridge CC will display content previews of files with older Adobe file formats as well.
You can also use Bridge together with Lightroom. Here’s how.
By the way, it sounds like you might also find this compatibility guide helpful:
Are Adobe CC Files Backwards Compatible with Older CS Tools?
Thanks for your question, a good one!
Thank you very much for your information.
I look forward to installing BridgeCC.
Regards, Jacoba.
Does the free Adobe Bridge offer include the new Bridge CC version 6.2 which has just been released today?
Yes Louise, Bridge CC remains a permanently-free application for everyone even with today’s upgrade. Here are the details:
Adobe wrote an article about it here:
Bridge Reloaded
…and you can download Bridge CC for free here.
I have downloaded the free Bridge CC and have it installed and working except the camera raw plugin. When I try to open a photo in camera raw i get an error message saying I need to use another qualifying program first:
I don’t use photoshop or lightroom, but I do have and use photoshop elements 14 and camera raw works great in that program. I would like to use adobe camera raw in bridge as well. Is there a fix for this? I am using windows 10.
Thanks for your help
Hey Bob, try opening the Edit menu > Preferences settings within Bridge CC and see what the File Type Associations say… If necessary, change those to “Adobe Photoshop Elements” for the file types you’re editing.
Then select your file within the Bridge workspace and see what the File menu > Open With says – does it indicate “Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor” as the default?
Following these steps, you should be able to get your Photoshop Elements working with Adobe Bridge CC.
We tested this with the latest release of Bridge CC together with Photoshop Elements 14 and were able to open a Canon .CR2 raw file directly from Bridge into Adobe Camera Raw running within Photoshop Elements simply by double-clicking or opening the file.
So you should be able to use the free Adobe Bridge CC with either Photoshop CC (and other Creative Cloud tools), or with Photoshop Elements.
@ProDesignTools
maybe I am missing something but I fail to see an “edit with” input field under Edit > Preferences settings File Type Associations or anywhere else under Edit > Preferences settings. I have associated all the file types I use with Elements 14. Still no go. I still get the message “the parent application for Bridge has not been activated.”
Thanks again
The “Open With” command is under the File menu, not under the Preferences…
Our suggestion was select your file within Bridge and see what File > Open With says – does it show “Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor” as the default option?
After verifying the settings, we tested double-clicking a Canon .CR2 raw file in Bridge CC, and it opened the file directly into ACR within Photoshop Elements.
I just got kickback from corporate overlords that “…basically Bridge CC is not free for us under our Enterprise Agreement.” I tried calling Adobe, talked to Sipal on what sounded like an overseas call, and he said it wasn’t free either. He asked me to send him the link where I got my information, which I did, and he said this information was old, and referred to CS6. Has the whole world gone crazy? Is there any official documentation I can get on this subject. We have over 20 active CC subscriptions for designers and prepress technicians, but we just need something for customer service folks to preview indd and ai files and get them to the right place. Someone give me some advice, please!
Sure Ben, we’d be happy to. Sorry for the confusion, but it’s exactly the other way around from what you heard… This information is not old; on the contrary – Bridge CS6 was absolutely not free (it was bundled and sold together with Photoshop CS6). But then later, Adobe separated out Bridge CC and now delivers this tool independently.
You can download and try it yourself – and you’ll see that it is not a limited-time free trial, and there is no software expiration date. Bridge CC requires nothing – no purchase, no log in or sign in, no subscription or membership, no activation, and not even any other Adobe tools on the same computer. It installs and runs standalone, and even allows full updating to the latest version of the app itself plus the Adobe Camera Raw plugin.
And per your use case, yes – Bridge CC can definitely visually preview INDD, AI, PSD, PDF, and SWF/FLV files (among many other file format types).
The issue is that Adobe is a big company and there was no announcement about this relatively recent change – so even some employees inside aren’t aware of it yet… But we are longtime Adobe partners and in direct contact with the current development and product management teams for Bridge CC, and can assure you that what is stated on this page is accurate and correct.
Hope that helps!
Thanks! I saw what you’re talking about… I followed the instructions you guys posted elsewhere for standalone installs, and downloaded Bridge CC for Mac and PC, but unfortunately we still need to hear it from the horse’s mouth before I can distribute it.
Next time you’re in touch with those Adobe insiders, nudge them to make an announcement of some kind… even if they just go to the Adobe Bridge Community forum and respond to my thread, “Is Bridge CC Free?” I will try to keep bumping it to the top.
Thanks again,
Ben
No worries, here is a response from Adobe confirming what you want.
Hi ProDesignTools – Thank you for your knowledgeable information and this excellent thread !
I understand from the information given here that free ACR is read-only.
Is there a way to license full ACR functionality without licensing PS or LR ?
Thanks Michael. That’s correct, the Adobe Camera Raw that’s included in the free Bridge CC is used for the proper display and previewing of different raw file formats… To get the full ACR functionality including editing, you do need to purchase or subscribe to either Photoshop or Lightroom.
I had CS5 and Bridge and added PhotoshopCC. Is the Bridge that is available with PhotoshopCC the same as the one I bought with Photoshop CS5? Do I need to upgrade to a new version? Will I see all my pictures on the new version? Do I need to delete the old version?
Second question, if I get a Mac, how do I change my PhotoshopCC (currently have PC).
The two versions are absolutely different – so yes, we’d definitely recommend using the newer Bridge CC version instead, because it has the latest ACR plugin and will be able to see/preview all your current photos/images that were made with Photoshop CC.
You can probably have both versions of the Bridge application installed on the same computer, but we’d recommend just uninstalling the older one to avoid confusion… Anyway, the newer Bridge CC is already free-for-life anyway – so you can always have it.
On your second question: If you get a Mac, then you would just install the Mac version of the CC software onto your new system. For more details, see these two guides:
How Many Computers Can You Install or Run Adobe Software On?
How to Move Adobe Products Between Computers, or from PC to Mac
Hope that fully answers your questions, if not then just post back!
I’ve downloaded and installed Bridge CC and it seems to be working fine. Chuffed! If I try to open Camera Raw I get the same error message as described by Bob above. I’ve downloaded the Camera Raw 9.5.1 installer from https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-plug-in-installer.html.
What I’m wondering now is if I download the Photoshop CC trial and run that to activate Camera Raw, will Camera Raw from Bridge still work after the Photoshop trial expires?
Glad you have it working for free as promised. What Bob mentioned wasn’t actually an error message; Bridge was just reporting that it wasn’t configured with a version of Adobe Photoshop that it could open/edit a raw file with.
So if you download the latest Photoshop trial then it’s no problem as both Photoshop CC and Bridge CC use the same version of Adobe Camera Raw… And yes, the ACR plugin will continue to work inside of Bridge itself even if your Photoshop trial expires.
Great! So, just to clarify: After the Photoshop trial has expired, will I be able to select a RAW file in Bridge and select “Open in Camera Raw…”, or will this functionality disappear with Photoshop and just the RAW image previewing be retained?
It’s the latter (previewing). As noted above, the Adobe Camera Raw that’s included in Bridge CC is used only for the proper display and preview of different raw file formats… To get the full ACR functionality including editing, you need a working version of Photoshop or Lightroom, either via purchase/subscription or free trial.
The good news is that it used to cost $999 upfront (plus $349 upgrades) to get Adobe Photoshop Extended – but now it’s just $9.99/month for the latest full Photoshop CC with ongoing upgrades included, plus you get Lightroom CC too… See:
Adobe Gives Ongoing Discount for Photoshop + Lightroom CC Bundle
Ah, OK. Thanks for clarifying. Seemed like a sneaky workaround that was too good to be true! But it’s still great to have Bridge for free. I’d been looking for alternatives and haven’t found anything that can match it, for me.
Yes, it’s pretty awesome to have Adobe Bridge permanently at no cost – and most people don’t even know or aren’t aware of it… That’s why we wrote this article!
The cool part is anyone can use Bridge CC to view many Creative Cloud files even after a membership ends or expires – or even if they don’t have a subscription to the CC tools – because of the intelligent Adobe file format display capabilities that Bridge has built right in, for free.
Finally, Adobe continues to actively develop Bridge and improve its existing set of features plus add new capabilities, as you can see in this recent post update:
Adobe Bridge Reloaded
Informative and persuasive video and comment stream. As a longtime user of Bridge and CS xyz, I have been leery of the subscriber model. But I like updates, and, parenthetically, have had it with iPhotos and Photos, which is one place I have put my edited jpgs for easy accessibility. Raw files and edited versions stored separately, of course. What about moving to Aperture for the various benefits cited in the video – and not needing any separate utility for jpg images? Can I stop using Photo for storage? What to do about the 20,000 images in that library? Should I uninstall Bridge and CS6?
Thanks for any advice.
Aperture? Isn’t Aperture dead?
How do I decide if I want the 32bit program or the 64bit program?
That depends on whether you have a 32-bit system or a 64-bit system (on Windows).
Here’s how to tell. If you have a 64-bit system, then going with the native 64-bit version of the software is going to give you better performance.
Unfortunately, it seems the free Bridge CC (either older 6.0 or 6.2 latest variant) will not open Raw files when LR CC is installed. At least it didn’t while I tried LR out, before purchasing the non-cloud LR 6 license. Now, with Bridge CC 6.2, LR 6.6.1 and Photoshop Camera Raw 9.6.1 installed (and properly registered and updated), trying to open a Raw file produces the dreaded “parent application missing” error message. So, LR is not considered a “parent application”, and we can’t edit Raw in Bridge anymore ?
Hey Akak, opening raw files directly from Bridge into (or with) Lightroom isn’t usually the way things work… Bridge is more of a simple file/media browser than Lightroom is. Lightroom essentially replaces both Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw, because the Develop Module in Lightroom and ACR are exactly the same.
You could possibly drag the photo from Bridge and drop it on the Lightroom window or desktop icon. However, that may be an inefficient way to work since you’d still have to import the image(s) into Lightroom’s catalog in order to do your editing.
Also, because Bridge does not have access to Lightroom’s catalog/database, note that the image as you see it in Bridge will only reflect adjustments that you make in Lightroom if ‘sidecar’ XMP files are created for the image (select Catalog Settings > Metadata tab > Automatically Write Changes Into XMP).
Bottom line, Bridge remains 100% free, and uses the latest release of the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in in a read-only way to display and preview the content within your Adobe files. Bridge CC can edit image metadata and the like, however to fully edit raw images from Bridge using ACR, you need Adobe Photoshop (which is the qualifying product or ‘parent application’).
Hey ProDesign, I was just trying to clarify further on previous, older comments about what needs to be registered (apart from Bridge) for it to maintain its Raw-file-editing functionality. You are of course right to say that, nowadays, Bridge CC is a simple file/media browser. But for me, coming from a 3-year experience working in a photography studio with a dozen licenses of Creative Suites (our last update before shutting down was a one-year subscription to Photoshop / Lightroom CC only) editing Raw files in Bridge was my everyday life!!! It was after our subscriptions ended that I started making distinctions between ACR (or Photoshop Camera Raw, as Adobe is calling it now) and the “other variants”, the ones embedded in Bridge and Lightroom. Enter Lightroom CC, and I was hoping that registering THAT would eventually “unlock” the Raw editing capabilities of Bridge CC (the “Open in Camera Raw” option)…. Alas, it doesn’t. Anyway, thank you for being there for us (the end-users) and clarifying matters all this time – your offline-installers article alone helped a ton of folks overcome the first difficult steps of Adobe transposing to a cloud-based subscription model ;)
Sure Akak, glad to know we are doing some good here – that’s great to hear, and thank you for your kind words! We truly appreciate your appreciation :)
I have downloaded the free Bridge CC. It will not open Camera RAW v. 9.7 within Bridge (as opposed to opening Camera RAW in Photoshop), nor will it allow me to open the Camera Raw preferences. If I select a RAW file and hit Command-R, which would normally open a RAW file from within Bridge, I get a dialogue that states “Camera Raw is not enabled. Camera Raw editing requires that a qualifying product has been launched at least once to enable this feature”.
I am running CS6 normally, so I DO NOT have any purchased CC products. So, my conclusion is that Bridge WILL NOT open ACR unless one PURCHASES a qualifying product within the CC suite. It’s not really a fully functioning version of Bridge if one cannot use the most recent version of ACR within the Bridge.
I can still open ACR 9.1.1 in CS6 (PS and Bridge), but of course, the goal was to be able to use ACR version 9.7, which can only be accessed in CC apps.
I hope I’m wrong, but I doubt it.
Of course, just FYI, I’m running El Capitan 10.11.6.
One more comment, the issue for me is opening ACR within Bridge so i can access the latest ACR version while sticking with CS6 for a bit longer. CS6 will only support ACR v 9.1.1, no higher.
I get the impression from blogs and youtube videos that many folks don’t realize that double clicking a RAW files in Bridge opens ACR in Photoshop, not Bridge (at least on a Mac, not sure about Windows). Command/Control-R or “Open in Camera Raw” under “File” opens the Bridge’s ACR.
You’re basically not wrong Steve… Please see our previous response above for how it works between Bridge (free), ACR and Photoshop.
Hope that helps clarify what you wanted to know.
I have confirmed that Bridge is indeed free, both Windows and Mac. Done it both ways and yes it works. However, the Camera Raw feature is not enabled unless you pay for it. The ACR feature will not be enabled until one opens a licensed Creative Cloud product first, such as Photoshop. So yes, Bridge is free, but ACR is not.
Adobe Camera Raw in Bridge works just how we described it in our reply above.