I'm starting to build a rather large library of stock images, which desperately needs to be organized. I tried using keywords, but I'm finding that to be a very time-consuming process. Is there a better, easier way to organize a huge cache of images in Bridge?

Besides the power Bridge has to offer as it comes to pre process (sorting, renaming adding metadata keywords etc and as a shortcut to ACR and PS) I always have stated that Bridge is not as good in DAM (Digital Asset Management) as a dedicated DAM application like Canto Cumulus or Expression media Pro 2 do have to offer.

on their turn they are not as good in the tasks Bridge is excellent for.

Needing to have a secure archive on long term base Bridge has offered a new cache format for each new version up until now so you will have to recache and reindex all files after each upgrade, not the best way for long term storage of large amounts of files.

And wether you like it or not, using a good strategy of a well formed keyword tree is key for success when it comes to build an archive. The first 1000 you will remember or being able to select using a proper filename but after 20 K of files you will not be able to find the needed files as fast as when using keywords

And also fill in the description field and copyright etc. You can create a template in Bridge and also Bridge lets you write metadata and keywords in a very easy way to multiple selected files.

I used abreviations to keep the keywords short, but a word of advice, write these down so you can remember what they stand for.  Then adding several keywords describes the image and makes it easy to sort by any one of the keywords or as a unit.  Try and keep the keywords generic so they can be combined and

The problem with that is when using stock images and wanting to make a profit of them a lot of people should be able finding the files. And abbreviations in this case are not the most logical.

But having generic keywords is indeed a must.

It all comes down to a proper keyword tree with many sub keywords. And if you have blond and brunette as a sub keyword in multiple other keywords using the word blond gives you both dogs and females of course adding dog to the search criteria rules out the other nice looking creatures…

Depending on your needs it would be possible to specify all types of dogs you have in your pictures. So the parent keyword 'dog' with sub keyword 'Bulldog' and another sub keyword 'blond' is a perfect search method.

Especially when you have selected to 'Automatically apply parent keywords' in Bridge prefs. Having a picture of a blond bulldog you only have to put a checkmark in front of blond at the end of the route. It then automatically applies also bulldog and dog to the added keywords.

It is only a bit of work in the first round, once having a proper keyword list it makes live much easier, especially when having ten thousands of files in an archive. (and be sure to have a back up of the keyword list…)