9 Replies Latest reply: Oct 25, 2009 12:11 PM by Andrew Slayman RSS

    Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors

    Andrew Slayman Community Member

      Question: In a dual-monitor Windows XP setup, how do I control which monitor ACR opens on when opened from Bridge?

       

      Background: In my workflow, I use Bridge to open small batches of DNGs in ACR. What I want is to have Bridge on monitor #2 (uncalibrated), but have ACR open on monitor #1 (calibrated). At first I had Bridge opening on #1 and couldn't get ACR to open on #2. Then I figured out how to move ACR to #2, but now it always opens on #2, regardless of where Bridge is. How to fix?

       

      Thanks,

      Andrew

        • 1. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
          Curt Y Community Member

          Tried this with my dual monitor setup and all I did was move the main Bridge window to monitor 2.  Then clicked on image to open in camera raw.  It opened on monitor 2.  I just dragged it to monitor 1.  After that new images would open on monitor 1.

           

          If I read you correctly this is what you are asking for.  Correct?

           

          I am using Vista, but should not make any difference with XP.

          • 2. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
            Andrew Slayman Community Member

            Many thanks. That is what I'm asking,and the behavior you describe is what I would expect, but it doesn't work for me. ACR opens on #2 every time, and every time I have to drag it to #1.

            • 3. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
              Curt Y Community Member

              If you move it once and then the next time if opens in original place (assuming this is a next event not after a reboot), then it seems like it might be a windows OS thing.  Know just enough about computers to make be dangerous, but perhaps you might explore what OS says about opening new windows.

              • 4. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                Andrew Slayman Community Member

                Still struggling with this. Only two suggestions from the Windows camp: put it into full screen and back and it should remember (didn't work), and reinstall the software. No one seems to know how XP determines where to put an application Window, etc.

                 

                Anyone else? Though it may seem a small thing, it's a bit PITA when you have 1,000 images to go through.

                • 5. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                  Andrew Slayman Community Member

                  Okay, I think I've figured out how this works, although (1) the way it appears to function is exactly opposite to how I think it should function, and (2) I still can't figure out how to fix it.

                   

                  If I open ACR from Bridge on the primary monitor (#1 for short, as designated in Windows XP), ACR will open on the primary monitor by default. If I leave Bridge on the primary monitor but move ACR to the secondary monitor (#2 for short), ACR will continue to open on #2. If, however, I move Bridge to #2, there is no way to get ACR to open on #1; no matter what I do, it will always open on #2. If I then move Bridge back to #1, ACR might open on either monitor. If it continues then to open on #2 the only way to force it to move back to #1 is to open Photoshop on #1 and then open ACR from Photoshop.

                   

                  First of all, it's stupid that I can't tell ACR to open wherever I want it to. But it is particularly stupid that one cannot make ACR open on #1 unless Bridge is also open on #1. The reason is that Windows XP only has native support for color calibration on the primary monitor (#1). If I'm using Bridge and ACR next to each other, I naturally care more about color calibration in ACR, where I'm actually editing photos, than I do in Bridge. Yet it is impossible to get ACR to open on the calibrated monitor! This can only be described as a bug, albeit one that won't get fixed due to the age of XP and CS3.

                   

                  (Yes, I am aware that Microsoft makes a control-panel plugin that supposedly allows calibration of both monitors, but I have been unable to get it to work correctly. By all accounts it is somewhat fragile, doesn't offer support for all dual-monitor graphics cards, there isn't a list of cards it does and doesn't support, and Microsoft doesn't even offer support for the plugin. Way to go, Microsoft.)

                  • 6. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                    Curt Y Community Member

                    As I described in post #1 my screens respond the way you want them to.  I am using Vista.

                     

                    If the settings  are not remembered when you reboot it is becasue you have enabled "autoload Bridge on startup".  If you have to move the ACR window each time you open an image it is a Windows XP thing on your machine.  Read through this tech note and see it it solves your problem.

                     

                    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307873

                    • 7. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                      Andrew Slayman Community Member

                      Thanks, curt, but I'm afraid that didn't do it. Autoload Bridge on startup is turned off. The Windows tech note concerns basic dual-monitor setup. My monitors are configured correctly (judging by the tech note, anyway) and behave normally in all applications except ACR when opened from Bridge.

                      • 8. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                        John Joslin Community Member

                        Sometimes it is easier to accept that an application is quirky and live with it, than to spend hours trying to understand and fix it.


                        I've been doing that all my life, especially with Adobe software!

                        • 9. Re: Bridge CS3 & ACR with dual monitors
                          Andrew Slayman Community Member

                          Yes, that's the conclusion I came to, several fistfulls of hair later!