Why photojournalists prefer using Photo Mechanic to Adobe Bridge

An example how an edited photo using Photoshop returns beside the unedited version in Photo Mechanic.

   During a recent course chat with a Kent State grad student in the Teaching Multimedia course, she questioned the use of Photo Mechanic as part of the photography assignment workflow. She thought using Photo Mechanic was an extra, unnecessary step in the photo editing process.

   It is a good question. After all, if you already have access to Adobe Bridge, then why bother with Photo Mechanic (PM)? After all, both are media browsers that accelerate your workflow. Once photos are ingested, both allow you to preview your photo shoot and tag your selection via color codes or stars. 

   And neither offer the editing option. Although PM allows you to do a simple crop and crooked horizon adjustment. You still have to edit your images through Photoshop, Adobe Elements or Lightroom.

   But there are a few distinct differences that make PM an industry standard for photojournalists.     

   Here are a few reasons why PM is the browser of choice for photojournalists:

• PM is cheaper. Version 5 is a one-time price of $150. No monthly fee. You also get an education discount.
• It is a cross-platform, standalone browser that is compatible for both MACs and PCs, and one license will work on up to three different computers.
• You can write captions in the IPTC Stationary Pad. You can caption a single image, or a group of images fast and simple; and those captions carry over onto your Wordpress blog posts. The IPTC Stationary Pad also allows you to add copyright information.
• You can transmit your images right out of PM to your newspaper or organization. This prevents you from having to email, Dropbox or Google Drive your images.    

   So, if you are a Digital Photojournalism or Teaching Multimedia student of mine, it would be a disservice not to expose you to Photo Mechanic, a powerful image browser and workflow accelerator made for photojournalists who work fast and furious on deadlines.

   Consider this: After an assignment, we are expected to quickly upload hundreds of images, select and write captions for the chosen ones, edit them, and then transmit (export) them moments after the assignment has ended. 

   Adobe Bridge is just too impractical for what we have to accomplish.