"Open with" to consider all selected files

[Carlo Didier]

The "Open with" shortcut only considers the focused file.
I'd like to have it consider all selected files (maybe with displaying a warning if more than a certain number of files is selected).

Very often I don't remember this and then it only opens one file (in Photoshop for example) instead of all the files I selected (which is what I logically expect).
I then have to first open the application and then drag-n-drop the selected files to it. This is unnecessarily complicated.

[Mario]

Actually, this command should be disabled if more than one file is selected.

This command does not open the selected files but hands them over to Windows, asking Windows to show the "Open with..." selector dialog. And this can apparently only handle one file.
If you select more than one file in Windows Explorer, "Open with..." does not even show up in the context menu.

[Carlo Didier]

Ah, never noticed that ...
Probably too used to Adobe Bridge ...

Too bad there is no such mechanism.

[Mario]

The normal "Open with <Name of Application>" of course works (first entry in your menu).
it's just the "Let Windows show me a list of applications" that does not work.

I bet Bridge can't do that either, unless Adobe has implemented the same dialog themselves.

You can add any number of applications to IMatch as Favorites and then open any number of files (limited by the target application) with each Favorite.
I doubt that you have to choose which application you want this time to open files very often.
Or that you have to pick a different standard application for Windows for a specific file format (that's the primary purpose of the dialog we talk about here).

Spending 3 minutes to setup all your applications as Favorites in IMatch will save you a lot of time later.
And you can open the files via a keyboard shortcut even, no need to go through the menus.
I have 5 applications on Favorite speed dial and I have never used these menus again.
Using what IMatch offers is key for a smooth workflow.

[Carlo Didier]

For Bridge, I meant opening images in Bridge with ACR/Photoshop.

You are right about favorites with keyboard shortcuts, but personally, I have issues with keyboard shortcuts because
a) I'm struggling to remember them (except for Ctrl-C / Ctrl-V of course) and
b) I hate constantly switching between mouse and keyboard (I'm very mouse-centric and any switch between mouse and keyboard is disrupting).

[Mario]

If you associate Photoshop with your files, you can use the standard <Ctrl>+<Enter> in IMatch to open any number of selected files in Photoshop.
The interaction between Bridge and Photoshop will always be special because these two processes are actively linked together by Adobe. They even share parts of their code base.

Of course you can also click on a Favorite to launch it will all selected files. No need to use keyboard shortcuts. Works as well.
You can see all keyboard shortcuts associated with your Favorites by clicking on the toolbar button to launch the shortcut overview.
See https://www.photools.com/release-notes/?productId=342  #00849