NoBs Digital Dogbowl

Smart Objects for Fun and Profit by Bill Guy

There are Smart Phones, Smart Kids, Smart Pets, and now for those with CS2 and CS3, there are Smart Objects. Smart Objects in Photoshop is a whole new way of placing an image or images into a composition. Now, we all know how to cut and paste (and some know how to Paste into a selection), but Smart Objects are handled slightly differently and allow for far more creativity and adjustments.

With the birth of CS2, we can now copy an image and then by going to Edit>Place the copy is placed on its own layer with a strange icon in the corner of the thumbnail. This is a reminder that this is Smart Object and just a normal copy. Now with a Smart Object, if the original image is larger than image size of the composition it is automatically sized to fit. No reducing the view just to find the corner so you can resize. However, just because it fits doesn't mean you can't go bigger. The limit is normal for what you would have stretched the orginal image. You can go smaller and move this image around and even put a mask on the layer for blending or removal of stuff. Here is the neat part of the Smart Objects. Let's say you are building a composition for a high school senior or a bride. You are pulling in three or four images for this masterpiece and spent an hour building it only to find that one of the images needs a little adjustment. It could be color, resizing larger, or maybe on the original you need to do some cloning or other fixing. If you did a straight copy and paste this would mean going back to the original, fixing it and then recopying and pasting along with placement and any masking needed for the new image.

If you brought this image in as a Smart Object then all you would have to do is double click on the thumbnail in the Layer and Photoshop would take you to the original even if it was an RAW image. Make the adjustments, save it and the Smart Object Layer is automatically updated. No moving or doing anything to the new composition. You can even set up templates with Smart Objects and you can even replace the Smart Objects with just a few clicks. Plus, any resizing can be done on the fly. It keeps referring back to the original so the image is not rasterized like a normal paste.

In CS3, Smart Objects have been ramped up a bit. Now, you can take any layer and turn the image there into a Smart Object. 'So what?' you say. Well, if that layer is now a Smart Object, you can go to Filters and instead of just running a filter and having it set for good these filters are showing up under the Smart Object Layer and you can click on them to re-adjust again and again. Think about that, you can have one file that you worked on and have it as a Smart Object with a number of filters under it. You see that a change in a filter would really help you don't have to go back to original and start again.

One other cool tip with Smart Objects. You can use them for logos or custom edges. Create a blank image that is larger than the biggest proof. Let's say you do 4x5 proofs that you want a color logo and your name on. There are some horizontals and some verticals. Doesn't matter; just make a 6x6 at 300 dpi blank image on a transparent background. Put your color logo with a drop shadow and name in the center or at the bottom. Save it somewhere you will always find it. Copy it with Ctrl C so it is on the clipboard. Open an image and go to Place under Edit. Put it in there as a Smart Object. It will size to fit. There, you are done. This will work for both the horizontals and verticals. Set this up as an action to bring it in and slide it down to the bottom (or leave it centered) and there you are.

So, there you have it. Not all the improvements in Photoshop are done to suck your time. Some can even save it. Good luck and have fun.

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