Transforming a Smart Object Layer

Plain ordinary photograph..... Start with a background layer. Add a layer for doing non-destructive cloning. Add a couple layers for adjusting curves and hue/saturation.
Then do a merge visible to create a new layer from all the underlying layers and still keep all the underlying layers.
Convert this layer to a smart object and apply Smart Sharpening.
All the above works fine.........................
Now I want to do a transform - free, scaling, whatever..... I can select the marged layer but all the transforms are grayed out.
How do I do a transform on a smart object layer?

Hi Noel. Your questions are valid... This isn't my normal post-processing.
NORMALLY, I have a couple layers for dodging and burning, probably something for other fiddling, my normal adjustment layers for curves and hue/saturation, then a "stamp visible". Depending on whether or not I wind up converting to b&w I may have a couple other layers for that.... Then I save the psd, and afterward crop and sharpen as needed. Generally,
my sharpening is to use the Smart Sharpen on my merged layer, OR to duplicate thelayer and do a high-pass sharpening.
Recently, I've seen two presentations by well-regarded Photoshop experts extolling the virtues of doing as much as possible in non-destructive ways. For sharpening, as I understand it, this means either opening the original image as a smart object, or converting to a smart object prior to sharpening. SO, I've been trying this on some images, just to see if there are some real advantages, or if it's just a big pain-in-the-neck way to do something that's pretty standard.... Frankly, I"m still not sure.
In THIS particular case, I had an image that had been edited, and the sharpening applied through the smart filter PRIOR to cropping. My wife requested a non-standard resizing, not a crop, that meant using a transform to change the aspect ratio of the image. That's when I found that the transforms wouldn't work on my smart object..
Unfortunately, as it turns out, I was right - it was an error on my part. I SELECTED part of the image on the layer with the marque tool... Had i NOT done the selection, the transform would have worked fine.....
So, the bottom line is yes, I agree that it's easy to get caught up in trying to make everything non-destructive and flexible, but sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth.

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Hello, i'm creating a very simple animation in ps cs5, but when I try to transform a smart object in a frame, all the frames are affected by it. What can I do ? Thanks, Ep

Hello, i'm creating a very simple animation in ps cs5, but when I try to transform a smart object in a frame, all the frames are affected by it. What can I do ? Thanks, Ep

Ok, you are in frame animation mode. I thought cs5 had a timeline mode, but now I think I was wrong.
In frame animation mode what you do is in one frame you have the object rotated in one position, then select an other frame and rotate it. If it rotates the first frame, which I think it will. Create duplicate of the object in a new layer. Then rotate the second layer.
At this point in my example you would have two layers, one of which has a rotated object.
Clear the frames
Convert the two layers to frames.
You now have two frames, one for each layer.
Select both frames then click the tween button.
This will create the in between frames.
In the tween dialog box the higher the number of frames set here, will create a smoother animation but will result in a longer time frame for the animation to play.
Because Photoshop has no way of knowing which way the object should rotate, it is feasible for it to rotate the opposite direction or could look wonky. Just undo and add an in between layer showing how it should look in the middle, then continue on.
So your layers should be the following, a frame that shows all objects in their rest state.
All objects that remain in a rest state must be copied to the next layer (ctrl-j on Windows or cmd-j on Mac)
All subsequent layers are then used for rotating a duplicate of the object. (Ctrl j or cmd j)
You will find the commands to clear the frames, convert layers to frames and tweeting in the hidden menu found when you click the small icon in the upper right hand corner of the animation panel.

Link Smart-Object Filter mask to transformation of Smart object

Often it would be very nice, if you could link the filtermask of a smart object to the smart object itself. So that when you transform the SM (rotate, scale etc) the filtermask of the smartfilter is transformed, too.

It would seem if a linked layer mask can be transformed with the smart object the filter mask could be linked as well.
I didn't mean the workaround to be vote against the request. But it does have an added benefit. When you transform a smart object with almost any smart filter the appearance of the filter changes. Blurs become more or less blurred depending on the transform. Same with sharpen. If you want the effect of the filter to appear the same after the transform you need to embed it into a new smart object.

Smart object layer from PS to AI. how to use??

I successfully work AI vector objects as placed objects into PS by copy pasting or file/place into a smart object layer in PS, I find value in making changes to my vector object dimensions in AI and seeing them updated in PS,
but I don`t know how to do it the other way, meaning a PS jpeg on a layer to AI as smart object, I choose an image on its own layer in PSCS4 and convert to smart object, I (right click) export the contents as jpeg smart object, and then back in AI go file/place the smartobject jpeg, when I make changes to the PSsmartobject in PS like colour shift or dimensions change nothing happens in AI,
I would like to have an image pasted from PS into AI whereby I can change colours and dimensions or add pixels like paint on that smartobject layer in PS and then have it update in AI...

To my knowledge Illustrator does not support smart objects. However it does support image linking. Which means if you update a image in photoshop, Illustrator will know the file has changed.
When placing the file, you will see a checkbox at the bottom of the open dialog box for link, make sure it is checked. When you update the file when Illustrator is running with that file opened, you will get a promt telling you the file has changed and asked you if you want to update the image.
If you choose not to update the image at that time, you can click on the linked file text in the top tool bar and update the image from there.
If the file is not open or Illustrator is not running then the file will update the next time you open the file.
Also you will find a edit original button in the top tool bar to take you back to what ever image editor is assigned to that file format.
To assign a file format to photoshop:
For this example we will use jpeg extention
1) Open windows explorer
2) Menu options tools>folder options>File types tab>scroll to jpeg and click on it
3) Click the advanced tab
4) see what actions are listed odds are only open and printo are listed
5) If Edit is not listed, click on the new button
6) For the action type EDIT
7) For the application used to perform action click the browse button
8) Browse for photoshop.exe
9) The following should now be in the application used to perform action box:
"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS3\Photoshop.exe" %1
The above file location is assuming you have CS3 and you used the default installation edit original button in Illustrator and the right mouse button menu in windows explorer will take you to photoshop to edit the file.
10) After you click OK you will see the new EDIT action in the list
11) Click OK and then click close to get out of all the dialog boxes
The action can be removed at any time or edited to use another application.

Photoshop smart object layer will not open in ACR when I double click

I have a raw file opened up in photoshop, duplicated it, made them smart objects, when I click the smart object icon on the file, i get another copy of the file in photoshop, the file doesn't open up in acr, is there a setting i'm missing?
Message was edited by: Rodwf

If you dupe that smart object layer you still have one smart object change one the other also changes. If you want two smart object for the save image so you cab have two versions of raw conversions you need to use menu Layers>smart Object>New smart object via copy..

Automating RAW file conversion to Photoshop with Smart Object Layer

Hi
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to automate an action (and the steps) to open a series of photos from their raw file state to a Photoshop file with a smart object layer. I have tried **** this... recording an action without success... it ends up creating a photoshop file with a background layer, no smart object layer.
Am i missing something obvious? Thanks for your help!
Regards bruce

Hi
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to automate an action (and the steps) to open a series of photos from their raw file state to a Photoshop file with a smart object layer. I have tried **** this... recording an action without success... it ends up creating a photoshop file with a background layer, no smart object layer.
Am i missing something obvious? Thanks for your help!
Regards bruce

Extracting an .xmp sidecar from an ACR-edited RAW smart object layer...

Hello all. Given the following situation:
Several thousand TIFF files, each containing two RAW files embedded into separate Smart Object layers. The RAW files were named with sequential numbers prior to being composited into the TIFF files via a script, and the TIFF filenames correspond to those of the embedded RAW files. The RAWs have subsequently been edited in ACR from within the TIFF files.
I've done a little digging, but I can't seem to turn up answers to several related questions:
A) Should I wish to re-extract the RAW files from the smart object layers with the edits that have been applied, is there a method of PerLayerMetdata that can be used to extract a complete .xmp sidecar that will be recognized by ACR and associated with the exported RAW?
B) Should I wish to change the sequential-naming of the parent TIFF files, is there any method to correspondingly change the filenames of the embedded RAWs directly within the smart object layer? In other words, using PerLayerMetdata, can the filenames of the RAWs be changed without exporting the RAWs using a different filename and then replacing the contents of the smart object layer?
C) I would ultimately like to be able to save the embedded RAWs as DNGs with their ACR edits applied, if necessaray. Given a way to accomplish A), above, it would be a fairly simple to export the RAWs and associated .xmp files and then run the DNG converter on the lot. However, does anyone know of a way to save a DNG directly from the smart object layer?
Any ideas or pointers to existing documentation are much appreciated.

Thank you kindly, Michael. I see now that the example I was viewing had done exactly what you describe, writing ACR settings into the SO layer's metadata at the time of embedding. I was only looking at the portion which later accessed those settings using PerLayerMetadata, and I had mistakenly assumed that CS5 was automatically embedding xmp data in this manner, now, when opening or placing a RAW file as a SO.
I don't see a direct way to get at the ACR settings of a camera raw file embedded in a smart object.
This is sort of what I was afraid of. They're in there, somewhere, but I'm having no luck figuring out how to access them.
If the ACR settings for a RAW smart object are, indeed, not exposed to automation in some manner, I think I must change my workflow such that either: A) No edits are performed in ACR after object embedding; or B) the RAWs are converted to DNGs prior to smart-object embedding so that the ACR settings can be exposed in the exported file.

How do i drag and drop onto a smart object layer in Photoshop CS 5.5

I recently bought a 3d mock up Photoshop file as I want to mock up my designs such as business cards and other 3d items. The file notes said With a simple drag and drop on the smart object layer your design will be presented in a realistic and striking way.
Can you tell me how I do what they are telling me to do as I have played around with the file till the cows come home and can't work out how to do it. Do I need to do the old fashioned mock up way by skewing the image to fit or is there an easier way such as the drag and drop...?
Any help will be gratefully received,
Thanks

Hi here is the template PSD and then I want to put my business card design over and it says you can drag and drop as per my previous message ...

Invoking script using smart object layer - fails in Windows

I have recently encountered in what seems to be a bug in Configurator in Windows. The same example works on a Mac.
The scenario is the following: a document with a smart object layer on top.
A configurator button executes the script app.activeDocument.activeLayer.resize(133.33333, 133.33333, AnchorPosition.MIDDLECENTER);
This causes an error message as below:
If I instead invoke the script manually, using File > Scripts > Browse... it works fine.
The button works fine if the smart object is rasterized.
I'm running Configurator 2 (052610), CS5 and Windows XP. Any help is greatly appreciated!

In sure if this is all you need to correct the error but the function below will return the active smart object contents type.
// returns either "vectorData" ( AI ) or "rasterizeContent" ( PS or ACR ) if smart cbject layer
// or undefined if not smart object layer
function getSmartObjectType(){
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Lyr '), charIDToTypeID('Ordn'), charIDToTypeID('Trgt') );
    var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
    if(desc.hasKey(stringIDToTypeID('smartObject'))){// is smart object?
        var desc = executeActionGet(ref).getObjectValue(stringIDToTypeID('smartObject')).getEnumerationValue(stringIDToTypeID('placed'));
        return typeIDToStringID(desc);

Created Vector Smart Object layer from Ad Illust. to PS, can't see it, why?

I am creating a postcard for mail out and I am new to the CS5 group of products. I followed tutorial to drag an Adobe Illustrator file into Photoshop creating a vector smart object layer of my logo and saved it. I closed the file and re-opened it thinking I would see my logo where I placed it but all I can see is the "X" box that allows you to adjust the size of the object. Could anybody tell me the step to get the object to appear in my Photoshop file? When I click on the vector layer it takes me back to AI so I believe they are connected the way they are supposed to be. Thank you in advance for the help. If I am way off could you explain how?

I want to thank you for your responses and help.
I inadvertently figured out what I was doing wrong while talking with a friend. I didn't understand what layers really were and that they stacked on top of each other. When I placed the vector smart object I left it's position under another layer which was blocking it or my logo so that even though the resize box was showing up the logo or vector smart image was under the other layer. Once I clicked and dragged it's layer to the top of the layers the image was visable and the postcard done. Yeah!
Thanks again.

Smart object layer format

Hi,
in previous discussion you helped me open a smart object. It works, but I have another problem.
Script throws "general photoshop error", because smart object layer format can not be opened in photoshop.
So I want to ask how to get a Smart object layer format??
Thank you Domaneni

In sure if this is all you need to correct the error but the function below will return the active smart object contents type.
// returns either "vectorData" ( AI ) or "rasterizeContent" ( PS or ACR ) if smart cbject layer
// or undefined if not smart object layer
function getSmartObjectType(){
    var ref = new ActionReference();
    ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID('Lyr '), charIDToTypeID('Ordn'), charIDToTypeID('Trgt') );
    var desc = executeActionGet(ref);
    if(desc.hasKey(stringIDToTypeID('smartObject'))){// is smart object?
        var desc = executeActionGet(ref).getObjectValue(stringIDToTypeID('smartObject')).getEnumerationValue(stringIDToTypeID('placed'));
        return typeIDToStringID(desc);

Want to apply poster edges to a smart object layer, but Filter Gallery is greyed out?

Working a Photoshop tutorial on an image. I want to apply poster edges to a smart object layer, but Filter Gallery is greyed out. Filter Gallery is also greyed out for all other layers in this project. (PhotoShop CC)

Hi Filter Gallery,
Please click on the image tab at the top and choose mode from 16bits/channel to 8bits/channel.
Then check if the filter gallery is still grayed out.
Thank you for posting on Adobe Forums.

File opening as Placed smart object layer, instead of separate file

how to open an image in photoshop cc like photoshop cs3?
in cc it is automatically open as smart object on the other photo which is already open..i want to open 2nd image as a different window

I don't believe there's an option to change whether dropping an image on another image places it as a new layer, no. I think you'll need to get used to doing things a little differently than you have been. I'm sorry to have to bear that news, but it only takes a week or two to build new habits.
This behavior isn't too new, by the way. I think the "drag to workspace to place file on top of open document" behavior changed back in Photoshop CS5, if memory serves.
-Noel

Linked - Smart objects Layer comp

I have one smart object with many layer comps. This smart object is linked inside my master file which in turn has many layer comps.
Is there a way to in the layer comps of the master file affect the layers comps inside the smart object?

Here is a sketch

How do you unlink contents of dup Smart Object layer from it's Orig Layer?

Say you are in camera RAW and you open the image as a Smart Object.
THen duplicate that SO layer.
I want to edit the RAW settings on the duplicate SmartObject layer to be different than the original SO layer.
The problem is that when i do that, BOTH layers are updated with the most recent adjustment in RAW.
I want only one to change and the original to stay the same.
How do you unlink them so they act independent of one another when you edit the contents of the smart Object.
Thanks in advance.
-josh

Yes, theres two cpmpletely different ways to duplicate Smart Objects. Command J or duplicate layer method which merely creates INSTANCES of the same Smart Object. This has a whole variety of different uses, and means that any edits to the smart object will reflect in all its instances.
To duplicate the CONTENTS of the object, there is only one way to do it and Doug has told you how.
Would be nice if command OPTION J did this as an alternative. And that there was some visual distinction in the layers panel between duplicated objects, objects with linked instances, and seperate objects.

Transforming a Smart Object Layer

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