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Posted on 20/06/14 3:31:04 PM
DavidMac
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Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
This tutorial should be applicable for all versions of Photoshop that support smart objects.

This is perhaps less a tutorial than a workaround and I am assuming you are familiar with the basics of smart objects. This being so some of you may simply read this and say “I knew that already! It’s obvious!”. But I am a world class expert in missing the glaringly obvious so maybe some of you may not have thought of this either.

I work on some very large images. Muti layered images of 9000 - 12000 pixels a side is not unusual with file sizes exceeding 2GB. Once I start to build up complexity and layers in images like this they will soon bring even my MacPro with oodles of RAM and high end Video card stumbling to it’s knees.

One way to get round this is with smart objects. They can be used to combine multiple layers into a single layer. As I develop large images I try to keep my layers meaningfully grouped and once a group reaches thirty or so layers I will convert it to a smart object. This reduces those layers to one single smart layer with drastic reduction in memory overhead. My original layers are still all available to me by opening the smart layer in an edit window.

However editing smart objects in their own window suffers one serious limitation. You are not editing in the context of your main image. This can often make life very difficult especially when colour and other image adjustments are involved. Sadly however Photoshop does not offer a way of expanding a smart object in place. (If it does and I have missed it I am going to look very foolish indeed posting all this ).

Here is a very easy solution. I shall use a small simple image for demonstration. You can get it here SmartObjectEditing

Under the surface, this image is less simple than it might appear because it is not a photograph but a hyper real “painting” drawn from life entirely in Photoshop itself with no photography. Such images consist of many subtle layers which interrelate and this one demonstrates perfectly the difficulty of trying to edit one element of an image out of its context.



The image consists of four main groups but, for the purposes of this tutorial I have converted one of these groups, Bubblesinto a smart object.



Now let us suppose that I want to edit the Bubbles smart object. That’s the little group of bubbles to the right of the yolk.



I select the Bubbles Smart Object the layers palette and double click in it’s little corner icon to open it in its own edit window.

Now we can see immediately the limitations of an out of context edit. Without the context of the image the bubbles look like this. Not very useful ……….. In fact it’s virtually meaningless!



So here’s a way round this.

With Photoshop’s display in standard screen mode (View > Screen Mode > Standard Screen Mode) I arrange my windows so I can see some of the original image window as well as the smart object edit window and make the smart object edit window active.

Now I select the entire group in the layers palette and while holding down the shift key drag the group out of the layers palette into the original image window and drop it there.



Because the last thing I did in the main image was to open the Bubbles smart object, it will have been still selected and the the Bubbles group I just dragged into the image will drop in neatly above it.



Now I can switch off and on visibility of the original Bubbles smart layer a couple of times just to make sure that the Bubbles group has dropped into the image exactly where it should and is properly aligned with the original.

Assuming all is well I now close the smart object edit window Bubbles.psb. No need to save it first and I won’t be prompted for a save because I haven’t made any changes to it.

I can now delete the original Bubbles smart object (or leave it there as a temporary safety if I want), open the new Bubbles group and edit it to my heart’s content within the context of its image.

Once I am finished I have a couple of choices:

1) If I have already deleted the original Bubbles smart object then I can convert the newly edited group into a new Bubbles smart object by right clicking the enclosing group folder and selecting Convert to Smart Object from the context menu.

2) If I have kept the original Bubbles smart group as a temporary safety I can now safely delete it and proceed as above.

3) I can keep the original Bubbles smart object as a version and convert the newly edited Bubbles group into a smart object with a new name such as Bubbles Edit.

So that’s it. Very simple and, I think, very useful.

Important One caveat: If your smart objects contain layers that extend beyond the image border then you may find that they don’t line up in perfect registration when dragged back into the main image. In this case lower the transparency and adjust the registration by hand.

If you are working with very large resource intensive images it is anyway a good discipline to regularly crop to the border to remove excess ’spillover’.

Like all tutorials this reads more complicated than it is. Try it a couple of times and you will find it the work of moments. I use it all the time.

As we say here in Belgium ”Bon Appetit”.

David Macdonald 20/06/2014

Posted on 04/07/14 5:20:34 PM
Steve Caplin
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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
A useful technique, David. An alternative would be not to make the bubbles into a Smart Object in the first place, but just to duplicate their Group so you can work on it while leaving the original layers intact.

Posted on 05/07/14 11:23:15 AM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4901

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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
Steve yes of course. The technique is not especially applicable to this particular image. It was used simply as good example of how difficult a smart image can be out of context and how to get it back in context.

To really demonstrate the usefulness of this I would have to ask folks to down load a mega image that is unworkable without conversion of all groups and blocks into smart objects to conserve RAM, and which in some cases might simply freeze their Photoshop on a more modest machine.

To give you an example, I am currently working a PSB of 2.7GB. The image is 9300 x 9300 which is broken down into about twenty five smart objects. Each contains an average of 30 - 50 layers. Thats a huge total numbers of layers.

The only practical way I can work such an image is to "open up" one smart object at time. But this is so much easier to do if it is visible in the context of my main image. Thus I developed this technique.

It's of limited use but when needed it's a real lifesaver.

It equally possible that I simply have a far too extravagant way of working with far too many layers and should learn to discipline myself!

Posted on 07/07/14 08:51:57 AM
Steve Caplin
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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
Can I ask - why do you work at such a ridiculously high resolution?

Posted on 07/07/14 09:58:04 AM
DavidMac
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Posts: 4901

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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
Very large prints. The image above will print at 150 x 150 cms (5ft square). At this size it's resolution will be approx 150 DPI. That may still seem excessive for such a large print as one tends to step back and view from a greater distance and a lower resolution would normally be fine. But this image is packed with tiny detail and I want the viewer to be able get up close and intimate and get drawn in.

If you are still baffled I can send you a JPG of work in progress to date (strictly privately) and you will see what I mean.

Posted on 07/07/14 2:10:22 PM
BigVern
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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
Bert Monroy's digital painting "Times Square" is 25 feet long x 5 ft high and is printed at a high resolution.

From some of his tutorials and books I have learned that he builds up his images from tens of thousands of layers contained in many many separate psd (or psb) files.

It might be worth trying to find out more information on how he organises and stitches his images together as it may be applicable to your method, David.

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Posted on 07/07/14 2:28:25 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4901

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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
BigVern wrote:
Bert Monroy's digital painting "Times Square" is 25 feet long x 5 ft high and is printed at a high resolution.

From some of his tutorials and books I have learned that he builds up his images from tens of thousands of layers contained in many many separate psd (or psb) files.

It might be worth trying to find out more information on how he organises and stitches his images together as it may be applicable to your method, David.


Thank you Vern. I'll go check that out. I suspect 5ft x 25ft may be because the biggest measurement you get out most large format printers is 5ft width (at least at my printer here in Brussels it is) and length is limited by the length of the roll.

I used to tile in the old days before my MacPro and before smart objects. It's pretty nightmarish!

Posted on 07/07/14 2:29:10 PM
DavidMac
Director of Photoshop
Posts: 4901

Reply


Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
BigVern wrote:
Bert Monroy's digital painting "Times Square" is 25 feet long x 5 ft high and is printed at a high resolution.

From some of his tutorials and books I have learned that he builds up his images from tens of thousands of layers contained in many many separate psd (or psb) files.

It might be worth trying to find out more information on how he organises and stitches his images together as it may be applicable to your method, David.


Thank you Vern. I'll go check that out. I suspect 5ft x 25ft may be because the biggest measurement you get out most large format printers 5ft width (at least at my printer here in Brussels it is) and length is limited by the length of the roll.

I used to tile in the old days before my MacPro and before smart objects. It's pretty nightmarish!

Posted on 07/07/14 3:45:41 PM
Steve Caplin
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Posts: 6823

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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
I'd certainly be interested in seeing one of these!

Posted on 07/07/14 4:52:24 PM
BigVern
Q Quipper
Posts: 674

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Re: Editing Smart Objects in the Context of Their Source Image
Here's a link:

http://www.bertmonroy.com/timessquare/timessquare.html


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