Comments on: Expanding Smart Objects

By: Allen Matsumoto

Allen Matsumoto — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:13:20 +0000

I do hope that Adobe adds this feature; I can see the complexity for the common use cases in which SOs are manipulated in ways that would be lost when deconstructing them.

My most common use for SOs though is as a replacement for style sheets. For example, in a simple mobile app design, we may have dozens of nab buttons distributed throughout the various screens we are comping. By creating a SO of our current nav button with layer styles, we can later change the appearance of every button in the app quickly and easily by modifying the SO, without having to go touch every instance to apply a new style.

Clearly, real style sheets would be a better solution, and there may be some other better approach than we are taking that I’m unaware of. But in our workflow, the flexibility of being able to deconstruct one instance of an SO to create a new object of a different style class would be great. Today, we have to open the psb, drag the layer set to the parent document, position it properly, etc., which just adds time and potential for positioning errors.

I’m with the first response above – A dialog that said “Are you sure you want to restore this instance of a Smart Object to it’s original layers? All treatments made to the Smart Object will be lost.” would cover people for whom that would be an issue, while letting the rest of us have some much-needed flexibility.

By: Jeffrey Tranberry

Jeffrey Tranberry — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:38:43 +0000

Thanks, Mike. James, what mike said. PS-Scripts is a great place to get sample code and help with scripting answers.

By: Michael Hale

Michael Hale — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:42:35 +0000

Jeff Tranberry and I have created a Photoshop panel for linking smart objects that uses the layer's metadata to store the path to the original file. You can find a copy at http://ps-scripts.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3045 You can also get help with the ExtendScript or Action Manger code needed to write your own version by making a post in that forum.

By: James

James — Fri, 21 May 2010 08:21:47 +0000

Hi Jeffery. You mentioned to ping you if I had a question. Thanks for the tip on listerner code. One last thing to do: When double clicking a smart object, read the layer’s metadata that has the location of the original .jpg I brought, and replace the existing image with the original. Do you know hwo to do this?

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:46:18 +0000

Jeffrey, can u send me a copy of that e-mail?.
atreyu_03@hotmail.com
Sound interesting, im trying to link a smart object in multiple files, at now i cant do it.
Greetings from Mexico

By: Jeffrey Tranberry

Jeffrey Tranberry — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:13:10 +0000

@Jim – yes. that’s just listener code for Place as Smart Object, so just replace that with whatever code you were using before. I sent you an email with more details. Feel free to ping me if you have any other questions.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:39:21 +0000

Accolades and question:
Very interesting, was about to conclude it was not possible. I appreciate your response.
Question: Do you mean that “use listener code for File>Open as Smart Object to embed…” means to replace that file menu code with the one suggested? If so, where is that script so as to edit it?
Hope I am thinking of this right.

By: Jeffrey Tranberry

Jeffrey Tranberry — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:28:39 +0000

Jim,
You want to use listener code for File>Open as Smart Object to embed the original file as a Smart Object. Here’s I’m placing a jpeg called “my.jpeg” from my desktop:
var idOpn = charIDToTypeID( “Opn ” );
var desc1 = new ActionDescriptor();
var idnull = charIDToTypeID( “null” );
desc1.putPath( idnull, new File( “/Users/jtranber/Desktop/my.jpg” ) );
var idAs = charIDToTypeID( “As ” );
var desc2 = new ActionDescriptor();
var idEQlt = charIDToTypeID( “EQlt” );
desc2.putInteger( idEQlt, 12 );
var idMttC = charIDToTypeID( “MttC” );
var idMttC = charIDToTypeID( “MttC” );
var idNone = charIDToTypeID( “None” );
desc2.putEnumerated( idMttC, idMttC, idNone );
var idJPEG = charIDToTypeID( “JPEG” );
desc1.putObject( idAs, idJPEG, desc2 );
var idsmartObject = stringIDToTypeID( “smartObject” );
desc1.putBoolean( idsmartObject, true );
executeAction( idOpn, desc1, DialogModes.NO );
To edit the contents of the Smart Object, use the command Layer>Smart Objects>Edit Contents via listener code:
var idplacedLayerEditContents = stringIDToTypeID( “placedLayerEditContents” );
var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();
executeAction( idplacedLayerEditContents, desc3, DialogModes.NO );
Hope that helps.
You can also get help at: http://www.ps-scripts.com/bb/

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:54:02 +0000

Is there a way to bring a .jpg into PS as a layer, make it a smart object, then if double-clicking that SO, bring up the original .jpg to edit? I’m trying it with script listener and variables, but can only get to the created .pdB file, and not the original.

By: Marky

Marky — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:58:34 +0000

“The upshot is that expanding Smart Objects back to layers could be made to work some times and not others. Addressing at least the simpler cases would be a worthwhile effort” – yes I agree with this. Expandable Smart Objects (offering a warning that resampling has been done and Smart filters have been dumped) would be a great addition. Its not necessary to rasterise the Smart filters, just dump them. They are easy to reapply destructively if that’s what you want.
Its good that Chris Cox the man who put Smart Objects, a very complex concept together so well ( I use them in my work every day), is saying ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’

By: Mylenium

Mylenium — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:12:13 +0000

You could still just pop in a solid color with a warning text or something, keeping the legacy composite chunk around without actually rendering any of the data contained in the file, could you not?

By: PECourtejoie

PECourtejoie — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:42:28 +0000

Could composite data be calculated only when expanding Smart Objects back to layers?
One would have a pixel layer that matches the rendering, on top of the layers that constitued the SO (sort of a Command+Shift+Option+E)
I guess that similar questions arised when layers became a reality in PS3.

By: Chris Cox

Chris Cox — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:04:41 +0000

The layers have to all be in the same mode and profile – otherwise compositing won’t work, or you’ll spend weeks waiting for composites to finish.
The big issue with not storing composite data is that old versions of Photoshop and other apps that read PSD files will choke without the composite data. I guess I could put a big, ugly “you didn’t save composite data, now you get what you paid for” message in each layer…..

By: dd

dd — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:57:44 +0000

i’m bit not sure what ‘expanding’ SO should actually do- basically i can imagine only one possibility/solution and that can be achievable already nowadays: you duplicate SO in parent document as many times as there are layers _inside_ SO, then make only one layer visible inside each SO – so that doesn’t change the look in parent document (well- if SO has non-normal blending mode – put all SO duplicates in regular layer group and change blending to the group). then- just flatten each SO into regular non SO layer. at the end- you get combined SO transformations applied to each original layer you’ve made SO from. yes- that’s destructive but you could even have that warped and filtered example possible and still have four separate layers at the end.
more interesting for me is SOs not storing composite data. pleaase- make it possible! i don’t see any serious issues there: you add new ‘links’ panel (as standard in indesign or illustrator) and for file>place allow to select ‘link’ or ‘embed’ the file (same how illustrator does). for linked SOs – i could replace, re-link, etc. however for those SOs user creates by selecting layer and “create smart object” command – these would be ‘embedded’ by default (and with composite data stored just as it’s now). you could then open SO, save that new file and using ‘links’ panel replace embedded SO to saved file if you want linked workflow. or- add shortcut that if users holds shift on “create smart object” – you allow to select filename to save to and make SO linked immediately ;)
yes- external SOs would slowdown file opening however >95% SOs at least in my workflow doesn’t use filters – mostly transforms and being able link/updates files similar to illustrator “links” would be huge plus. i’d upgrade just for that reason :)

By: Mylenium

Mylenium — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 06:49:36 +0000

Indeed. Though, coming from After Effects and 3D programs that treat image processing and transforms non-destructively, one would argue that actually this is the core failure in PS (and also in AE): You do not treat a layer as an geometric entity but rather as a container full of pixels. If e.g. all distortion filters worked based on imaginary geometric grids, this would be no problem at all – the result of an transformation would merely be the difference of vertex positions or a vertex map to the original and could be reset any time…
[It's hard to offer both direct pixel manipulation *and* non-destructive transformation. See the simplicity-vs-power post linked above. --J.]