Lesson C: Smart Objects

In this lesson, we’ll place an Adobe Illustrator file into a Photoshop document, establishing a link between the two. We’ll see how easy it is to swap the file out for another and (if you have and are familiar with Illustrator) edit the Illustrator file and see the change in Photoshop.

• Open the file “C smart objects.psd.” Check out each layer.

Smart Objects Are Smart Workflow

You’ll see that the top layer called “crumpled” is just a gray piece of crumpled paper set to a blend mode that hides the gray, leaving only the crumply highlights and shadows imposed on the paper layer below it. This is just another attempt to intrigue you about blend modes.

• Make sure the top layer is highlighted before the next step.
• Choose File > Place Linked…, which will open a dialog box. In it, navigate to the same folder where the current file, “C smart objects.psd,” is located. Open “C2 artist power.ai.”
• That, in turn, opens yet another dialog box in which you can choose the crop, or how much of the file you want to see. The default, Bounding Box, is perfect. Click OK.
• One more task before the file is actually in this Photoshop document. Note the transform handles around the perimeter of the graphic. Scale it down a little by dragging a corner inward; rotate it a little bit clockwise by dragging outside the box; and position it by dragging within the box. Press the Enter key or click the check mark in the Options Bar to commit.

There should now be a new layer at the top of the stack with a chain-like icon in the lower-right corner of its thumbnail. This indicates that it’s a linked Smart Object (S.O.). If that Illustrator file should be changed, so will that icon so you can update the S.O. to reflect that edit. Do so by right-clicking near the layer name choosing Update All Modified Content.

• Set the new layer’s blend mode to Multiply so that it looks like it’s printed on the paper.
• Since it’s a Smart Object, we can apply filters fearlessly. Choose Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur setting the Radius quite high, like 25 pixels. Commit the blur by clicking OK, but don’t worry: we won’t leave it like that.

• Note the icon to the right of the filter entry in the Layers panel. Double-click it!
• Change the Mode to Hard Light and, perhaps, lower the Opacity a bit.

This is exactly like having two identical layers, the top one of which is blurred with that blend mode and opacity—without having to have two layers. In this case, it’s like the ink bled into the paper. With photographs, especially vintage ones, this blended blur effect is nicely moody.

Now consider this scenario: the Illustrator artwork comes from a fickle collaborator. Just as you complete the effect we just enjoyed, you receive an updated file or a wholly new one. Must you start over? Would I be asking if the answer was yes?

• Right-click near the layer’s name and choose Replace Contents…. Open the file called “C3 stem power.ai,” again accepting Bounding Box for the crop.

The new art adopts all the edits you made to the former. This is ideal when multiple people have to collaborate to produce a finished product. If you have skills in and knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, there’s one more thing you can do.

Right-clicking near the layer’s name and choosing Edit Contents (or double-clicking the thumbnail) will launch Illustrator if it’s installed. You can then edit the file, save it, and then return to Photoshop to see the result.