Page 38 - Adobe Photoshop CC 2020

Place Files as Smart Object Layers
As you have seen in the last few exercises, copying layer content from one file to Note:
another results in new regular layers for the pasted content. Photoshop also supports
Smart Object layers, in which you place one file into another instead of pasting layer Smart Objects enable
content. Smart Objects provide a number of advantages over regular layers, which tight integration
you will explore later in this project. In this exercise, you will create a Smart Object between Photoshop and
layer for the remaining image element. Illustrator. You can
take advantage of the
1. With cd-artwork.psd open, choose File>Place Embedded. sophisticated vector-
Two options in the File menu — Place Embedded and Place Linked — give you the editing features in
option to embed the placed file data into the active file, or to place smart objects as Adobe Illustrator, and
links to the original placed file. (See Page 51 for more about placing linked files.) then place those files
into Photoshop without
2. Choose the Title-text.psd file (in your WIP>Music folder) and click Place. losing the ability to edit
The placed file appears centered The placed image is centered It has been scaled to fit the vector information.
in the document window, with in the document window. into the active canvas.
bounding-box handles and crossed
diagonal lines. The placement isn’t
final until you press Return/Enter.
You can press the Escape key to
cancel the placement. If you check
Skip Transform when Placing in
the General pane of the Preferences
dialog box, you will not see the
diagonal lines and handles when you
place a Smart Object layer.
In the Options bar, you can see that
the placed image has been scaled to
approximately 70% to fit into the
document where it is being placed.

Crossed diagonal lines and
3. Press Return/Enter to finalize bounding-box handles indicate that
the placement. the placement is not yet final.
After you finalize the placement, the
bounding-box handles and crossed
diagonal lines disappear. In the Layers
panel, the placed file has its own layer.
This layer, however, is automatically
named, based on the name of the
placed file.

The layer’s thumbnail indicates
that this layer is a Smart Object.
Because you placed this file using
the embedded option, it is not This icon identifies an The layer adopts the
dynamically linked to the original embedded Smart Object layer. name of the placed file.
file. Instead, Photoshop maintains the
original file data within the Smart Object layer. The advantages of
this technique will become clear in the next stage of this project.

4. Save the file and continue to the next stage of the project.

50 Project 1: Music CD Artwork