Page 41 - Adobe Photoshop 2022

Working with Embedded and Linked Smart Objects

In this project you used the Place Embedded option to create Linked files also have potential disadvantages. As we
a Smart Object layer containing the placed file data; the mentioned previously, double-clicking a Smart Object layer
embedded file data became a part of the parent file. thumbnail opens the linked or embedded file in an application
that can edit the relevant data. If you are working with linked
If you double-click the thumbnail icon of an embedded Smart Smart Object layers, any changes you make affect the original
Object, the embedded file opens in an application that can file data. This means your changes appear not only in the
edit the stored data — AI files open in Illustrator; PSD, TIFF, parent Photoshop file where it is linked, but also in any other
and JPEG files open in Photoshop. file that links to the same data.

When you first open a Smart Object file, the application For a file to output properly, linked Smart Object layers must
provides advice for working with Smart Objects: be present and up to date at the time of output.

If the linked file has been modified while the parent file is
open, the changes automatically reflect in the parent file
when you return to that document. If the parent file is not
open in Photoshop when the linked file is edited, you will see
a Modified icon for the linked Smart Object layer.
After you make necessary changes, you can save the file and If the linked file is deleted or moved to another location after
close it, and then return to Photoshop (if necessary). Your it has been placed, the parent file will show a Missing icon for
changes in the Smart Object file will automatically reflect in the linked Smart Object layer.
the parent file where the Smart Object layer is placed.
If a linked Smart Object has been moved while the parent file
Important note: Do not use the Save As option when is not open, you will see a warning dialog box when you open
editing Smart Object layers. The changes will not reflect in the the parent Photoshop file. You can use that dialog box to
parent file if you save changes with a different file name. locate the missing link, or close it and use the options in the

If you choose the Place Linked option in the File menu, the Layers panel to correct the problem.
Smart Object layer stores a link to the original file data rather Control/right-clicking a linked Smart Object layer name opens
than embedding that data inside the parent file. a contextual menu with options to update modified content
and resolve broken links.

This icon identifies This icon identifies
a linked Smart a linked, modified
Object layer. Smart Object layer.
This icon identifies
a linked, missing
This provides an opportunity for maintaining consistency Smart Object layer.
because you only need to change one instance of a file to
reflect those changes anywhere the file is placed.

Say you place a logo created in Illustrator into a Photoshop
file. The same logo is also placed as a link in an InDesign file.
If you open the logo in Illustrator and change the main color To avoid potential problems with missing linked files, you can
(for example), when you save the changes in the original logo use the File>Package command to create a job folder. The
file, the new color automatically reflects in any file — whether parent file is copied to a
InDesign or Photoshop — that is linked to the edited logo. new folder, along with
a Links subfolder
If you use the Place Embedded option in Photoshop, the containing any files
Smart Object layer is not linked to the original, edited logo placed as linked Smart
file; you would have to open the embedded Smart Object and Object layers.
make the same color change a second time.

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