Page 37 - CC2018_PS_Look_Inside

placE fIlEs as smart objEct layErs
As you have seen in the last few exercises, copying layer content from one file to
another results in new regular layers for the pasted content. Photoshop also supports Note:
Smart Object layers, in which you place one file into another instead of pasting layer Smart Objects provide
content. Smart Objects provide a number of advantages over regular layers, which you extremely tight
will explore later in this project. In this exercise, you will create a Smart Object layer integration between
for the remaining image element. Adobe Photoshop and
Adobe Illustrator. You
1. With cd-artwork.psd open, choose File>Place Embedded. can take advantage
Two options in the File menu — Place Embedded and Place Linked — give you the of the sophisticated
option to embed the placed file data into the active file, or to place smart objects as links vector-editing features in
to the original placed file. (See Page 48 for more about placing linked files.) Adobe Illustrator, and
then place those files into
2. Choose the Title-text.psd file (in your WIP>Music folder) and click Place. Photoshop without losing
The placed file appears with bounding box handles and crossed diagonal lines. The the ability to edit the
placement isn’t final until you press Return/Enter; if you press the Escape key, the file vector information.
will not be placed.
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.

The Options bar shows
that the placed image
has been scaled to fit
into the active canvas.
The placed image is
centered in the
document window.

Crossed diagonal lines
and bounding box
handles indicate that the
placement is not yet final.

3. Press Return/Enter to finalize the placement. Note:
After you finalize the placement, the bounding box handles and crossed diagonal lines If you check Skip
disappear. In the Layers panel, the placed file has its own layer (just as the copied layers Transform when
do). This layer, however, is automatically named, based on the name of the placed file. Placing in the General
pane of the Preferences
The layer’s thumbnail indicates that this layer is a Smart Object. Because you placed this
file using the embedded option, it is not dynamically linked to the original file. Instead, dialog box, you will not
Photoshop maintains the original file data within the Smart Object layer. The advantages see the diagonal lines and
of this technique will become clear in the next stage of this project. transform handles when
you first place a Smart
Object layer.

The layer adopts the
name of the placed file.
This icon identifies
an embedded Smart
Object layer.

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

Project 1: Music CD Artwork 47