The Smart Object is an interesting feature in Photoshop. You can do all kinds of things in Photoshop with Smart Objects from opening a RAW file and then going back into the ACR settings to resizing layers and building templates. But… these Smart Objects come with some drawbacks too.
I can’t tell you how many times I have had an email or a comment from someone that says, “Hey Blake, why didn’t you open that RAW file from ACR as a Smart Object?”
While I understand that you CAN open a RAW file as a smart object and have access to all the RAW settings, I don’t really see any advantage to doing so.
In today’s tutorial, I will tell you two reasons why I like Smart Objects and two reasons why I don’t. Let’s start with why I don’t so we can end on a positive note 😉
◄= Lesson Chapters =►
00:00 Intro
00:51 I don’t like them for RAW workflow.
04:10 I don’t like how big they make my files.
04:44 I DO like them for resizing layers in composites.
07:30 I DO like them for Smart Filters 09:06 Smart Objects give me options.
There's a Course for That...
Did you know I have an entire course on Smart Objects on f.64 Elite?
In this course, I take a deeper look at all things Smart Objects. It’s much more than just scratching the surface!
Elite members get immediate access to this course and over 30 more!
Oh… and let’s not forget about the growth many photographers are seeing in their work from the monthly critique sessions.
For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
Never thought about converting smart objects back to dumb objects before saving, in fact, didn’t know that I could do that. Thanks for enlightening me.
Love these little “tastings” of information that you share with us!! I do a lot of compositing but always felt that using smart objects was just more of a pain than helpful. This gives me a new perspective!
Thanks Blake!
Oh Mr Rudis (smart) music to my ears. Thank you so much. Here in the UK my fellow photographers have always ‘told me off’ for my limited use of smart objects and I have never understood why! Sometimes, what i call an analogue edit is what is needed. Smart objects are like the doors on an advent calendar which you have to keep on opening to find out what’s inside. Process for the sake of process! Thank you for a bit of common sense.
Back before I joined F.64 Elite, I used them way too much. Now I am smarter and know better when to use them.
I still like having them as a parachute occasionally and definitely for composites. But no more 700mb simple edits 🙂