Working with Smart Objects in Photoshop CS2
Smart Objects is one of the coolest new features in Photoshop CS2. They allow you to apply transformation or warping effects to raster data in a way that’s flexible, undoable, and most importantly, that doesn’t degrade the quality of the image element being transformed. But the functionality of Smart Objects extends beyond basic warping to include grouping many layers together as a Smart Object, adding adjustment layers inside them, and even placing an embedded RAW file as a Smart Object. In this issue’s tutorial, we’ll use two very different imaging projects to take a closer look at working with Smart Objects. For the first technique, download the Wavemaker_Book_Cover.psd file from the Layers magazine website and open it in Photoshop CS2.
Creating and Editing Smart Objects
STEP 1 Select and Copy Section of Background
Click on the Background layer to make it active. Select the Rectangular Marquee tool (M), hold down the Shift key, and drag out a square selection in the center of the image (choose View>Show>Guides to show existing guides to help you center the square with the title). Float this selected area up to a new layer by using the shortcut Command-J (PC: Control-J), or choose Layer>New>Layer via Copy. Double-click on the layer’s name, rename it “Wave Cutout,” and drag it up to the top of the stack (make sure it doesn’t go into the existing “Cover Elements” layer group).
STEP 2 Turn Layer into a Smart Object
You’ll probably notice that the copied layer becomes darker when you move it to the top of the layer stack. This is because there’s a white Solid Fill adjustment layer in the Cover Elements group that’s no longer affecting the moved layer. With the Wave Cutout layer active, click on the small arrow in the upper-right corner of the Layers palette to open the palette submenu and choose Group into New Smart Object. The Smart Object icon will show up in the lower-right corner of the layer thumbnail. Next, let’s explore some of the ways we can edit the Smart Object.
STEP 3 Using Warp with Smart Objects
Smart Objects are great to use with the new Warp feature in Photoshop CS2 because the warping is not permanent and the image data is not degraded no matter how many times you choose to warp and re-warp the same group of pixels. To check this out, make sure the Smart Object is active and choose Edit>Transform>Warp. A bounding box with a grid will appear over the wave cutout.
STEP 4 Warping the Smart Object
Clicking on the corner points of the grid lets you access bézier handles for warping the corners of the object. You can also click anywhere inside the grid to push, pull, and drag the object as desired. For this image, we tried to create an undulating, wave-like look for the wave cutout. Don’t worry about warping it exactly as we’ve done here; the main point is to understand the concept of how the Warp feature can be used with a Smart Object to allow infinite and lossless transformation of image elements. Press Enter to apply the Warp.
STEP 5 Applying Additional Edits to a Smart Object
If you need to adjust the warp, simply go back to Edit>Transform>Warp and your warp grid returns, allowing you to apply changes to the warping. You can also apply other edits, which is what we’ll explore next. In our example, a bit of the wave foam on the left side (circled) didn’t blend well with the background image. To fix this, we can use the Clone Stamp tool but since we’re dealing with a Smart Object, we can’t clone directly on this Smart Object “layer.”
STEP 6 Editing the Smart Object “File”
To do any work that changes the actual pixels, double-click on the Smart Object thumbnail in the Layers palette. You’ll see a message instructing you to save the file after you make your edits. Click OK. A separate file with the name and contents of the Smart Object opens up. Use the Clone Stamp tool (S) to retouch any areas of wave foam along the edges of the cutout; Option-click (PC: Alt-click) to create a sample point and then click to copy the sampled data over the area you want to retouch.
STEP 7 Adding Adjustment Layers to a Smart Object
With the Smart Object file still open, click the Create Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette and select Curves from the drop-down menu. Increase the contrast as shown here. Click OK in the Curves dialog and then close and save the Smart Object file.
STEP 8 Adding Layer Styles to a Smart Object
As a final step, we added a drop shadow to the Smart Object by clicking the Add a Layer Style icon at the bottom of the Layers palette (the small f) and choosing Drop Shadow. Change settings to suit in the Layer Style dialog and click OK.
Placing RAW Files as Smart Objects
STEP 1 Open Adobe Bridge; Browse RAW Files
Although Smart Objects is a great step forward for graphic designers and illustrators, they also offer something very cool for digital photographers who shoot RAW: the ability to place a RAW file as a Smart Object and embed the RAW file within a PSD file. Essentially, this functionality is like having a RAW adjustment layer. To try this, download the file called “Hoover_Dam.CRW.” After it has downloaded, find the file using Adobe Bridge. In addition to simply placing a RAW file as a Smart Object, we’ll also use two interpretations of the same file as Smart Objects.
STEP 2 Prepare Destination File
Before we can place a RAW file as a Smart Object, we first have to create an empty file that will serve as a destination for the Smart Object. To do this, you have to know how large the imported RAW file will be. In the case of this example, let’s choose File>New and create a new RGB file with a dimension of 3072×2048 pixels and a Resolution of 240 ppi. With the destination file created, return to Bridge, select the RAW file you wish to work with, and from the File menu in Bridge, choose Place>In Photoshop.
STEP 3 Edit in Camera Raw; Place as Smart Object
The Adobe Camera Raw dialog will open, allowing you to edit the RAW file. In this case, we’ll accept the default Auto corrections. Although the building and the cliffs are too light, the water looks pretty good to start with. We’ll use a different version of the file to darken the cliffs and building in a later step. Make sure that the image Size is set to 3072×2048. Click the Open button and when the image appears in the destination file with a bounding box around it, press the Enter key to finalize the placement.
STEP 4 Place Another Copy of the RAW Smart Object
Return to Bridge, select the same RAW file and from the Bridge menu, choose File>Place>In Photoshop. In Camera Raw, adjust the Exposure and Brightness sliders to the left to darken the image (we also moved the Temperature, Contrast, and Saturation sliders a bit to the right to enhance the color of the cliffs). Click Open and when the file appears, press Enter.
Now, we have two different interpretations of the same RAW file placed as Smart Objects in a file. The RAW data is embedded in this file and isn’t dependent on the location of the original RAW file.
STEP 5 Add Layer Mask to Second Smart Object
To keep things straight, rename each Smart Objects layer in the Layers palette: Double-click on the Smart Object’s name and rename the first layer “Water” and the second “Cliff-Building.” Make the Cliff-Building layer active and click on the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Press D then X to set your Foreground color to black. Choose the Brush tool (B) and select a large, soft-edged brush (we chose 600 pixels). Paint over the water area to mask out the darker version and let the lighter water from underneath show through.
STEP 6 Editing a RAW Smart Object
If you want to re-edit the RAW data of a Smart Object, simply double-click on its thumbnail to bring up the Camera Raw dialog. In this example, we double-clicked the Water Smart Object thumbnail and moved the Temperature slider to the left to increase the bluish color balance and make the water look bluer. Click Done when you’re finished to update the RAW Smart Object.
Using RAW files as Smart Objects is one of the most exciting new features of Photoshop CS2 and it has already changed the way I work with my RAW images.
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