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FeedbackCommunityMember
Inspiring
July 27, 2015
Released

P: 'Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop...'

  • July 27, 2015
  • 22 replies
  • 2910 views

While Lightroom has ‘Open as Smart Object in Photoshop’ and ‘Open as Layers in Photoshop’, there is no ‘Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop’

I do quite a bit of compositing work in PS, and use LR for asset management and preparation. I prefer to insert them into PS as smart objects while I assemble the composites, so I can make final raw file adjustments once placed in situ. However, the only current option to export to PS as smart objects puts them all in separate PS documents, which can be tedious to combine when there are a large volumes of images to be inserted in a single composite.

I’m not sure if this is an easy fix, or if other people have similar desires, but I would greatly appreciate if you would considering adding ‘Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop’ to a future LR CC update.

    22 replies

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    D
    Digital Art That Rocks
    Participating Frequently
    February 24, 2023

    Try moving 50 smart object images into a single document. I do that frequently. And then after you move them into a single document, you have to close all of the other open documents. It takes forever. 

    I realize this wouldn't be a headline/standout feature to most people. But it would certainly be a quality of life feature for working professionals.

    Nature Mike
    Nature Mike
    Known Participant
    February 24, 2023

    I agree. It would save photographers a lot of time to be able to open
    multiple RAW files as smart object layers in Photoshop.

    Just yesterday, I had to move four smart objects into a single document and
    it would have been much quicker if Lightroom / Photoshop could have handled
    the process for me.

    --

    *Mike Wardynski Photography*

     

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    D
    Digital Art That Rocks
    Participating Frequently
    February 24, 2023

    So this feature has been requested for 8 years now?! I would think this request would be pretty straight forward, especially when compared to all of the advanced masking features added in recent versions of lightroom.

    Please, please, please Adobe. Please Add support to Lightroom Classic in order to "Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop". I'm a commercial photographer and digital artist. I also do a ton of composite work and always work with smart objects. Currently there is no automated way to take images from lightroom and add them to a single photoshop document as smart object layers. The only way to do this is manually and it takes forever. 

    Please make this happen!

     

    Nature Mike
    Nature Mike
    Known Participant
    May 23, 2022

    Hello,

     

    I'd like to request for the ability to open two different images from lightroom as smart objects in a single Photoshop document. (Open as Smart Object latyers in Photoshop) 

     

    Underthe current cababilities of Lightrrom I have to open each image in PS as Smart Objects and then copy them to a single document. This is very time consuming. 

     

    Thanks

      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      February 27, 2020
      This was requested 5 years ago, but not implemented. It could even be done as a script to combine all open objects as layers. There are a lot of us pro photographers who do compositing and this would save us lots of time with minimal effort.
      Nature Mike
      Nature Mike
      Known Participant
      August 15, 2019


      In Lightroom you can open an image as a smart object, and you can open multiple images as layers, but you cannot open multiple images as smart object layers. This feature would help speed up my workflow greatly.
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      April 8, 2016
      I forget where I read this technique but it's a great workaround...

      1) From Lightroom, open one of your files as a smart object
      2) Return to Lightroom and select the additional files you want to layer / composite
      3) Drag and drop the selected files from Lightroom on to the document in Photoshop (from step 1)
      4) Make adjustments in the raw processor (if necessary).  Click OK.
      5) Hit Enter / Return to place the file in the document as a smart object

      Steps 4 & 5 will automatically be repeated for each file you selected in Lightroom.
      B
      bryn_f
      Known Participant
      March 18, 2016
      equivalent feature request for bridge here https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/wish-feature-load-camera-raw-smart-object-fil...
      B
      bryn_f
      Known Participant
      March 18, 2016
      I too really want this feature. I am very often creating composites from 5-10 files, and would really like to be able to have the layers be linked smart objects (would save tons of file space and time saving the composites)
      F
      FeedbackCommunityMemberAuthor
      Inspiring
      July 27, 2015
      Hi Pie King,

      Unfortunately that doesn't preserve the raw data. So, it's still not the same as 'Open as Smart Object', select layer, 'duplicate', 'select target document', 'ok', close file, 'don't save', repeat.

      I've already setup a keyboard shortcut to 'convert to smart object' in PS and do it anytime I'm working composites that don't involve raw files and I want to preserve resolution while playing with scaling. But any time I want to create a large layered document with raw data preserved, there is no shortcut to the lengthy process outlined above.

      Either way, both situations could be solved by adding 'Open as Smart Object Layers in Photoshop' to the LR contextual menu.
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