please make 'align layers' work for smart object image layers

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
September 21, 2025
2 replies
92 views

In working with images opened from camera raw as smart objects, I often find that I would like to re-open one or more of the individual images in camera raw to make changes, perhaps in exposure , or to remove something that I didn't notice before. At present, I have to open the images as "not smart" (dumb?) layers in order to do the alignment, then convert the layer I want to modify to a smart object and use the camera raw filter. It would be so nice to have the align function work on the smart objects to do the geometric, free transform part of the alignment and then alow me to go back into camera raw to modify tone, light, etc.

macOS

jimf16377877Author

Known Participant

I've done something like this manually by placing a new smart object image layer above the one that has been transformed by 'align layers', then using difference blending mode and free transform until I see the smart layer is aligned with the raster one. It takes too long to do this to be a practical work around, but it does show that it's possible in theory, as you say.

D Fosse

Community Expert

This is currently a basic limitation in the way smart objects work. Pixels cannot be altered directly. Think of a smart object as a mirror image, or an image of an image.

That said, you can transform smart objects, so in principle it should be fully possible, and I agree it would be highly useful.

So the point is, it's a good feature request and I voted for it - but it may not be as simple and straightforward as it seems.

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded