Batch replace smart objects v2

I would point out a few important things about automating this process:

I've used a similar script to automate mockup creation, and I had a few major problems I encountered while running it. One of the biggest problems was, while the script would run to create the mockups? The RAM usage on my computer by Photoshop would steadily increase -- to the point that everything would run slower, and slower, sometimes causing Photoshop to completely crash midway through the operation.

I found that several key improvements were necessary for preventing this from happening: First, add a section to your script where, after each replace-and-save/export operation inside of your loop, it purges all caches. Second, make sure to set your "History States" in the Photoshop Preferences to as low as possible, while this runs. I found these to be MAJOR contributors to this process slowing my computer / increasing RAM usage, as it would run.

While I wish there was a way to programmatically change your History States to 0 or 1 at the start of the .jsx script, then change it back to 25 or 50 or whatever your setting was the end of it -- as far as I could tell from my research, there is no way to programmatically change your History States like that via .jsx scripting. This means you need to remember to do it manually before you run the script, then remember to change it back after you're finished. Otherwise, it'll be stuck in that high state + your RAM usage might grind your computer to a halt, OR it'll be stuck in that low state and when you're working on something in Photoshop later and need to Ctrl + Z to undo something, the operation will fail because your History States is set too low. I found this to be a major pain in the ass, actually, because I would constantly forget to revert it back. Maybe you could programatically remind yourself, with a pop-up alert, message, before/after the script executes or something.

Then in terms of optimization, I found several key ways to dramatically increase the execution speed of these automated mockup-creation scripts -- which, in turn, would allow me to do way more throughput/volume, per unit time, of mockup creation. One obvious, easy win is to simply reduce the size of the .psd document you're using for the batch Smart Object replacement operations. Mockup templates often come in gigantically massive files that are just way bigger than are practically needed for basic product images or graphic design workflows. I reduced by Photoshop document to be resized to the final dimensions of the actual JPEG images I was exporting -- so by taking it down from the initial massive 4000 x 4000 size, down to 1000 x 1000, that by itself made a DRAMATIC improvement to the execution speed.

Additionally, I found that simply minimizing all panels while the script executed actually made it run about 20% faster. It may not seem like much, but if you're doing tons of volume, 20% can translate into HOURS saved. (Note that this is one that you CAN trigger programmatically, in your .jsx script. So my script would automatically hide the panels at the start, to make it run faster, then revert it back when it was finished. Gave it a nice little performance boost.)

Another major performance boost came from compacting my code + condensing steps, where possible. For example, I had post-processing batch operations that would compress all the final v1 images to create the final v2 images. I was able to just add a few extra lines to the script to save those exported JPEGs as the desired final compression level to begin with, which functionally shaved like another 20% off the execution time -- since it eliminated the need to do any secondary compression at all.

You can also set these scripts to be executable via keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop if you like. Or you can just select them via the File > Scripts section. Either way.

A few other points on this: If you're not very technically inclined, don't know how to write computer programs, or otherwise don't want to bother figuring out how to automate this process using .jsx scripting, there is a simple Photoshop plugin that automates this process for you called "Batch-Replace Smart Objects". It's basically a plugin that allows you to batch-generate mockup images, using Photoshop mockup templates like those you'd get from the Etsy Marketplace or Creative Market. So instead of having to tinker with scripts, customize them for your needs, figure out how to use Photoshop's notoriously inscrutable ActionReference commands, you can use that plugin to quickly automate these batch mockup creation operations. Here's what the panel looks like inside of my Photoshop workspace:

Note that I've used this plugin for very large batch sizes (1000+ mockups being created at once), and I didn't encounter the "RAM usage increasing" issue that I faced with the scripting approach. It also doesn't require me to change my History States for it to avoid that "RAM creep" problem. I believe that's just because the nature of how the operations run, via the .jsx scripting approach, compared against the UXP development approach that you see with Photoshop plugins (.jsx scripting vs. UXP = basically just different ways of executing commands programmatically in Photoshop.) 

I've also used it for multi-step mockup creation workflows -- for example, if you need to create several different mockup images for all new products being added to your store. You can just create + save multiple step operations, then run them as needed in the Workflows section. Last things I'd point out is, the ability to specify the JPEG save quality can save you the additional post-processing step of batch-compressing all your images, to be the desired file size. Then the "stretch images to fit Smart Object" option can save you the pre-processing step of needing to batch-resize all your images to perfectly fit your Smart Object's aspect ratio. It's basically a simple plugin that effectively does what a lot of these scripts try to do. Just two different ways of achieving the same goal.

Note that if you're struggling with the ActionReference side of things (when trying to customize your .jsx script), there are some ScriptingListener tools you can use -- where you basically perform those operations manually, and it will log the Action Reference commands that would execute those operations -- and you can use this to find out what code is needed to do certain things. I've used it a few times when struggling how to figure out what code I needed to use for certain things where I couldn't find any resources online.

Hi all,

I was hoping someone could help me. This script is perfect for what I want to do apart from the input and export! Is there a way I can change the script to be able to load PDF files and then export as PNG files? Rather than PSD and jpegs?

Thanks in advance!

How does this script works ??? what is my input ? i get 2 pop ups to "select" and to "place" ,, what does that mean ?

Could you please check this mockup?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13eMjgWSvlidhpyopm2n56IHyPWirpRDB/view?usp=sharing

it gives me error "selected object is not a smart object"

hello, I have tried to use your script with a bit of modification, It's just about the import files' format, I change them to .png. But it didn't work at all, it always says "Error 21: undefined is not an object", there is an issues with line 55 "var theNewName = theFiles.name.match(/(.*)\.[^\.]+$/)[1]". Any help please?

There is the script I used:

#target photoshop

if (app.documents.length > 0) {

var myDocument = app.activeDocument;

var theName = myDocument.name.match(/(.*)\.[^\.]+$/)[1];

var thePath = myDocument.path;

var theLayer = myDocument.activeLayer;

// psd options;

psdOpts = new PhotoshopSaveOptions();

psdOpts.embedColorProfile = true;

psdOpts.alphaChannels = true;

psdOpts.layers = true;

psdOpts.spotColors = true;

// check if layer is smart object;

if (theLayer.kind != "LayerKind.SMARTOBJECT") {

alert("selected layer is not a smart object")

} else {

// select files;

if ($.os.search(/windows/i) != -1) {

var theFiles = File.openDialog("please select files", "*.png", true)

} else {

var theFiles = File.openDialog("please select files", getFiles, true)

};

if (theFiles) {

// work through the array;

for (var m = 0; m < theFiles.length; m++) {

// replace smart object;

theLayer = replaceContents(theFiles, theLayer);

var theNewName = theFiles.name.match(/(.*)\.[^\.]+$/)[1];

//save jpg;

var jpegOptions = new JPEGSaveOptions();

jpegOptions.quality = 10;

jpegOptions.embedColorProfile = true;

jpegOptions.matte = MatteType.NONE;

myDocument.saveAs((new File(thePath + "/" + theNewName + ".jpg")), jpegOptions, true);

}

}

}

};

////// get psds, tifs and jpgs from files //////

function getFiles(theFile) {

if (theFile.name.match(/\.(png)$/i) != null || theFile.constructor.name == "Folder") {

return true

};

};

////// replace contents //////

function replaceContents(newFile, theSO) {

app.activeDocument.activeLayer = theSO;

// =======================================================

var idplacedLayerReplaceContents = stringIDToTypeID("placedLayerReplaceContents");

var desc3 = new ActionDescriptor();

var idnull = charIDToTypeID("null");

desc3.putPath(idnull, new File(newFile));

var idPgNm = charIDToTypeID("PgNm");

desc3.putInteger(idPgNm, 1);

executeAction(idplacedLayerReplaceContents, desc3, DialogModes.NO);

return app.activeDocument.activeLayer

};

There is now an extension at Adobe Exchange for batch replacement of one or more smart layers with comp layer support:

Pixelsplasher Batch Smart Layer Replace 

This extension can replace multiple smart layers at every export and can auto-fit the replaced image to the original dimension of the replaced smart layer so there is no need to resize the source images.

FEATURES: https://www.pixelsplasher.com/_downloads/scripts/batch-replace-smart-layer-content-script-for-adobe-photoshop/

I downloaded your script an created a single layered  smart object document and did 70 not problem nos selecter 217 seem to be working

yes 217 no problem

Old Dell workstation

Dual 6 core xeon slow 2ghz

40GB ECC Ram

256GB SSD

PC

high end dell laptop

i7, 32BG ram, 1TB hd

Are you using a PC or  a Mac?