PPI Mismatch Between Replacement Image and Smart Object Results in Noticeable Shrinkage

Question

The image used for replacement has a PPI different from the PPI of the smart object content, causing it to shrink noticeably after replacement.

Can you explain the relationship between the smart object layer and its content, and the underlying principles? I have a solution to convert the image's PPI to match the PPI of the smart object content. Is this feasible?

psd ，ppi=300

smart object content ppi=72

Replacement Image 1 ppi=72

\

Replacement Image 2 ppi=300

Right-click and select "Replace Contents," then use a replacement image with PPI=72. The replacement works as expected.

Right-click and select "Replace Contents," then use a replacement image with PPI=300. The replacement results in noticeable shrinkage.

Bojan Živković11378569 · Answer

If a replacement image has a different PPI, Photoshop will silently match the PPI to the parent document in the background without any notification. Matching PPI can cause (and actually always does) the imported image to change its dimensions because this silent adjustment alters the resolution with Resample turned on.

For example:

The parent document is 3000x2000px at a resolution of 72.

The replacement image is 3000x2000px at a resolution of 300.

The imported image will be 720x480px because Photoshop silently changed the resolution from 300 to 72 in the background to match the parent document resolution (with Resample in the Image Size on).

There are a few solutions:

Adjust the image PPI before importing.
Adjust the image PPI after importing by editing the Smart Object layer. Go to Image > Image Size, disable Resample, then match the parent document's resolution and save the document.

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