Inspiring

Answered

Smart object copies are no longer linked - bug or intentional

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
February 7, 2025
4 replies
1271 views

It used to be that if you duplicated a smart object layer using Ctrl/Cmd+J or the Duplicate Layer option in the context menu the smart object layers were linked so that changes made to one were also made to the other. That is no longer true in the current version of Ps. Does anyone know if that is a bug or is it an intentional change? Thanks.

Windows

Correct answer Trevor.Dennis

Just to be clear, I don't think you mean Linked Smart Objects as opposed to Smart Objects created and copied inside a single document?

If you double click to open the SO in an edit window, changes made are reflected in all other copies of the SO.

If you apply effects, Transform etc. inside the document window to one SO, it will only affect that SO and not its copies.

Was that not always the case? It seems like a sensible workflow to me as it gives us both options.

K

Katie38233619vgkf

Participant

Same thing happening to me. I think I have to opt to go back to an older version of photoshop at this point.

I also abhor their terminology that is "smart objects", or "'linked' smart objects"... but Smart objects are retained with in the file iteself, linke are an external separate file altogether. The type of file Im having an issue with are the internally stored smart objects (NOT Links). Used to be I could copy and paste a smart object knowing fully it would be the same asset if I double clicked to dig into edit it and it would propagate that change to all the other smart objecects. If I wanted a separate unique asset, I would right click it, and select "New Smart Object via Copy" to make a unique instance. Now it seems like every time I copy paste a smart object, its all defaulted to "New Smart Object via Copy" and its terrible....

Trevor.Dennis

Correct answer

Community Expert

Just to be clear, I don't think you mean Linked Smart Objects as opposed to Smart Objects created and copied inside a single document?

If you double click to open the SO in an edit window, changes made are reflected in all other copies of the SO.

If you apply effects, Transform etc. inside the document window to one SO, it will only affect that SO and not its copies.

Was that not always the case? It seems like a sensible workflow to me as it gives us both options.

D Fosse

Community Expert

Yes, this is entirely logical and they way it should behave. Nothing wrong here.

When you apply a filter to a smart object layer like this, the filter is applied to the layer itself - from the outside, so to speak.

You're not going inside the smart object and editing the embedded or linked file. If you did that (by double-clicking the smart object), it would update all copied instances.

If you made a new smart object via copy, then they would be split into separate smart objects and remain independent even if you went in and edited the embedded/linked file.

Stephen Marsh

Community Expert

If you made a new smart object via copy, then they would be split into separate smart objects and remain independent even if you went in and edited the embedded/linked file.

By @D Fosse

Just adding to this...

The "New Smart Object Via Copy" command originated before Linked Smart Objects were available. One could argue that it needs to be renamed to include the word Embedded to clarify the intended use now that there are both Linked and Embedded Smart Object types, i.e.: "New Embedded Smart Object Via Copy".

One can copy a Linked Smart Object layer and then use the "Convert to Smart Object" command, which will Embed the previously Linked Smart Object layer. This isn't intuitive as it's already a Smart Object, so one may not think to convert a (Linked) Smart Object to an (Embedded) Smart Object. Again, perhaps the command should now have the word Embedded added to clarify what it actually does, i.e.: "Convert to Embedded Smart Object".

There isn't a native feature to create a "New Smart Object Via Copy" for a Linked Smart Object.

I created a couple of scripts to create a "New Linked Smart Object Via Copy" that breaks the association to the original file in a similar way as the native command does for Embedded Smart Objects:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/why-is-new-smart-object-via-copy-greyed-out-for-linked-smart-objects/td-p/14371680#U14382939

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/please-fix-how-relink-to-file-and-replace-content-work/td-p/14846535#U14846758

creative explorer

Community Expert

@Bazsl I think they did that intentional. Changes made to one instance doesn't affect the others. This means you have to edit each instance separately. Have you tried duplicating the image as a smart objects by either copy/paste or right-click on a layer and select New Smart Object via Copy. or if you already have separate Smart Objects, you can link them. Right-click on a Smart Object layer and choose Link to Layer. You'll then be able to choose the Smart Object you want to link it to. All linked layers will share the same Smart Object content.

m

B

BazslAuthor

Inspiring

New smart object via copy works as it always has. It creates a copy that is independent of the original smart object. Link Layers links the selected layers so they move together. It is not specific to smart objects and does propagate edits between the linked layers.

A

Aleke

Community Manager

Hi @Bazsl!

I'm testing on my end, and duplicated Smart Objects remain linked to the original Smart Object using Ctrl + J. Since when do you recall this behavior began happening? Was it after a recent update to Photoshop or your operating system?

An initial thing we can try is resetting Photoshop preferences, that will help restore Photoshop to its default state and fix various issues. Here's how to do that: https://adobe.ly/415lOzW

Let me know how it goes, thakns!
Alek

*(If you mention me with an @, like @Aleke, I’ll get a notification and can respond faster.)*

B

BazslAuthor

Inspiring

I don't know when the behavior changed since I use smart objects rarely. My test was a follows.

Open a .psd file with several layers.

Create a stamp layer (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E) at the top of the layer stack.

Convert the stamp layer to a smart object.

Duplicate the smart object using Ctrl+J.

Select the duplicate layer.

Choose Filter > Camera raw filter from the menu.

Convert the image to black and white.

Close the camera raw filter.

The other smart object layer is still in color and does not have the camera raw filter added.

I have tried using Gaussian blur instead of the camera raw filter and I have tried adding filters to both the original smart object and the copy. In no case is the edit propagated to the other smart object. Can you provide a step-by-step example that does work? Thanks.

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