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lukesilver
Participating Frequently
October 18, 2019
Answered

Transform Again function not working correctly with Smart Objects

  • October 18, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 8049 views

Hi all,

 

This thing is driving me crazy for a while now and I can't seem to find anyone else complaining about it. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong here. 

 

When trying the ctrl+alt+shift+T function to transform again a smart object, it behaves absolutely unrelated to what the transformation was. This is not the case for any shape or a rasterized layer. These work exactly as advertised.

 

So again, my process is (with the move tool selected)

1. select a layer (smart object)

2. ctrl+J

3. ctrl+T

4. nudge it with arrow keys for example

5. hit enter to accept the changes

6. hit ctrl+akt+shift+t

 

..and it starts jumping 20x bigger leaps then I did or starts nuding to the right horizontally with no regard to what the input was.

 

From what I can tell it's been going on for more than a year now and it was not fixed. Does anyone have any info on how to make it work again like it should? It would be much appreciated.

    Correct answer Chai35438151ukp4

    This video shows the fix: https://youtu.be/GMOPuTnbWB4?si=Cz1QzCKPzDCImyVx

    • Duplicate the desired smart object layer.
    • Rasterize the duplicated smart object layer.
    • Press Cmd/Ctrl + T and apply your desired transformation.
    • Press Enter to confirm the transformation.
    • Use Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T (Transform Again with Duplicate) to check if the transformation works as intended.
    • Delete the rasterized layers.
    • Use Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T (Transform Again with Duplicate) on the original smart object layer, and it should now work properly.

    3 replies

    Chai35438151ukp4Correct answer
    Participant
    August 10, 2024

    This video shows the fix: https://youtu.be/GMOPuTnbWB4?si=Cz1QzCKPzDCImyVx

    • Duplicate the desired smart object layer.
    • Rasterize the duplicated smart object layer.
    • Press Cmd/Ctrl + T and apply your desired transformation.
    • Press Enter to confirm the transformation.
    • Use Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T (Transform Again with Duplicate) to check if the transformation works as intended.
    • Delete the rasterized layers.
    • Use Ctrl + Shift + Alt + T (Transform Again with Duplicate) on the original smart object layer, and it should now work properly.

    Participant
    July 16, 2025

    Not sure I'd call that a fix, but more of a workaround. Can't believe this is still an issue.

    JJMack
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 19, 2019

    All smart object layers have an associated layer transform. When you use Ctrl+T one a smart object The current Transform opens and you can edit the transform, like you can  nudge using the arrow keys..  There seems to be a bug in at least CC 2019 with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T for some smart object layers it seem to not be available the shortcuts does nothing.  However with other smart object layers  the smart object layer is duplicated and the associated transform does get nudged. I have not tested other versions of Photoshop. The bug could also be in other versions as well.

    JJMack
    Inspiring
    July 21, 2020

    Still broken in Photoshop CC 2020 (v21.2.0).

     

    Transform Again (Ctrl+Shift+T) and Transform Again with Duplicate (Ctrl+Shift+Alt+T) usually unavailable for Smart Objects. I have to create the desired transformation on a non Smart layer, then switch back to the Smart Object to apply Transform Again\with duplicate.

    Participant
    January 22, 2021

    Still broken but if you group the smart object first it works. At least it does for me. I use a simple action that groups, duplicates, transforms again then ungroups and i've bound it to F6 so that it can be used easily.

    Bojan Živković11378569
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 18, 2019

    I can replicate your problem when using arrow keys to nudge, Photoshop remembers and use last transformation before nudging Smart Object, otherwise everything works as xpected.

    lukesilver
    Participating Frequently
    October 18, 2019

    Hi Bojan,

     

    Naturally I tried both nudging a Smart Object with arrow keys as well as entering values via x / y boxes. In my case it still doesn't work.

    Bojan Živković11378569
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 18, 2019

    It seems like a bug. I just tested one more time and Edit > Transform > Again is simply not available, grayed out when transforming Smart Object layer: nudging, rotating and even when scaling. This is definitely bug since it is not only on one machine and it should be reported.

    It seems that option was never available, from my examination Transform Again never worked with Smart Object Layers, I just tested with CS6 and found this thread https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/smart-objects-suggestions

    Can you confirm this option ever worked with Smart Object layers as with other types like pixel based layer?