Working with Raw Smart Objects

[jerib73913022]

I'd like to open 2 raw files as smart objects, drag the layer of one on top of the other. Then double click one layer to open it in camera raw and have any changes sync to the other smart object layer. I'd also like to have any changes made to the smart object raw in Camera Raw to sync back to the original raw file. Does anyone know if this can be done?

Thanks!

[Conrad_C]

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@jerib73913022 wrote:

I'd like to open 2 raw files as smart objects, drag the layer of one on top of the other. Then double click one layer to open it in camera raw and have any changes sync to the other smart object layer.

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That is easy, it’s how it works if you copy the smart object layer using the Layer > Duplicate Layer command, or the Layers panel shortcut of dragging the smart object layer to the [+] icon at the bottom of the panel.

(If you wanted each smart object to edit independently, you would copy the smart object layer by instead choosing Layer > Smart Objects > New Smart Object via Copy.)

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@jerib73913022 wrote:

I'd also like to have any changes made to the smart object raw in Camera Raw to sync back to the original raw file.

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To do this, it must be a linked smart object. If you don’t know the difference, if you bring a raw file into Photoshop as a smart object, by default it’s embedded: It’s all self-contained in the Photoshop document, so changes don’t affect anything outside Photoshop.

If you instead bring a raw file into Photoshop as a linked smart object, then the changes write back out to the raw file (its XMP or DNG file). If that raw file is placed in other Photoshop documents as linked smart objects, those instances will update the next time you switch to one of those other documents.

A raw file comes in as an embedded smart object by default. To bring it in as a linked smart object, do one of the following in Photoshop:

• Choose File > Place Linked. 
• Drag the raw file from the desktop or a file browser such as Adobe Bridge, and hold down the Option key (Mac) or Alt key (Windows) as you drop it into a Photoshop document window. (Not sure if this works in Windows, some drag-and-drop operations aren’t supported) 

[jerib73913022]

Hi Conrad, Thanks for responding.

We're almost there... your first responce dosn't work for me. I probably should have said; I'd like to open 2 different files as smart objects. I understand that I can copy a smart object layer and they will sync as you mentioned. But what I need is to be able to open 2 different raw files and then have any changes made to either one (in camera raw) sync to the other. Also, I'd like these same changes to sync back to the original raw of each one.

I'm an architectural photographer. We use models in the photos. So, I have several different images of the same scene where the people are in different positions. I need to be able to layer the files and use masks to add or subtract people from 2 or more images. I've been dong this for years, I use Bridge and Photoshop. It's easy to do this on rasterized files, by layering them and using masks. However sometimes later in the process I decide I'd like to change something like white ballance in camera raw. I've started doing this by opening the raw files as smart objects, but then if I change the white ballance on one image I have to write down or remember the new settings and then open the other raw/smart object layer and manually make the same changes to the other files in the layer stack.

I was able to open a linked smart object from a raw file in bridge, but as far as I can tell this only works if I have a document already open in Photoshop. So, I'm editing photos in Bridge, I see 2 images I'd like to use to change out one of the people. How do I get these 2 images to open in PS as smart objects linked to each other as well as linked back to the original raw files so when I go back to Bridge I can see the changes I made to them in camera raw?

[jerib73913022]

Conrad, thanks for responding. Your first response doesn’t work for me because I need to combine elements from 2 different raw files and also be able to sync the raw settings between them and back to the original raws.

I’m an architectural photographer. We use people in the photos. So, I have several images of the same scene where the position of the people is different. I use Bridge and Photoshop.

It’s easy to combine these images using layer masks, I’ve been doing it for years using rasterized images. However sometimes I’d like to change things in camera raw after the fact. Like white balance etc…I’ve started opening the raw files as smart objects for this reason. However, if I change the settings on an image in my layer stack using camera raw, then I have to remember the changes and then open the other images in the stack and manually make the same changes to them in camera raw.

What I’d like to be able to do is to open multiple raw images as layers in Photoshop (so I can use masks on the layers to change the people around) as smart objects and have any changes made to any of them (using camera raw) sync to each other as well as to sync back to the original raw files. Syncing back to the original raw files is useful as then in Bridge I can copy and paste these setting to any other images that I may want to work with to create the final image.

[Michael Bullo]

Do you use Adobe Bridge? It's possible to open and edit multiple RAW files simultaneously. You can also right mouse click on a file in Bridge, copy it's RAW development options and then paste those to other RAW files. I'm happy to provide more details if this interests you.

[jerib73913022]

Apparently my reply posts are disappearing, so I'll give this a try:

Conrad, thanks for responding. Your first response doesn’t work for me because I need to combine elements from 2 different raw files and also be able to sync the raw settings between them and back to the original raws.

I’m an architectural photographer. We use people in the photos. So, I have several images of the same scene where the position of the people is different. I use Bridge and Photoshop.

It’s easy to combine these images using layer masks, I’ve been doing it for years using rasterized images. However sometimes I’d like to change things in camera raw after the fact. Like white balance etc…I’ve started opening the raw files as smart objects for this reason. However, if I change the settings on an image in my layer stack using camera raw, then I have to remember the changes and then open the other images in the stack and manually make the same changes to them in camera raw.

What I’d like to be able to do is to open multiple raw images as layers in Photoshop (so I can use masks on the layers to change the people around) as smart objects and have any changes made to any of them (using camera raw) sync to each other as well as to sync back to the original raw files. Syncing back to the original raw files is useful as then in Bridge I can copy and paste these setting to any other images that I may want to work with to create the final image.