Efficient way to share PSD file that will be edited multiple times?

[Elektra2001]

I have a photoshop file that I want someone to edit virtually. This person would mask part of my image and change the wording and font. Is there a way to allow them to be able to edit the image and layers but not download the actual psd file? What is an efficent way to share psd files back and forth that will be edited multiple times? I haven't seen "collaborate" videos for this with Photoshop.

Thank you any help and clarity you can provide.

[Test Screen Name]

This isn't something that can be done. You may need to find an entirely different model for making this work, which doesn't involve Photoshop at all. 

[Conrad C]

One approach is to use the built-in online collaboration feature in Photoshop. If you are using the current version, choose File > Invite. This will take advantage of the Photoshop Cloud Document format, which is stored online so that those you invite can edit the same Photoshop document through the cloud. There is no confusion about multiple people downloading the same document and creating conflicting versions, because everyone is editing the same Adobe cloud document.

More information:

Share access and edit your cloud documents

@Elektra2001 wrote:

Is there a way to allow them to be able to edit the image and layers but not download the actual psd file?

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If you are saying you want them to edit their pieces but not have access to the entire main Photoshop document, this might be done using layers that are actually linked external documents, the way people often work in Adobe InDesign and video editing applications. They would edit files that are only their pieces of the main Photoshop document, and when they’re done and you get the files back you would add them to the main Photoshop document using File > Place Linked. Those files would then appear as layers, and you would position and composite them as needed.

The reason linked files are important is to support your goal of multiple rounds of editing. If you see something to improve in a layer that was supplied by someone else, you simply tell them to make the change and send it again, you replace the file on your end with the updated one, and when you open the main Photoshop document again, the layer linked to that external file is automatically updated. That is one reason working with linked external files is so valuable in many creative fields.

But it’s a little more complicated to pull off. If this sounds more like the answer you want, reply and I’ll write out the steps.

[Elektra2001]

Thank you so much! This is what I was looking for and yes, please share the steps. 🙂

[Derek Cross]

You might like to know that ConradC is co-author of the magnificent Classroom in a Book Photoshop  2021: Adobe Photoshop Classroom in a Book (2021 release)

[Conrad C]

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@Elektra2001 wrote:

Thank you so much! This is what I was looking for and yes, please share the steps.

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1. Build a Photoshop document normally, except to make sure that any layers that need to be edited by others are created as separate Photoshop documents. 
2. In the parent Photoshop document, add the child Photoshop documents using File > Place Linked. They are now linked Smart Object layers. 
3. Send the child Photoshop documents to the contributors to edit and return. 
4. When the child documents come back, make sure the file names were not changed and put them in the same folder they came from, so that they replace the old versions. 
5. Open the parent Photoshop document, and if the child documents aren’t automatically updated, select each in the Layers panel and then in the Properties panel, right-click the path to it and choose Update Modified Content. 

Demo below:

That should give you a document that has components that get updated after the child documents are edited elsewhere.

However, that can be a lot of file management. Another possibly simpler solution is to take advantage of Creative Cloud Libraries, so that no one has to manually upload/download or move/copy/rename any files. 

1. Instead of creating the child components as separate files on your computer, add them to a Creative Cloud library in the Libraries panel so that they are stored in the cloud and ready to share. 
2. Then add them to your parent Photoshop document. 
3. Send Creative Cloud Library invitations to the contributors to edit their chunk of content.
4. They will open it from the cloud library. 
5. When they save their edits, those will ripple back to your parent Photoshop document that uses those library items. 

[fight5E6C]

Can you share more information what are actual error you are facing