Photoshop guru Ben Willmore eases the pain of
learning Photoshop with his new blog feature, Photoshop Insight Injections. The
first article in this series explains
how to use Smart Objects with raw files in Photoshop CS2. This insightful piece covers:
-
Embedding a raw file into a Photoshop document as a Smart Object, which allows you to return to the Camera Raw dialog box to change the settings with which the file opens in Photoshop;
-
Adjusting a Smart Object made from a raw file by adding adjustment layers to the Smart Object layer in Photoshop;
-
Scaling, rotating, transforming and adding styles to the Smart Object in Photoshop, retaining the option to go back and change settings in the Camera Raw dialog box;
-
Replacing the contents of the Smart Object with a different raw file without losing the transforms and styles you added to the original Smart Object;
-
Creating a copy of the image as another, independent Smart Object and using layer masks to combine different Camera Raw interpretations of the two Smart Objects;
-
Exporting a raw file from a Smart Object to obtain the original raw file; and
-
Converting a raw Smart Object to a regular layer for retouching.
As if this injection of pure, unadulterated info weren't enough, Ben has also teamed up with Adobe uber-engineer Jeff Tranberry to create a script that makes a Photoshop Smart Object from an 8 bit or 16 bit raw file selected in Adobe Bridge. The script is a free download for Mac or Windows users. According to Tranberry, this script is similar to Russell Brown's Place-A-Matic, except that it works with 16 bit and 8 bit files. Sorry Jeff, but Russell has just updated his Place-A-Matic to work with 16 bit files too. Nevertheless, we welcome your efforts and will definitely try out the script, which Jeff says places files faster than Place-A-Matic.
