Smart objects are, well, smart. While I’m OK when it comes to techie things, I tend to avoid things that claim they’re smart because it sounds like they also will be a lot of work to learn. I’ve been using Photoshop for so long that when a new version comes out I tend to just figure out how to do what I used to do ... I think that’s been called “stuck in a rut”.

A couple of months ago when working on a RAW file, I remembered a tip I saw once about opening  the RAW file into Photoshop as a smart object, and decided to give it a try.  I immediately began using it most of the time because it seemed to make my workflow a little easier, and eliminated some adjustment layers.

My reasons may not apply to others.  I’m just not that great at RAW conversion, and often after working with an image for a while or after I print it, I’m wishing for a little more contrast, a little more saturation, maybe a different white balance.  Rather than adding an adjustment layer, I just double click the smart object and now I’m back in Adobe Camera Raw.  I can apply all those corrections, and let the RAW processor apply the modifications.  That has to be better than an after the fact Photoshop adjustment layer doesn’t it?

If you have to modify the image visually, such as with the clone tool or patch tool, it begins to get a little more complicated, so you have to adapt it to your workflow.  In my case I go ahead and rasterize the layer, and continue on.

In my workflow my end goal is to have 1 single layer with image modifications (things like cloning, spot removal etc.) merged, with all adjustment layers above, and at that point I’m ready to print.  I can always go back if I don’t like any of those changes,  because all the layers it took to make that master layer are still there, so I can modify them, and merge them back into a new master layer.

This is were I started using smart obects as part of my output workflow, where my challenge is the output sharpening part.  I’m progressing through the book “Real World Image Sharpening for CS2”, but I haven’t mastered it yet, and often find myself trying different sharpening levels to see exactly what the end result is.  In the past the workflow has been do all changes, then before sharpening, save the file.  After sharpening (currently I just use Smart Sharpen, but will be trying Photokit Sharpener soon), I’ll print the print.  This way my sharpening isn’t permanent, so I’m free to try a different sharpening.  The obvious downside is you really don’t remember what sharpening was used for a file when you reopen it.

Smart layers comes to the rescue, because with smart layers you can use smart filters.  Sharpening ends up much like an adjustment layer - it doesn’t affect the base image, can be turned off and on, and you can even double click it and change the settings.  You can create two or three sharpening layers, and turning them off and on compare the results.  There’s probably more that you can do ...  I’ll certainly be googling this to see what others may have found.

You can use the sharpening idea even if you aren’t working with a RAW file.  After opening your image, just convert it to a smart layer.  It’s under  Layer>Smart Object>Convert to Smart Object.