Replacing Only One Smart Object

In the previous tutorial, you saw how you can easily replace a Smart Object. However, what happens if you don't want to replace all of the Smart Objects? Maybe you only want to change some or one of them. Sometimes Smart Objects are too smart for their own good, but there are ways to work around them and get the results you want.

Step One

Follow Steps One through Three in the previous tutorial to create a custom picture package. You should wind up with a document with four Smart Objects in it, each of the same photo.

Turbo Boost

When editing a Smart Object, don't choose File>Save As since it will save a file on your hard drive independent of the Smart Object. That will prevent the changes from being reflected in the Smart Object since they were never saved back to the original document.

Step Two

Now, let's say you want to replace only one of the photos (the large one, in this example) but leave the other ones as is. Click once on the layer with the large photo to target it. Choose Group into New Smart Object from the Layers palette's flyout menu. You won't see anything change here, but you've essentially broken the link between this Smart Object and the others that you created it from.

Step Three

Now, on the same layer, choose Layer>Smart Objects>Replace Contents. Navigate to another photo in the Place dialog and click the Place button. This time, only the large photo on the left is changed and the other three photos on the right remain the same. This happens because in Step Two we grouped this layer into a new Smart Object, making it an independent Smart Object, not just a duplicate of the original.

©ISTOCKPHOTO/EVA SERRABASSA

Turbo Boost

Choose Layer>Smart Objects>Convert to Layer in order to apply filters, gradients, or brush strokes to a Smart Object layer. However, keep in mind that the layer will no longer be a Smart Object.