How to Create and Use Smart Objects in Photoshop

I’m sure you’ve seen and used Smart Objects in Photoshop for a long time, but you haven’t yet seen their purpose. I’m saying this because I’ve been in this situation myself and most likely, you are or will be soon, too.

That’s why in this tutorial I will show you their true power and how they can turn several hours of work into just a few minutes. The technique is quite simple and it shines particularly when you want to modify multiple designs containing similar objects,such as mock-up sets for laptops, smartphones and displays.

What is a Smart Object?

In simple terms, a Smart Object is a fully layered file within a .PSD file, but embedded into a single layer. You can edit, replace and export them at will or import an existing file as part of a larger design.

In the Layers palette, you can recognize it by the “new document-ish” icon in the lower right corner of the layer thumbnail.

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Now imagine editing each image, distorting them to fit the perspectives and placing them in the right locations. In this case, there are not many views, but think about having to deal with 10 or more views. Would have been a nightmare!