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1. Re: Smart object in PS: what if you crop or do perspective correction afterwards
SaturnV Apr 29, 2011 10:18 PM (in response to Another Photographer)When a file is passed from Lightroom to Photoshop as a Smart Object, there is no live link. From then on, changes to either instance won't affect the other.
You can make it happen manually, though.
First you save the Lightroom changes from the Lightroom database back out to the original file, by selecting the image in Lightroom and pressing Command-S/Ctrl-S (the shortcut for the Save Metadata To File command, which is under the Metadata menu in the Library module and under the Settings menu in the Develop module). If the image is a DNG, the edit metadata is written into the DNG. If the image is raw, the edits are written into the XMP metadata sidecar.
Next, in Photoshop, you select the Smart Object in the Layers panel and choose Layer > Smart Objects > Replace Contents. Then select the original file and import it again. This is sort of like updating a link. To save time finding the original file, from Lightroom you can right-click the image and choose Reveal in Finder/Reveal in Explorer, then drag it into the Place dialog in Photoshop that comes up when you Replace Contents. Once you get through all that, the Photoshop instance is updated because it re-reads the updated edit metadata you saved out of Lightroom, and applies it.
If in Lightroom you cropped, rotated, or distorted the image, it may be necessary in Photoshop to choose Image > Reveal All to automatically expand to the new dimensions or Image > Trim to delete extra space that resulted from the update.
It's a very tedious and time-consuming series of steps, but it can be done if you need it.
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2. Re: Smart object in PS: what if you crop or do perspective correction afterwards
Another Photographer Apr 30, 2011 4:15 AM (in response to SaturnV)Once I go through all of those steps, I also have to redo anything I've done in Photoshop layers, correct?
For example, just as an illustation, if I had removed a dust spec in a Photoshop layer and then distorted the Lightroom file, the dust spec no longer matches the area that's been worked on.
Am I missing something here?
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3. Re: Smart object in PS: what if you crop or do perspective correction afterwards
SaturnV Apr 30, 2011 7:34 AM (in response to Another Photographer)You might not have to redo everything, only things that depend on a specific geometry or position. For example, any adjustment layers or smart filters should be fine if they apply to the entire layer uniformly, but if those layers or filters have masks, those masks will now be out of alignment. Yes, any retouching layers or channels based on the earlier version of the image will now be out of alignment with the updated image and will have to be redone.
Which is why I would try to do as many corrections as possible in Lightroom, like using the Spot Removal tool there instead of the Healing Brush in Photoshop.


