I have done numerous searches on the internet to find out how to stop Photoshop from placing files as a smart object. I followed the suggestion of going to Edit > Preferences > General to uncheck the "Place or Drag Raster Images as Smart Obejct" but that option does not appear in Photoshop CS4. Does anyone know how to deal with this issue in CS4?
This may sound strange, but to avoid the "Smart Object" designation, just stop "placing" the files. Either open them, or copy and paste them into Photoshop.
If you're just opening raster files in Photoshop, they come in as pixels - drag a newly opened raster file onto your target Photoshop file. If you're copy/pasting art from Illustrator, you can choose at the time whether it is a "Smart Object," or "Pixels." Sounds like you want pixels.
I'm only working in Photoshop, not Illustrator. I tried opening another PSD file, duplicated the layers and pasted them into my working document. Worked like a charm --no smart object. Thanks!