While you can apply layer effects and some transformations to Smart Object layers, you cannot actually manipulate (paint, draw, erase) their pixels because they are not editable from external documents. The same steps, when applied to a raster layer, produce an image that is blurred and of lower quality.īecause Smart Objects are linked to an outside document, you can resize them without losing the original image data. This is demonstrated in the example on the next page, which shows the result of a Smart Object that has been decreased in size, then resized back to its original dimensions. Unlike Smart Objects, where you retain image quality, if you resize a raster layer smaller, you will lose information. In contrast, raster layers (or regular layers) are fully editable, so you can draw and paint on them, fill them with colors, or erase pixels. If you make changes to the source file, the Smart Object layer will also be updated with those changes. Smart Objects are different from other layers because they are linked to a source file (e.g., an Illustrator file, JPEG, GIF or other Photoshop file). A Smart Object layer is distinguished by an icon that overlays the thumbnail image displayed in the Layers palette, as shown in the example below. DiscussionĪ Smart Object is an embedded file that appears in its own layer in Photoshop. When you’re done,double-click inside the bounding box to commit the Smart Object to its layer. You can use this bounding box to move, rotate, scale, or make other transformations to the object.
The Smart Object will initially be placed with a bounding box surrounding it, as shown here.
For PDF and Illustrator files, Photoshop will display a dialog box that asks you to select the pages you wish to place.
Click Place to import the file into your Photoshop document as a Smart Object. Select File > Place and choose the file you wish to import. A dialog box will appear, asking you whether you wish to paste the artwork as a Smart Object, Pixels, Path or a Shape Layer. Switch to Photoshop while Illustrator is still open and paste your copied artwork using Ctrl-V (Command-V). Copy the artwork using Ctrl-C (Command-Con a Mac). Open Illustrator and select the artwork you wish to export to Photoshop. The copied layers will retain their original properties. This will copy the layers across as shown in the example at the top of the next page. Select and drag the necessary layers over to the new window and release the mouse button when you see a thick, black outline around the window. Select the window of the document you wish to import from, to bring up its Layers palette.
Position the document windows so that both are visible. Placing Layers from a Different Photoshop Document Photoshop will paste the document into a new or selected empty layer as it does when pasting artwork from a web page. Click on your Photoshop document then select Edit > Paste or press Ctrl-V (Command-V) to paste it. Open the file in Photoshop and use Select > All or press Ctrl-A (Command-A) to create a selection of the entire document. After converting it into a video format such as MOV or MP4, you can consider adopting its “Rich Media" feature in Adobe Acrobat to add the animated GIF to the PDF document successfully.A flattened image file - such as a GIF, JPEG or PNG - contains artwork on a single layer. GIFs are usually not supported as a video format across many PDF editors thus, it is better to convert them for displaying animations. Before adding your GIF across a PDF document, you are advised to convert it to any other video format. To counter the issue of static and animated GIFs, a method can be carried out for effective results. Part 5: Tips for Embedding Animated GIF to PDF The limitations of adding GIFs to PDFs through such ways leave the user with the option of including them as static images, with no animations. All the GIFs added to the document are included as static images, which means that no animation is displayable across the document. The above-mentioned procedures to add GIF to PDF documents have a major loophole. Part 4: Limitations of Inserting GIF in PDF