Lesson Info
63. Introduction to Smart Objects
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Blake Rudis
Lesson Info
Introduction to Smart Objects
What are Smart Objects? Let's just talk about that real quick, first. A Smart Object, if we go to the Helpx.Adobe.com, You notice I reference that quite often. Anytime I need help with Adobe, when i need help with Adobe, yes i do sometimes, I will go to this website. I have it already bookmarked and if you have this PDF downloaded, you can just click on that and it'll take you to what they call Smart Objects. Basically, a Smart Object is any layer, that contains image data from raster or vector images, such as Photoshop or Illustrator files. Smart Objects preserve an image's source content, with all of its original characteristics. Enabling you to perform nondestructive editing, to the layers. Why this says vector and raster layers is that you can turn a raster layer into a Smart Object, which essentially, kind of makes it a vector layer. It's really kinda hard to wrap your head around, but with the examples that I'm gonna show here, you're going to understand exactly what's happening ...
when we do that. So let's again, just cover raster versus vector real quick. A rasterized layer is based on pixels or colored dots. Think of things like pixel layers, pictures from cameras, background layers, brushstrokes. Those are all pixel or raster layers. Vector layers are based on math and lines, we talked about shapes and text. That's where you're going to find vector and raster. Again, I'm going to show this document again, so you can understand. A vector, that's the vector at 100 percent small, 100 percent small rasterized version. And then after we increase that size, we see what happens from the vector, which actually retains all of the data that it's in that small little circle where is this, interpolates and blows out. We've talked about this a couple times. I just really want you to wrap your head around what raster and vector base are. So what are some of the uses for Smart Objects then? If a Smart Object contains both, raster information and vector information, why would we even use these in our Photoshop workflow? Well, Smart Objects can be used to make nondestructive filters. So, we're going to be talking about filters, and when we talk about filters, you're gonna see that filters can destroy the integrity of an image. Because, if it's, if you use a filter on a non Smart Object, there's really no going back. But if you turn that layer into a Smart Object first, as we're going to show during our examples, you can go back and you can edit anything that happens, within that filter. It's really cool and really powerful. You're always able to redo edits with those filters because it is nondestructive. You can also use filters with their own Masks. So, we'll show that here where you put a filter on something, and you don't necessarily like what it's doing to a certain part of the image, instead of having to go back and retrace your steps and make multiple layers with multiple filters, you can just use a Smart Object with a filter Mask. You can also maintain pixel clarity when resizing images. This is great for things like composites. So if you've ever made a composite and you're resizing something often, so you make it smaller and you're like, no I don't really like how it looks, I'm gonna make it bigger, make it smaller, make it bigger. What happens when you keep making things larger and smaller, larger and smaller, larger and smaller, is you're losing pixel data when you make it smaller, and then you're increasing that pixel data. You're losing pixel data, increasing pixel data. And it's interpolating like crazy while it's doing it. So, what we're going to show here is, if you go ahead and make sure you make a Smart Object first, you're not going to lose any of that pixel clarity in the process. You can also transform images without sacrificing quality. This is a pretty cool thing when it, comes to straightening images. I'm gonna show you a really awesome example, that's going to show you how you can use the Smart Objects when you straighten an image. And because it's vector based. And then creating custom layouts, with easy to replace images. You can actually create your own layouts. Like your own wedding album layouts or any layouts that you would be using for clients or customers. Or even if like myself when I'm making my landscape books, I have a couple of pre and determined layouts that I use, that I then send to the printers. We can make our own layouts and replace those images, really quickly by just double-clicking on them and putting whatever picture you want in that. So let's go ahead and jump into Photoshop, and we'll dissect these Smart Objects. We're going to start first, with Adobe Camera Raw, and how we can use Adobe Camera Raw with Smart Objects.
Blake Rudis is the absolute best in teaching photoshop. His knowledge and how he presents the instruction is clear and concise - there is NO ONE BETTER. Yes, his classes require some basic skills, and maybe I'd organize the order of (or group) the classes in a different order, but, let me be clear - if anyone is to be successful or famous in the Photoshop world, it should be Blake Rudis. I strongly recommend his teaching. I started photography and post processing in 2018, and because of this class, I'm know what Im doing. The energy you get when you create something beautiful is profound, it makes you bounce out of bed (at 4AM) like a 5 year old, to go create. It's a great ride! Thanks Blake, & Thanks Creative live.
Amazing course, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a beginner's course for photographers. The problem isn't Blake's explanations; they're top. The problem is the vast scope of this course and the order in which the topics are presented. Take layers for example. When I was first learning Photoshop (back when we learned from books), I found I learned little or nothing from, for example, books that covered layers before they covered how to improve/process photographs. These books taught me how to organize, move, and link layers before they showed me what a layer was actually for. Those books tended to teach me everything there is to know about layers (types of layers, how to organize them, how to move them, how to move them two at a time, how to move them two at a time even if there are other layers between the two you're interested in, useful troubleshooting tips, etc. ) all before I even know (from a photographer's point of view) what it is the things actually do. The examples of organizing, linking, and moving mean everything for graphic designers from Day One, but for photographers not so much. Blake does the same thing as those books. Topics he covers extremely early demand a lot of theoretical imagination for a photographer who doesn't already know quite a bit about what he is talking about. Learning about abstract things first and concrete things later only makes PS that much harder to understand. If you AREN'T a beginner, however, this course is amazing. I thought it would be like an Army Bootcamp, taking you from zero and building you into a fit, competent Photoshop grunt. Now I think it's more like Army Bootcamp for high school varsity jocks. It isn't going to take you from the beginning, but the amount you'll get out of it is nonetheless more than your brain can imagine. I've been using PS for years to improve my photographs, and even to create the odd artistic composite or two. The amount I've learned in the first week is amazing, and every day I learn something -- more like many things -- which I immediately implement to improve my productivity and/or widen the horizons of what I can achieve. If you ARE a photographer who's a Photoshop beginner, I'd take very seriously the advice Blake gives in the introduction: Watch one lesson, and practice the skills and principles you learn in that one lesson for two weeks. THEN watch the next lesson. You can't do that of course without buying the course, so it's up to you to decide whether you'd like to learn Photoshop and master Photoshop all from the same course. Learning it first and mastering it later will cost more money, but I think you'll understand everything better and have a much more enjoyable ride in the process. As for me? I'm going to have to find the money to buy this course. There is simply way too much content in each lesson for me to try to take on all at once, but on the other hand I don't want to miss anything at all that he has to share.
WOW!!! I've been purchasing CL classes for several years now and have watched HOURS of "How-To Photoshop" classes, but this is the first one I've actually purchased because of the AWESOME BONUS content!!! SERIOUSLY??!!?!? A PLUG-IN??? But not only that, Blake is SO easy to understand, and he breaks down concepts in different ways to connect with different people's learning styles. I REALLY appreciated this approach because I am a LEFT-BRAINED creative that has an engineering background, so I really connected to what Blake was saying. THANK YOU FOR THAT! There are TONS of Photoshop courses out there, but I found this one to be the most helpful in they way Blake teaches concepts so that you know WHY you're doing what your doing. I feel like he taught me how to fish with Photoshop to feed me for a lifetime instead of just giving me a fish to feed me for one day. This is the BEST overall PS course out there!!! Thank you!!!!
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Introduction to Smart Objects
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