(Question on Smart Objects below) We have been living in the area for about 5 years. This photo is from a state park, which houses an underground stream and cave, that finally provided the atmosphere I knew it was capable of.
For anyone who read this far, I do have a question about Smart Objects. Specifically when to use them. This was a first for me where most of my layers in Photoshop were converted to Smart Objects, however this resulted in my PSD file being huge! There was advantages to editing Smart Objects, but does anyone have a helpful source or know when best to use them, e.g. all the time, or only at the end for resizing and exporting?
That depends on a couple factors. Yes, the file sizes are huge and that needs to be part of your decision.
1. If you want the ability to go back and redo some filter choices in the future (or really want to go back and look at what you did in the past for an edit) then leaving filters applied to a smart layer will give you that option.
2. If you're pulling in external files and want the ability to have changes you make in the external file show up in your working file.
Those are the main reasons (as far as I've ever been able to work out) on why you would do so. With that said, if you look at your layers panel and just have everything as smart layers, regardless of filter status, then you're just wasting space. Sometimes the way you pull them in creates them as smart layers and it is completely unnecessary. Unless there is a specific reason to have it as a smart layer, rasterize it to save space. You can just leave specific layers that way when needed for a purpose (like coming back later and changing some settings you weren't quite committed to during round 1).
If there is a different reason for using them, I'm always curious to learn new things. I only use them on rare occasions when they are needed.
Very helpful Peter, thanks! I did find it useful for filters as you said, but it's good to know I could haver saved space elsewhere. The other use for them I've heard is when changing image size, that this can be a destructive process if it's not a smart object, but I'd have to confirm that again.
Cheers!