Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Opening an image as a Smart Object
In this lesson, you'll compile many images of rainforest animals to create a photo
illustration that could be used for a travel advertisement.
One of the dei ning characteristics of Smart Objects is the ability for layers to be
transformed multiple times without the traditional resampling that occurs by default with
Photoshop. In this section, you will go through an exercise to help you understand the
main dif erence between a standard Photoshop layer and a Smart Object.
1
Click on the Visibility icon ( ) to the left of the type layer named Visit the
Rainforests of Palenque. This layer has been locked so that you can't accidentally
move it, and it will remain hidden for most of this lesson.
2
Select the Butterl y layer and then select the Move tool ( ). Choose Edit > Free
Transform to scale this layer. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T
(Windows) or Command+T (Mac OS).
3
Hold the Shift key, and then click and hold the bottom-right corner of the transform
box. Drag toward the center of the box to make the box smaller. Holding the Shift
key ensures that the width and height are constrained proportionally. In the Options
bar at the top of the screen, note that as you scale down, the percentage values begin
to decrease. Scale the butterl y until the horizontal values are approximately 25
percent. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS) to commit the transformation
(you can also press the Commit check mark ( ) on the right side of the Options bar).
You can view the scale percentage in the Options bar.
You have reduced the width and height of this layer by 75 percent. This also means
that the original pixel data has been lost through the scaling process (also called
downsampling). This creates problems if you decide at some point to make the image
on this layer larger.
