Export Contents

Suppose, you are editing a PSD file created in Photoshop and need to edit a smart object it contains. Since the "Edit Smart Object" command can't do this, you will need a workaround.

  1. Open the "Layers" dialog.
  2. Select the smart object in the Layers list and apply the "Export Contents" command (screenshot).
  3. In the "Save" dialog that opens, choose a destination folder, file name (let it be "sample.psd") and click "Save".

    So, you have saved the smart object's contents as a separate PSD file.

  4. Now open the exported file "sample.psd" (File > Open), edit it as needed and save the file (File > Save).
  5. Choose the initial document, the "sample.psd" has been exported from.
  6. Open the "Layers" dialog, make sure that the smart object is selected, and apply the "Replace Contents" command.
  7. In the "Place" dialog that appears, browse to the "sample.psd" file and click "Place".

    Thus we have replaced the original smart object with a modified copy.

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Exporting smart object contents to external file