Exporting Smart Object Contents from Photoshop Elements

Export Contents commandSuppose, you are editing a PSD file created in Photoshop and need to alter a smart object it contains. How do you resolve this without possessing the source file?

  1. In the Layers palette, select the smart object.
  2. In the Effects palette, double-click the "Export Contents" thumbnail.
  3. In the "Save" dialog, choose a destination folder and click "Save". The program saves the file with a PSB extension. Let's name it "sample.psb".
  4. Pull down "File > Open As" and open the exported "sample.psb" as a PSD file.
  5. Edit "sample.psb" as needed. Then pull down "File > Save As" and save it as "sample.psd".
  6. Open the document the "sample.psb" has been exported from and make sure the smart object is selected in the Layers palette.
  7. In the Effects palette, double-click the "Replace Contents" pictogram.
  8. In the "Place" dialog, browse to the "sample.psd" file and click "Place". Then, click the "ok" button in the document window or press the the [Enter] key to confirm placement.
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Exporting smart object contents to external file