I love smart objects, but they come at a price. Adding smart objects
to a composition can have the undesirable effect of ballooning the
file size and slowing the program. So while I encourage you to get
in the habit of using them, I also recommend that you use them
judiciously. Remember, be smart.Nondestructively Editing a Photo with Smart Filters
As I alluded to at the outset of this lesson, smart filters provide a
means of applying Photoshop’s wide-ranging filter effects nonde-
structively and reversibly. Just as a live adjustment layer allows you
to modify color adjustment settings any time you like, a smart ob-
ject combined with a nondestructive smart filter lets you edit filter
settings ad infinitum.
Smart filters are a recent by-product of smart objects. As a result,
they don’t have the same tried-and-true feeling as Photoshop’s more
mature functions. Their implementation is sometimes strange, so
you may occasionally find yourself scratching your head trying to
figure out how to pull off a specific effect. But while smart filters rely
on a series of secret handshakes to get them up and running, the
return on memorizing those handshakes—in the form of increased
creative freedom—is well worth the commitment.- Open a flat photograph. In this exercise, we’ll modify
a basic (if beautiful) layer-free photograph. Go to the
Lesson 07 folder inside Lesson Files-PsCS5 1on1 and
open the file called Soft portrait.jpg. Provided to us by pho-
tographer Joey Nelson of iStockphoto, the image appears in
Figure 7-24 on the facing page. In part due to the photographic
process and in part thanks to my downsampling the photo with
the Image Size command, the portrait is slightly soft. I want it
to pop, so let’s sharpen it with a smart filter.
PeaRl Of WISDOm
Because smart filters demand so much planning and jumping through
hoops, this exercise keeps it fairly simple, employing smart filters to modify
the contours and colors in a flat digital photograph. If you’re looking
for a glimpse into something more ambitious—such as, say, smart filters
integrated into an elaborate layered composition and even applied to live
type—check out the appropriately named sidebar “Smart Filters on Steroids,”
which begins on page 246.236 Lesson 7: Sharpening and Smart Objects