Copy linked or embedded image into Photoshop

[photoshop1.0]

InDesign lets you select a linked image, hit command-C, and then paste that image into a PSD. What appears in Photoshop is a smart object that (visually speaking) has the same resolution as the original linked image file. That is, the copied image from InDesign does not look like a low-res preview when it reaches Photoshop; instead, on screen it looks like a high-res version with the same bounding box/cropping as it has in InDesign.

Unfortunately, Publisher does not allow you to copy linked or embedded images to Photoshop in this way. When I tried this, the pasted image retained Publisher's bounding box (good), but the image itself looked like a low-res preview in Photoshop (unusable).

This copying-and-pasting from Publisher to Photoshop is essential in my web design work, as it allows me to quickly grab an image from InDesign without having to open the original PSD and then manually recreate the same cropping that I already did in InDesign.

It would be great if Publisher did the same.

[Joachim_L]

Maybe you should give Affinity Photo a try? Using the power of Studio Link will perhaps boost your workflow in APublisher?

[photoshop1.0]

I'm trying AP right now, and I can confirm that the workflow that I described does work in AP. In fact, the linked image which gets pasted into AP looks better than if I copied and pasted the same image from InDesign to Photoshop.

However, it would still be useful if we could copy-and-paste linked images into Photoshop as I described, as there will undoubtedly be instances where one will want/need to continue working with a legacy PSD in Photoshop.

[walt.farrell]

18 hours ago, photoshop1.0 said:

Unfortunately, Publisher does not allow you to copy linked or embedded images to Photoshop in this way. When I tried this, the pasted image retained Publisher's bounding box (good), but the image itself looked like a low-res preview in Photoshop (unusable)

If you truly have an image (PNG, JPG, or TIFF) you should be able to click on Edit Image in the Context Toolbar when you have the image selected, which will open it in a new document tab in Publisher. Then if you Copy the image layer it should paste properly into PhotoShop.

 

[photoshop1.0]

I am trying to follow your advice by clicking on a linked image, but the the only options that I see at the top of the workspace are "Replace image" and "Properties".

At any rate, even if the method that you kindly suggested works, it would involve a couple of extra steps vs. just being able to do a quick Command-C & Command-V.

[walt.farrell]

24 minutes ago, photoshop1.0 said:

I am trying to follow your advice by clicking on a linked image, but the the only options that I see at the top of the workspace are "Replace image" and "Properties".

If you have "Replace Image" then it is an Embedded image, not a Linked image. And, sorry, my instructions were for Linked images.

For an embedded image, I would expect a simple Ctrl+C to work (with the layer selected in the Layers panel), followed by Ctrl+V in your other application. And that does work, for me, with an Embedded image that I just copied from Publisher and pasted into Corel Painter.

[photoshop1.0]

This is for a linked image (which Publisher lists as a "Linked document" even though the "document" is actually a photo). It is not embedded. Here is a screenshot from the layers panel.

[walt.farrell]

19 minutes ago, photoshop1.0 said:

This is for a linked image (which Publisher lists as a "Linked document" even though the "document" is actually a photo)

It is a linked document. If it were a photo (a JPG, TIFF, or PNG file) it would say (Image) not (Linked Document).

JPG, TIFF, and PNG files are images. Other document formats are documents, not images.

Further:

• Linked images and Linked native Affinity documents (.afphoto, .afdesign, .afpub) work differently from Linked non-native documents (PDF, PSD, SVG, EPS, etc.) and
• Embedded images work differently from Embedded documents.

Note that the current direction for Serif is that Photo and Designer documents should not contain Linked files (images or documents), only Embedded. There are ways around that, using Publisher, but Photo and Designer do not have complete support for Linked files. They do not:

• Allow for automatic updating of the open document when the application detects that one of the linked files has been changed externally; and
• They do not have the Resource Manager to let you see where the linked file lives, or update it while the Photo/Designer document is open.

[carl123]

16 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

There are ways around that, using Publisher, but Photo and Designer do not have complete support for Linked files. They do not:

• Allow for automatic updating of the open document when the application detects that one of the linked files has been changed externally; and

Just between you and me Walt, there's an existing setting in one of the %appdata% xml files which once switched on in APhoto (and Designer? - untested) will make APhoto automatically update any changed linked images when you open the document. It is sticky so will remain on whenever APhoto restarts.

But if anyone asks, you didn't hear that from me 😉

[wonderings]

On 5/6/2020 at 5:07 PM, photoshop1.0 said:

InDesign lets you select a linked image, hit command-C, and then paste that image into a PSD. What appears in Photoshop is a smart object that (visually speaking) has the same resolution as the original linked image file. That is, the copied image from InDesign does not look like a low-res preview when it reaches Photoshop; instead, on screen it looks like a high-res version with the same bounding box/cropping as it has in InDesign.

Unfortunately, Publisher does not allow you to copy linked or embedded images to Photoshop in this way. When I tried this, the pasted image retained Publisher's bounding box (good), but the image itself looked like a low-res preview in Photoshop (unusable).

This copying-and-pasting from Publisher to Photoshop is essential in my web design work, as it allows me to quickly grab an image from InDesign without having to open the original PSD and then manually recreate the same cropping that I already did in InDesign.

It would be great if Publisher did the same.

If the placed file in Indesign is not embedded, why are you copying and pasting into photoshop? If you right click on the link element you can select "edit with" and then choose your preferred program and edit there, then save. File gets updated in Indesign and you are golden. Is there some benefit of copying and pasting into photoshop only to have to save and link the image back into indesign? Any settings should remain the same in Indesign. So if I have a placed PSD file in Indesign that I resized, added a drop shadow, cropped the image box, etc. Editing the PSD and saving it keeps all settings I had done in Indesign. Unless I am missing something this seems like a backwards way of working. 

[photoshop1.0]

6 hours ago, wonderings said:

If the placed file in Indesign is not embedded, why are you copying and pasting into photoshop? If you right click on the link element you can select "edit with"...

I was not referring to editing. I said, "This copying-and-pasting from Publisher to Photoshop is essential in my web design work, as it allows me to quickly grab an image from InDesign without having to open the original PSD and then manually recreate the same cropping that I already did in InDesign."

This may not be an essential technique for everyone's workflow, however it has proven to be a huge time saver in certain instances where re-cropping an image for the web is not necessary, and having to do so would be a waste of valuable time.

[wonderings]

12 hours ago, photoshop1.0 said:

I was not referring to editing. I said, "This copying-and-pasting from Publisher to Photoshop is essential in my web design work, as it allows me to quickly grab an image from InDesign without having to open the original PSD and then manually recreate the same cropping that I already did in InDesign."

This may not be an essential technique for everyone's workflow, however it has proven to be a huge time saver in certain instances where re-cropping an image for the web is not necessary, and having to do so would be a waste of valuable time.

ahh ok, so you are not bringing back into Indesign/Publisher. Not sure what format you are saving to from Photoshop, but you can export jpg and png from Indesign as well though probably faster as you say to copy and paste to photoshop as it will create a new document in Photoshop based on the size of the image you copied.