Smart Objects?

[JesseHam 9]

Are they in the works?  Without them, I can not see myself moving over from PS.  They are essential to a large portion of my workflow.

[TonyB 1,405]

"Smart objects" in Photoshop cover many features and Affinity Photo already covers some of them. What particular part of smart objects would you like to see in Affinity Photo?

[00Ghz 252]

I think he is referring to non destructive editing and applying effects on the item which is essentially a form of a symbol.

[Dale 833]

Scaling is non-destructive and I think embedded editable documents are there so far too.

[JesseHam 9]

Maybe all I'm asking about is recognizing them in existing .psds then. I opened an existing file of mine and it flattened them to "pixel" layers.  

 

I use Smart Objects basically as embedded files. For example, rendering a package, I make the panels smart objects so they can be easily swapped out when packages are updated. I export a .psd of the updated package file, marquee select and copy the new panel, double click into the smart object of the old panel and paste the new art in. Done. The transform remains as it was, but applied to the new art. 

Sometimes, I place .ai objects as smart objects that remain editable in .ai later on, but are embedded in the .psd.

[Izzy 3]

I've experienced the same thing, it flattens existing smart objects to basic pixel data when opening Photoshop files.

It should be able to pick up "Smart Objects", including "Linked Smart Objects" & automatically update the data when changes are made to the original files during the editing process.

I noticed "place" under the "file" context menu does something similar, but when I imported a vector PDF logo, it replaced the transparency with white, and also did not update when I made changes to the original.

 

This feature is essential to my everyday workflow.

[Dieter Vanhalst 1]

I'm following the reason of JesseHam. I'm a professional designer (with an Adobe CC susbscription) and willing to consider Affinity for professional usage.

A replacement for the Adobe Design Standard would be quite handy to me.

However, Smart Objects are very useful: non destructive and ideal for referencing. Think of mockup design where a reference is made and can be switched instantly with a final object. 

 

As a sidenote and please read this as a kind suggestion...

I'm quite happy with the way Affinity is going to deliver incredible software but I would like to emphasize to be crystal clear what Affinity can en can not do compared to the Adobe counterparts. If you're aiming towards professional clients that might be your early adapters, be sure not to throw them into ignorance.

As long as people know what to expect, we know how to deal with things. psd's for one are not equally the same. Smart Objects for one are not supported and opening files in Affinity Photo and exporting back again, destroys them for later usage in Adobe Photoshop (as already stated by Jesse as well)!

 

Disregarding features from photoshop, and not knowing this can have delicate consequences in ruining your files. Think of people who want to open and work on files from clients when they used Adobe before... Maybe Affinity can run a test while saving and/or opening, letting you know what features will be neglected (and ruined)? In this way the user is completely responsible for further decision making in the right context. This would be a huge timesaver in figuring out where things went wrong. In its current Beta state, this is completely normal, but in a final release, people won't be as forgiving I suppose.

 

Thanks...

 

 

 

[yeeeoww 6]

I would second the motion for some sort of Smart Object implementation. I use it constantly in my work.

 

A good use of this is I send a photoshop files with multiple Smart Object layers to our Avid editor. When the Avid opens the Photoshop file the Smart Objects are seen as flattened. The beauty of this is I can go back and make changes to the individual Smart objects and the editor just needs to reimport the Photoshop file and they're good to go.

[mintcar 1]

In my work I use smart objects a lot when doing pack shots for packaging design. In Photoshop you can apply effects and distortion to a decor that has been added as a smart object to make it look like it's part of the pack shot: then you can replace the smart object with a different decor and keep all the effects. Is it possible to do something similar with Affinity Photo?

[evtonic3 368]

The idea of Smart Objects is a FALSE TRUTH that most designers feel chained by. Adobe was genius to create this phenomenon. Editing is editing is editing. It doesn’t matter where it comes from.

[MEB 6,310]

Hi mintcar,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

You can achieve a similar result with embedded documents in Affinity apps. Just drag an Affinity Designer/Photo file over an open document to embed it. You can transform, apply adjustment's, effects etc to the embedded document while keeping its contents intact. To edit the embedded document, double-click it on canvas or select it in the Layers panel and click Edit Document in the context toolbar (with the Move Tool selected) to open it in a new document tab. Edit it to your hearts content then close the embedded document tab. All changes will be reflected in the original document.

[RNKLN 55]

Not sure, but i get the impression that people are looking for a different software packages that works the same as their current software package.  :(

[boyd91 1]

I would really like the support for smart objects too. It's not at all about having everything working exactly the same as Photoshop. But there are a ton of resources available (on Graphicriver for example) which use these smart objects to make modifying very easy. Those resources are available to Photoshop only, because Affinity Photo can't handle the smart objects. I have yet to find a single one which also supports Affinity Photo.

 

So it's not like I want the Smart Objects feature, I just want the compatibility with the PSD's which use the smart objects and not just by flattening them. 

[kirk23 41]

Smart objects in Photoshop have much more options to do with than embedded docs in AP.   Offset wrap for example.   Besides they could keep links to outer files .

 

Still I love how AP embedded docs updates instantly. It's a greatest feature of AP.    

[hexaae 16]

+1 for Smart Objects PSD import, and extending AP/AD Embedded documents.

ATM you can't do something like this:

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLdLwxt0nB8)

or to be exact you can't alter the mesh to wrap the object around something and save it as a template to easily add a different image/page every time you need. When you apply Mesh Deformation to an Embedded document in AP it will be converted to plain pixel image.

[LCamachoDesign 52]

 

or to be exact you can't alter the mesh to wrap the object around something and save it as a template to easily add a different image/page every time you need. When you apply Mesh Deformation to an Embedded document in AP it will be converted to plain pixel image.

 

That's true, and it's something I've been asking for a while too, a Live Mesh Wrap Filter. This would allow for what the video shows. Smart Objects and Linked Smart Objects are a must too.

[hexaae 16]

Shouldn't this thread be moved to https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/6-feature-requests-suggestions-and-feedback/ ?

[hexaae 16]

I've found that from Live filters (Levels panel, bottom) you can actually apply non destructive Perspective deformation to a Placed​ Embedded document source, but Mesh wrap live filter is missing...  :(

[mateuspollonio 8]

I use mockups a lot, but I can't use it on AP, because the mockup only work with smart objects

[IzelPhotography 3]

On 04/07/2017 at 9:02 AM, hexaae said:

+1 for Smart Objects PSD import, and extending AP/AD Embedded documents.

ATM you can't do something like this:

 

(www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLdLwxt0nB8)

or to be exact you can't alter the mesh to wrap the object around something and save it as a template to easily add a different image/page every time you need. When you apply Mesh Deformation to an Embedded document in AP it will be converted to plain pixel image.

 

I used to use this a lot in PS for concept and mockup work. Sadly, it looks like I'll have to go back to PS as it's really important to me to be able to transform content in a non destructive way and be able to re-edit wording etc after it's been wrapped around objects. Now I have to create content, warp it, create finished image then delete layer and start layer again instead of editing it PITA.

 

Gutted as this looked like a good PS replacement. 

[SalutBarbu 0]

Looks like you can edit placed files in a document and have them update on save, similar to the way Smart Objects work in Photoshop. I haven't tried it, but here's a tutorial from Affinity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqPhlRrvTM 

Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer both have this feature.

[hexaae 16]

 

On ‎7‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 12:01 AM, SalutBarbu said:

Looks like you can edit placed files in a document and have them update on save, similar to the way Smart Objects work in Photoshop. I haven't tried it, but here's a tutorial from Affinity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqPhlRrvTM

Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer both have this feature.

Mesh Wrap as a live filter is missing: you can't save a deformation map as a template and just replace the image.

This is a very important feature still missing in AP and AD. I can't understand why it's not on their To-Do List at high pri...

[Morten_Hjort 4]

I agree. Smart Objects is the only reason I still keep PS on the side. Would LOOOOVE to get rid of it, but so far its not possible. 

[evtonic3 368]

On 9/10/2018 at 4:33 AM, Morten_Hjort said:

I agree. Smart Objects is the only reason I still keep PS on the side. Would LOOOOVE to get rid of it, but so far its not possible. 

Do you have courage? lol

 

[Morten_Hjort 4]

On 9/11/2018 at 11:14 PM, evtonic3 said:

Do you have courage? lol

Not sure I understand your point?