MY CARTHow to Place Embedded and Place Linked Files in Photoshop:
This video lesson, titled “Learn How to Place Embedded and Place Linked Files in Adobe Photoshop: A Training Tutorial,” shows you how to place embedded or place linked files in Photoshop. This video lesson is from our complete Photoshop tutorial, titled “Mastering Photoshop Made Easy.”
Overview:
After you create a new blank Photoshop document, you can then place additional images into their own separate layers on top of the “Background” layer that appears by default within the Photoshop document, if desired. A document file in Photoshop can contain many layers. A layer is like a transparent sheet placed on top of the background layer.
You place additional images and other items into their own separate layers within a Photoshop document so you can select a certain layer and then make changes to only the content in the selected layer. This helps you reduce the risk of accidentally editing image content within the other layers.
When you use one of the “Place” commands in Photoshop to place an external file into an existing Photoshop document, Photoshop inserts the file into its own separate Smart Object layer. The advantage to placing the file into a Smart Object layer is that you can then perform many common image editing tasks on the Smart Object layer in the Photoshop document, like transforming it in various ways, without degrading the raster data in the file.
Editing Placed File Content in Photoshop:
However, you cannot directly use the raster editing tools of Photoshop on a Smart Object layer in Photoshop. To edit a Smart Object layer that contains raster content using the raster editing tools in Photoshop, you must either rasterize the layer, which removes the advantages of the Smart Object layer, or use the “Edit Contents” command on the Smart Object layer to edit its raster content in a new window. You can then save the changes to the content and close it to update the content of the Smart Object layer.
Place Embedded versus Place Linked in Photoshop:
You can place an external file into a Photoshop document as either an embedded file or a linked file. An embedded file is embedded within the Photoshop document, which increases its size. After it is embedded, any changes made to the external file’s contents are not reflected in the embedded copy.
Alternatively, you can also place an external file into a Photoshop document as a linked file. In this case, Photoshop stores a link to the external file within the Photoshop document. If you change the content of the linked file, those changes also appear in the linked copy you placed.
How to Place a File into a Photoshop Document:
To place a file in Photoshop as a Smart Object layer, first open the Photoshop document into which to place the file. If desired, select a blank layer in the Layers panel into which to insert the file. Photoshop converts the selected blank layer into a Smart Object layer when you then place the file. Alternatively, if you select a layer containing existing content, like the Background layer, Photoshop adds the file as a new Smart Object layer on top of the selected layer.
To place an embedded file, then select “File| Place Embedded…” from the Menu Bar. Alternatively, to place a linked file, select “File| Place Linked…” from the Menu Bar. Photoshop then opens the “Place Embedded” or “Place Linked” dialog box, respectively. In either dialog box, you then navigate to the file to place into the Photoshop document, click it to select it, and then click the “Place” button in the dialog box to place the file into a layer as an embedded or linked Smart Object.
Note that if you are placing a PDF with multiple pages into a Photoshop document, you must select which page to place within the “Open as Smart Object” dialog box that appears, set any other settings, as desired, and then click the “OK” button.
Applying Transforms to the Placed File:
The selected file then appears within a bounding box in the center of the open Photoshop document. You can then apply any transforms to the placed file, if desired. If you want to change its location, click inside the bounding box and drag it to the desired location.
To resize it, place your mouse pointer over one of the resizing handles around its border and then click and drag when your mouse pointer turns into a double-pointed arrow. To rotate it, place your mouse pointer outside the bounding box until your mouse pointer turns into a bent arrow icon. Then click and drag to rotate the file.
To Finish Placing the File:
To finish placing the file, then click the “Commit transform” checkmark button in the Options Bar Control panel to commit to the changes. Alternatively, click the “Cancel transform” button in the Options Bar Control panel next to the checkmark button to cancel the entire file placement.
