Where are Raw settings stored when using smart objects?

JG
Posted By
John_Gables
Mar 20, 2009
Views
650
Replies
8
Status
Closed
I need help understanding the interaction between Camera Raw, Photoshop smart objects, and XMP sidecar files.

If I open a RAW file in Camera Raw, change some Raw settings, and click Open Object to open the file as a smart object in Photoshop CS4, an XMP file gets created. If sometime later I double-click the smart object layer in Photoshop and change the Raw settings again, the XMP file does not get updated. So where exactly did the Raw settings get stored? Did they get embedded in the Photoshop file along with the RAW image? If so, why did an XMP file get created? Can I safely delete the XMP file?

Thanks,
John
Related Tags
object settings smart storage

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ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 20, 2009
the XMP files only contain the camera raw settings that you’ve made, they can be safely deleted but you’ll lose the settings found in those files.
F
Freeagent
Mar 20, 2009
I’ve been wondering about this, too.

Open a raw as a smart object in Photoshop. Then go to Layer > Smart Object > New Smart Object via Copy.

Now you have two layers of the same raw file that can be edited independently in ACR (great trick for using layer masks BTW).

So are both instances now embedded in the Photoshop file? I notice that the original raw file keeps the settings of the first instance, it doesn’t update when you make changes to the "copy" smart object.
ZB
Zeno_Bokor
Mar 20, 2009
all the Smart Objects are embedded inside the .PSD and so yes, both instances are embedded in the .PSD file if you use New Smart Object via Copy
F
Freeagent
Mar 20, 2009
Thanks for clarifying that. It’s always easier to work with different techniques when you know what happens under the hood.
JG
John_Gables
Mar 20, 2009
I’m afraid my question hasn’t really been answered. I’ll be more specific. In Camera Raw, I set Exposure to +0.80, then click Open Object to open the file as a Smart Object in Photoshop CS4. Does that embed an "Exposure=0.80" instruction somewhere in the PSD file? I think the answer is "yes," that a Smart Object consists of the RAW camera data along with all the Camera Raw settings, including the Exposure setting.

But if that is the case, then why does Camera Raw create an XMP file next to the PSD? It seems to me that the XMP file is unnecessary, that it contains information redundant with the settings stored in the PSD, and that it gets out of sync with the PSD the first time I double-click the Smart Object layer in Photoshop and change the Raw settings. I find the presense of the XMP file to be awfully confusing.

— John
J
Joel
Mar 20, 2009
You sound confused alright. It’s also interesting to see you are confusing about thing you don’t seem to know what’s about.

Cuz, the XMP stands next to the PSD not because it wants to stand next to PSD, but because the PSD just happen to be there. Or it still be there if there is no PSD. And the XMP is the information of the modified RAW file which has nothing to do with the PSD

If you don’t think it’s unnecessary then just delete the XMP to see if it’s unnecessary or not.
CC
Chris_Cox
Mar 20, 2009
Yes, the adjustments are stored in the PSD file and any sidecar XMP file is going to be ignored.
JG
John_Gables
Mar 20, 2009
Thank you, Chris. That’s the answer I was looking for.

— Tony

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