Where are Raw settings stored when using smart objects?

[John_...@adobeforums.com]

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

[Zeno_...@adobeforums.com]

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.

[Free...@adobeforums.com]

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.

[Zeno_...@adobeforums.com]

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

[Free...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks for clarifying that. It's always easier to work with different techniques when you know what happens under the hood.

[John_...@adobeforums.com]

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

[Chri...@adobeforums.com]

Yes, the adjustments are stored in the PSD file and any sidecar XMP file is going to be ignored.

[John_...@adobeforums.com]

Thank you, Chris. That's the answer I was looking for.

-- Tony