Smart Objects: Where are they saved?

Quick question: I'm editing a file in PSCS2 or PSCS3, and convert a few layers to one smart object. Say to apply a lens correction to all, while maintaining edit-ability.

Works fine, but the resulting smart object is nowhere to be found on the HDD...

Now, if I want to copy or back up the finished file (with the smart object), how do I go about it?

I opened the file in ACR and passed it on to PS as a Smart Object. When doing a Save As it appends to the file name

IMG_3833 as Smart Object-1.psd

so I imagine all that information is saved in the file itself, whatever you end up naming it.

René I believe it saves it in your Temp directory as a psb file - ie. C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp (Vista), But your on a Mac, so can't help there..

Yeah, I know it's a psb.
Google also found a reference to the windows temp directory.

On my Mac, Spotlight won't find it however, so I suspect it's hidden...
I can use "save as" as a workaround (to make sure I actually transfer the file when copying all to take to another location / Mac), but that's a pain...

Hmmm. It gets even stranger.
I found the .psb in the Trash, in a folder called "Recovered Items"

Copied it along with the actual (smart object) file, so I think I have all I need on external HDD now

oh wow, that's interesting.. its weird that adobe sees fit to place such an important file in the 'temp' folder on a windows platform and the trash on a mac.. i would have thought it would make a smart object directory in the same place you saved the original..

Well.
Still inconclusive.

I got the file with smart object to the studio on my iPod.
Opened it, double clicked the smart object (with the same name as the one in the trash at home), and it opened up just fine. So I guess it's "embedded" in a way, and hidden from the OS... That would explain the file size of about 2 Gb

Well, if I had to guess, I would say that the smart object is embedded into the PSD file itself, and extracted when edited, and resaved back into the PSD. Otherwise you couldn't simply copy the PSD file to another computer and be able to edit there if the smart objects were stored externally.

i edited an image last week from another tog that had smart objects in, but when it came to edit the layer, it asked me to save it ..

If you created a smart object from a layer in Photoshop then the object is embedded in the .psd. A .psb is created in case you want to export that object to illustrator or InDesign but this is destroyed or recycled when the .psd is closed.

If you link an item from Illustrator for example as a smart object then the file that contains that item is also required but a .psb is again created.

The .psb in both cases is only used as a temporary file so you don't get file access conflicts if you have a Photoshop document open with a linked file from illustrator and then open the actual illustrator file as well etc.

That explains it I think. Thanks!

hmmm... I think I said that.... lol

bohdank wrote in post #6763964
hmmm... I think I said that.... lol

Missed what exactly you were saying, and thought; that's different, since the file starts off as a smart object. I converted a few layers in a file to a smart object

But I guess you were right

No problem.... I have no idea why I posted the last comment.