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Understanding smart objects in Photoshop and their role in mockup design

Smart objects let you edit and test designs in mockups instantly and saving hours of manual work.

The old way vs. the smart way

You're designing a logo and need to see how it works on a coffee cup, business card, and storefront sign. The manual route? Place, resize, adjust for each mockup while watching your design get blurrier with every transform. Smart objects flip this script entirely.
Think of smart objects as protective containers for your original artwork. They remember every pixel, no matter how much you stretch, shrink, or rotate. Your design stays crisp while you experiment endlessly.


How mockup templates actually work

Professional mockup creators build smart objects right into their templates as strategic placeholders. See that area where your design goes? That's a smart object waiting for you.

Double-click it, and you're in a separate workspace. Drop in your logo, save the file, return to the main mockup. Your design automatically picks up the lighting, perspective, and surface texture of the scene.