Can I change the text in each instance of a linked object

Question

I am reusing a design element many times in a single file. Rather than duplicating all the layers each time I reuse the element, I set it up as a linked asset which I include multiple times.

This is great but there's one limitation which I was hoping to find a workaround for. Each time I place the linked element I'd like to be able to change one piece of text inside the linked file. I was hoping it would be as simple as going to the Properties panel and entering the variable value for each instance.

I know that Photoshop supports variables in some capacity so I looked into that. However that feature seems to be designed for a different purpose. Is there any way of passing through a custom variable for each placement of a linked file?

Answer 1

It seems that this is not possible in Photoshop CC 2017.1.0

I did some digging around and this feature is possible in Sketch. In this case the feature is called Overrides and you can override default data in a shared Object (Symbol). If you require this feature then exploring Sketch is currently your best bet.

Answer 2

As others have pointed out there is no real way to do that in Photoshop, or Illustrator, although Illustrator has dynamic symbols, the text inside a symbol is not treated as a dynamic/editable attribute - perhaps Adobe will think about that for a future update.

Anyway, @Metis gave me the idea for this in his comment. Here is a workaround that might be useful in Photoshop.

1. In your graphical element smart object, delete the text layer, leaving only the common elements that will never change. Save and close the Smart Object.

2. In the main document, type your text layer above the smart object.

3. Group the Text layer and Smart Object.

4. Each time you want a new instance of the graphic+text, duplicate the Group. The text will be editable in each group, the Smart Object will remain untouched.

5. If you need to edit the Smart object, the changes will apply to all instances of the Smart Object in the main document, but not the text, since the text is not contained in the Smart Object.

A variation on this workaround might work in Illustrator too. Something like a dynamic symbol plus text grouped together should also work.

Answer 3

The exact thing you desire is not possible, but I often use this as a workaround: create a smart object, then right-click -> New Smart Object via Copy.

Using this, you get a clone of the original element, but you can commit changes without affecting the original one. It really depends how often you want to edit common elements in your smart objects, because my method actually un-links the instances, so it can be contra-productive in the long run.