Photoshop smart object layers in multiple artboards

Question

I have a PSD file with 15 artboards for banners (each 385x150px). Each banner should have a different background image.

Client will be using this file, so I created a smart object layer and he can double-click on it in order to replace the photo. When I was ready with the first banner/artboard, I just duplicated it into the 2nd artboard.

Now, when I click on the smart object layer on one of the artboards and change the photo, the change takes place on both of the banners:

I get it. Since I copied this layer, it takes the information to another artboard as well. So I deleted the smart object layer on the second artboard, created a new layer and turned this into a smart object layer. But when I double-click on the layer and it opens in a new tab, the width of the area is not banner's. It's much wider (1155 px) than the banner:

Why is it behaving so? And how can I solve this issue? It is important that the client can change the photo easily (he doesn't know much about Photoshop) on different banners.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Rather than creating a new layer... select the original Smart Object and from the Menu choose Layer > Smart Object > New Smart Object Via Copy.

You can also Right-click/Control-click the layer in the Layers Panel and choose New Smart Object Via Copy.

What this does is duplicate the original Smart Object but breaks the link with the existing Smart Object. You can then alter the photo in the new Smart Object without altering the original Smart Object.

As for the actual size question, just change the size of the Smart Object when it opens in it's tab. The reason the size may be different is that the Smart Object is created based on the document contents, not the visible pixels (canvas size). Kind of like when you choose Image > Reveal All, you then see everything outside the canvas which was otherwise not visible.