Help with PS smart objects

[REBboutique]

I'm working on my first clipart listing, and I had saved each image into its own transparent .png file. Then it occurred to me to convert the images to smart objects so they can be resized with zero loss. (The images currently resize well, but not through multiple up-and-down resizings.) Problem is after I converted the images to smart objects and saved/closed the files, when I reopened them again the images were no longer smart objects.

Is there a way to convert an image to a smart object and preserve it that way in a .png file?

Thanks for any help!

[REBboutique]

Note: the images can't be kept as vectors because they needed to be rasterized to adjust the colors/shading.

[DreameryDesigns]

You won't be able to convert the PNG back to a "true" smart object because it no longer retains the vector data because it was rasterized when saving. The only way to have it be a "true" smart object would be to add the original vector file back into Photoshop.

My suggestion is to have a layer that has the original vector smart object and just duplicate it and use the copy as the raster version to play with. That way you have one layer untouched that is the original smart object and one layer that you use to adjust colors/shading.

I hope that make sense?

[REBboutique]

Hi TheDreameryDesigns -- it's been a while but I don't think I saw your response!

If you're still around . . . I don't quite understand what you're suggesting. What I'm trying to do is sell a vector image so the buyer can resize without losing quality. My thought was to use smart objects but, as you explained, the vector data gets lost in .png files.

I think the ultimate answer is to build some Illustrator skills (I'm using Photoshop) so I can create vector images more easily. But wondering if there was something else you were suggesting.

Thanks so much!

[MustionDesign]

The best way to resize without loss is to create vector art. This is done in a vector program like Adobe Illustrator. To retain the vector effects and be compatible over multiple software platforms you need to create EPS files. Any raster file extension (JPG, PNG, TIFF, etc.) will rasterize the vector and it will be lost.

[REBboutique]

Christiana, thank you! I didn't realize that. I thought clipart was best if the images were vectors, but now I see none of them are! (Meaning the ones being sold here in .jpg/.png files.) It still seems, though, that images that were originally vectors can be manipulated with less loss than images that were never vectors. Is that right, or just my imagination?