: How to split a PSD that has lots of layer groups I bought a psd file that has lots of buttons - each button is a layer group. What's a good way to split the file so that each button

@Michele215

Yet another approach is to:


Clone your psd (copy it to another name or just File->Save As to another name)
In the Layers pane, right-click on the main groups you want to delete and hit Delete Group (followed by hitting Group and Contents in the following dialogue window). Also, right-click on any single layers you don't want and hitting Delete Layer.


Then save the resulting file. I ran through this with Photoshop (CC as it happens) in order to reduce a large psd (280mb) that was taking my computer a while to open, to a smaller psd (30mb) with just the layers I cared about at the moment.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Hamaas979

Joonas and KMSTR's answers are good. Slicy and Smart Objects can be handy.

Another option is selecting each group and converting it to a bitmap layer, just to aid exporting. Once you've converted each group to a bitmap layer, you can use File → Scripts → Export Layers to Files to export each layer as a file. This can also optionally trim files to the smallest possible dimensions.

You could even automate converting each group to a layer, by creating an Action that does the equivalent of merging, then advanced to the next group down.

You'll have to ensure all groups are closed for this to work. This can be done by command-option-clicking a top level group to close it.

I've built the Action for you, just in case. Clicking it many times, or assigning it to a keyboard shortcut will let you storm through those groups, then export.


Merge then advance


PS: Make sure you do this to a duplicate of the document. This isn't something you'd want to do to the original.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Jamie315

Awesome mac only app for extracting objects out of a .psd file.

Slicy

Vote Up Vote Down

@Marchetta832

To do exactly what you asked the best is to convert each folder into a smart object, open it and then hit save as.

But for exporting buttons and button states, I would suggest looking into layer comps (in combination with slices).

Vote Up Vote Down