Installing the Adobe Photoshop Plugin

The Smartling Adobe Photoshop plugin allows Account Owner and Project Manager Smartling users to submit content and context directly from Adobe Photoshop to Smartling for translation, and retrieve the content once it's complete.

Please note that this plugin is a paid product. For pricing information, please reach out to your Smartling Customer Success Manager.

Prerequisites

1. Adobe Photoshop app
2. Access to Adobe Creative Cloud
3. Access to Smartling as an Account Owner or Project Manager user
   • This means having an activated user account (i.e. you have signed in to Smartling successfully)
4. If working on a newer MacBook with an M1 or M2 chips, enabling Rosetta is required

Create a Files Project in Smartling

1. Log in to Smartling
2. Create a Resource Files Project
   • The Project is the space in Smartling where your content will be translated. Ensure the Project includes the appropriate linguistic package to ensure content is translated as desired.

Download the Smartling Photoshop Plugin

1. Launch Adobe Creative Cloud
2. Go to Stock & Marketplace
3. Filter for Plugins in the dropdown menu and search "smartling"
4. Click Get on the Smartling plugin tile
   

The Smartling Photoshop Plugin has successfully installed. Next, access the plugin.

Note on Smartling Adobe Plugins

You will see three Smartling plugins in the marketplace:

1. Smartling – Recommended for use with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop only. Referenced in this documentation. 
2. Smartling Plugin for InDesign – Recommended for use with Adobe InDesign.
3. Smartling Plugin for Photoshop (Legacy) – Not recommended for use.
   
   

Access the Smartling Photoshop Plugin

To access the Smartling Photoshop plugin and all its functionality;

1. Launch Photoshop
2. Open the Photoshop file that you want to translate
   • You must have the file open in Photoshop to take any action on it via the Smartling plugin
   • This is the source file that the Smartling plugin will convert into a JSON file for translation
   • All Smartling Plugin options can be found under the Plugins menu at the top navigation
3. Click Window > Extensions (legacy) > Smartling 

Log in to Smartling via the Photoshop Plugin

1. In Photoshop, open a Photoshop file
2. Click Window > Extensions (legacy) > Smartling 
   
   • This opens up a new tab in your browser, where you can log in to your Smartling account
3. Next, in the Account Summary modal, select the Smartling Project you want your Photoshop content translated in
   • If the modal has been closed, simply click Window > Extensions (legacy) > Smartling 
4. Choose to exclude irrelevant strings 
   • Enabling this setting prevents any string that contains only numbers, special characters or emojis from being submitted for translation
   • Unselect this checkbox to include this content for translation
5. Choose if you would like to enable variants
   • By default, variants are disabled. If variants should be created, please enable this setting before submitting any content for translation. New variants for strings will be generated based on the text node ID and the text node position in a table grid.
     In most cases, it is recommended to leave variants disabled. If enabled, new variants will be created on each upload of a file.
     
6. Click Save
7. Once the confirmation flag appears, you can click X to close out the window

You are now ready to start translating with the Photoshop plugin.