Sounds like some clickbait nonsense, right? The kind of thing you’d see in a YouTube title just to get a few extra clicks. But in this case, it’s not clickbait—it’s real. In this post, we’re going to show you exactly how to automate mockup creation in Photoshop so you can crank out mockups insanely fast.
We’ll walk through how to optimize your Photoshop setup and mockup files, and how to use a powerful plugin called Batch-Replace Smart Objects to save a massive amount of time. Instead of manually opening PSDs, placing images, resizing layers, and exporting mockups one by one, you’ll be able to hit a button and let it rip—automating the entire process.
Real-Time Test: 120 Mockups in 30 Seconds
Still skeptical? Let’s test it live. We ran a real operation to see how long it takes to create 120 mockup images. Stopwatch ready. And… go.
We hit “run,” and the plugin takes over. The input folder contains 120 artwork images, and it immediately begins generating mockups—fast. In the time it takes to say a few words, it’s already halfway done. Up to 70… 90… 100… and done. 120 mockups generated in 30 seconds. That’s pretty damn fast.
Manual Comparison
To compare, we created one mockup manually: open the PSD, double-click the smart object, paste in the artwork, save it, flatten it, export it… and boom—26 seconds. So, 30 seconds for one image by hand versus 120 images automatically in the same amount of time. It’s not even close.
And that’s just using one template. If you’ve got multiple variants or ten mockup scenes per artwork image, doing this manually becomes an all-day job. But with automation, you save hours.
Optimization Tip #1: Use The Batch-Replace Smart Objects Plugin
The tool we’re using is the Batch-Replace Smart Objects plugin for Photoshop. It’s available on the official Adobe Exchange, and once installed, it’s extremely easy to use.
The setup panel at the top lets you configure your operation. You can use a single PSD mockup or an entire folder of PSDs. For this example, we used just one PSD file for simplicity.
- Select your PSD file (your mockup template)
- Choose your input folder (where your artwork files are stored)
- Pick your output folder (where final mockups will be saved)
Click “Run This Now” to immediately generate your images. Or, save the setup as a named operation for quick reuse. You can even create multi-step workflows to automate a full sequence of operations.
Pro Tip: “Stretch Images to Fit Smart Objects”
This setting helps resize your artwork automatically to fit the smart object dimensions inside the PSD. If your input images vary in size or aspect ratio, leave this checked to avoid layout issues.
But if you’re confident all your images are already the perfect size and ratio, you can uncheck this option to speed things up even further. Skipping the resize step can significantly reduce processing time.
Optimization Tip #2: Use Lightweight Mockup Files
Another key to blazing-fast mockup creation is to optimize your mockup PSD files themselves.
In our demo, we used a minimal mockup: just a smart object layer for the design, a texture overlay for realism, and a static background. The final PSD is only 3MB and 1000×1000 pixels—perfect for high-speed automation.
How to Simplify a Heavy PSD File
Many downloaded mockups are bloated—full of unnecessary layers and massive dimensions. Here’s how to streamline them:
- Flatten the image to reduce layers into one static background
- Crop to the desired aspect ratio (e.g., square for marketplaces)
- Resize the canvas to your target export size (e.g., 1000x1000px)
In our case, we dropped in a complex 100MB artwork file with multiple smart objects. After flattening, resizing, and reconfiguring the layout, we ended up with a version that looked just as good but was much smaller and faster to process.
Keep What You Need, Remove What You Don’t
We kept overlay layers because they add depth and realism. But we removed or merged frame layers, color variants, and other decorative extras that weren’t necessary. In one example, we changed the frame color to brown and merged everything into a single layer. The result? A fast, lightweight PSD perfect for automation.
The takeaway: remove the fluff, resize for your needs, and keep it simple. The leaner your mockup file, the faster your automation workflow runs.
Once you’ve combined lightweight mockups with the Batch-Replace Smart Objects plugin, you’re ready to create hundreds (or even thousands) of mockup images in a fraction of the time it would take manually.
Combining Lightweight Mockups with Full Automation
Now that we’ve got a lightweight mockup file ready to go, let’s jump back into the Batch-Replace Smart Objects plugin and see how it all comes together. The goal is simple: combine a fast, optimized mockup template with automation to generate high-quality product images as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
The plugin makes this incredibly easy. You can set up operations and save them—either as single-step presets or as multi-step workflows. Once configured, you can automate everything with just one click inside Photoshop.
In this example, we select our optimized PSD template (named “Art Deco Scene”) and pair it with a folder containing 75 artwork images, all correctly sized. Since the artwork dimensions are uniform, we uncheck “Stretch images to fit smart objects” for better performance. Even if you leave it checked, it’s still automated—just click run and let it go while you work on something else.
We then set the output folder, choose the export format (JPEG or PNG), and save the operation as something like “Arts Deco Mockup Room One.” Next time you need mockups, just load the saved operation and hit “Run Batch.”
Fully Automated Mockup Generation
As soon as you click run, the plugin powers through all 75 images—mockups are created, saved, and neatly organized in seconds. It’s fast and completely hands-off.
Want to go even further? Use the plugin’s workflows feature to string together multiple operations. Perfect if you’ve got different templates for various product styles, colors, or environments. Each step in the workflow can have its own PSD, input folder, output destination, and image settings.
Or, switch to folder mode, where you select a full folder of PSD templates. The plugin will cycle through each PSD and apply every artwork image to each one, generating all mockup combinations automatically.
In this example, we used folder mode with 75 artwork images and 9 mockup templates, resulting in 675 total images generated—all in a single operation.
The plugin also helps organize your files by grouping images by filename, making it easy to upload them to product pages, attach to emails, or pass them to a teammate.
Real Time Savings: 5+ Hours Recovered
If you created those 675 mockups manually, and each one took 27.6 seconds, that would total 18,630 seconds, or about 310 minutes—over 5 hours of repetitive work.
Or… you could open Photoshop, click a button, and let the Batch-Replace Smart Objects plugin do it all for you.
Using Workflows for Multi-Client Automation
The workflows feature gives you fine-grained control over the full automation process. Say you’re a freelancer managing mockup images for multiple clients. You create a workflow like “Make All Clients Mockups” and configure separate operations for each client.
Maybe Mr. Jenkins uses mockup template #1 with his own input/output folders. You set up a saved operation just for him. Then you configure another one for Mr. Henderson, who needs high-res PNGs, different templates, and separate folders. Each step is tailored to its client, and the workflow executes them in order—completely automatically.
Each workflow step stores all relevant settings: PSD paths, artwork folders, export quality, and smart object stretching preferences. Once one step is done, the plugin instantly moves to the next.
Handling Multi-Smart-Object PSDs
If your PSD file contains multiple smart objects, the plugin needs to know which one(s) to target. If you don’t select a layer, it’ll show a helpful error message prompting you to choose one.
If you select multiple smart object layers, the plugin will replace all of them with the current artwork image. This can be useful for mockups like dual business cards or product sets where the same design needs to appear in multiple places within the scene.
Final Thoughts
And that’s it. That’s the full power of the Batch-Replace Smart Objects plugin.
You can get it on the official Adobe Exchange. Once installed, it helps you streamline your files, automate your mockup generation, and save countless hours by replacing tedious Photoshop work with smart automation.
If you found this guide helpful, leave a comment to let us know. Thanks for reading—and happy automating!
