How can I import and export Photoshop files into and out of Pencil?
Pencil works with Photoshop in both directions. You can import a .psd file directly into Pencil to keep building on it, and you can export a Pencil creative back out as a layered PSD to finish in Photoshop. Neither direction needs a plugin or a separate conversion step.
Do I need the Pencil Photoshop plugin?
No. Both directions work natively. To bring a Photoshop file in, you import the .psd straight into the Files Library. To take a creative out, Pencil produces the .psd for you on export.
The earlier Photoshop plugin still works, and any imports you made with it are unaffected. It no longer receives updates, so direct import and native export are the recommended paths.
How do I import a PSD file into Pencil?
You can bring a Photoshop file straight into Pencil and carry on working with its layers.
Start the import from the Files Library. Open either the Works or Templates Library, depending on whether you want the file to land as a work or a reusable template, then use the New button and select your .psd file.
A preview panel opens. Your artboards are listed on one side, with the layers of the selected artboard on the other, so you can review the file before bringing it in.
Use the Keep Editable toggles to decide how each layer comes across:
Editable. The layer can be adjusted in Pencil after import, like any other layer.
Locked. The layer keeps the exact appearance of the original. Turn the toggle off for any layer that uses Photoshop effects Pencil does not support, so its look is preserved.
You can also mark any image layer to add it to your asset library during import, making it available across your other works and templates.
When you confirm the import, your design opens in the editor, with each artboard brought in as a separate format. You can graduate a work to a reusable template at any time using the Create Template option in the three-dots menu on the work.
Fonts. If a layer uses a font that is not yet in Pencil, the import flags it and applies a fallback in the meantime. Upload the matching font files and the original typeface is restored automatically.
Hidden layers. Hidden layers are imported and stay hidden. Toggle them on in the editor whenever you need them.
How do I export a creative as a PSD file?
Pencil supports PSD as a static export format, so you can take a creative built in Pencil and continue working on it in Photoshop with its layer structure intact.
When is exporting to PSD useful?
PSD export is the right choice when you want to:
Hand a Pencil creative to a designer or external partner who works in Photoshop.
Apply a final pass of retouching, compositing, or production polish in Adobe.
Use Pencil for the heavy lifting (concept, scaling, copy variants) and Photoshop for the last-mile production craft.
If your goal is simply to share a flat preview of the creative, for review, social posting, or media upload, a PNG, JPG, or WEBP export will be lighter and faster. PSD is the right format when you need editable layers downstream.
Exporting a creative
PSD export is available from two places: from inside the Pencil editor while the creative is open, and from the export action in your works list or grid view without opening the creative.
Open or select your creative. Either open it in the editor, or find it in your work view and choose the export action.
Click Export.
Select PSD from the static export format options.
Choose your text-handling option. Either keep text as editable text in the exported PSD, preserving font, size, colour and position, or vectorise text on export. Vectorising locks the text into outlined shapes so it renders identically anywhere, but it is no longer editable as text in Photoshop.
Confirm and export. Pencil generates the PSD file and makes it available for download. Your export also appears in Export History for re-download later.
What does the exported PSD contain?
The exported PSD preserves the layer structure of the Pencil creative. Each editable layer in Pencil arrives in Photoshop as its own layer.
Text layers arrive as either raster or vectorised outlines, depending on the choice you made at export time.
Image layers arrive as raster layers, each with its own positioning. Any masks applied in Pencil are preserved as native Photoshop layer masks.
What happens when my creative has multiple formats?
If your creative has more than one format (for example a one-by-one hero plus a nine-by-sixteen vertical and a sixteen-by-nine horizontal of the same ad), Pencil exports each format as its own PSD file, all delivered together inside a single zipped folder. You receive one PSD per format, named per format inside the archive.
What are the limitations?
Static only. PSD export is for static creatives. Video creatives, whether Pencil-native or After Effects imports, cannot be exported as PSD.
File size. Very large or print-resolution creatives produce correspondingly large PSDs. If the file is intended for digital handoff, consider exporting at the smallest resolution that meets the downstream need.