Adobe opens its annual Adobe Max conference today by introducing new AI-powered features in its Creative Cloud apps. New AI features for Photoshop, such as automatic background distraction removal and a more powerful generative AI model from Firefly, are the biggest announcements, with Illustrator, InDesign and Premiere Pro also getting new features that can help speed up traditionally labor-intensive design tasks .
For example, a new Distraction Removal feature has been added to the Removal tool. Remove already works a bit like Google's Magic Eraser feature on Pixel phones, allowing users to quickly remove unwanted objects from their images by swiping over them. The new Distraction Removal feature, which Adobe introduced last year, is even more similar to Magic Eraser by automatically detecting common distractions like people, wires, and cables and removing them with a single click.
Adobe says Distraction Removal is available now in the Photoshop desktop and web apps, with “more to come later.” Photoshop users can also now choose whether the Remove Tool uses generative AI – specifically Adobe's Firefly image model – or non-generative AI technology, with a third option that automatically selects which technology “based on the image and scene.” “should be used to produce the best results.
Photoshop's Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Generate Similar, and Generate Background tools are now generally available and have been updated with the latest Firefly Image 3 model, which launched in beta in April. According to Adobe, this update improves the variety and photorealistic quality of generated output and understands complex prompts better than the previous model. Photoshop's web app also has a new AI feature that makes editing easier by automatically selecting all objects in an image.
Adobe Illustrator is updated with a new Objects on Path feature that allows users to quickly attach, arrange, and move objects to any path shape, giving designers more flexibility when aligning areas of their work. The mockup tool for staging designs on a 3D model is also now generally available, and the image tracking feature, which converts raster images (JPEG, PNG, PSD, etc.) into scalable vectors, has also been improved. Adobe says it now “creates sharper vectorized outputs with cleaner lines that more closely match the original image.”
First introduced in Photoshop, the Generative Expand tool is now generally available for InDesign and allows users to expand images to fit the layout they need. And Adobe's new Firefly AI video model has introduced a new Generative Extend feature in Premiere Pro. It's currently in beta, but the video model will likely be used as the basis for other features in Adobe's Creative Cloud apps in the coming year.