Adobe Adds 5 Hot New Features to Photoshop
Based on feedback from users, Adobe identified five pinch-points, scenarios that strangulate workflow and/or stifle Photoshop productivity, and announced beta release features that obliterate the obstacles. The new functions are available across Photoshop on desktop, web and mobile, so the entire creative community is served. We’ll have more to say after we’ve had a chance to exercise each, but for now, here’s the topline.
Harmonize (beta)
Pinch-point: When adding an object to an image, it can take hours to match coloration, create shadows and make lighting schemes meld.
Harmonize (beta) automatically adjusts color, lighting, shadows and visual tone to render composites with true-to-life realism with just a few clicks. From what we’ve seen in Adobe’s press demonstration, it’s like having an experienced graphics expert complete your comp.
Generative Upscale (beta)
Pinch-point: Many excellent images exist only as low-resolution files that do not support acceptable results or high-quality prints. AI-generated images often languish in this bucket.
Generative Upscale (beta) increases image resolution up to 8 megapixels while preserving other characteristics. This isn’t the first upscaler on the block, of course, but being able to invoke it within PS is a huge plus. It’s the perfect tool for enlarging the imaginative work you create using Adobe Firefly.
Look at the math. A square image that mesures 2000 x 2000 pixels is 4 megapixels. Increase it by 8 megapixels and it grows to (about) 3464 x 3464 pixels. Nice. Can’t wait to try it.
Improved Remove Tool
Pinch-point: The Generative Fill tool works great to remove unwanted objects from a scene (even though that’s not its intended purpose) but sometimes uses its imagination to insert extraneous material.
Instead of defaulting to Generative Fill to excise unwanted elements, use the newly enhanced Remove Tool (not beta). It removes what you don’t want and replaces it with appropriate, realistic content. Adobe says, “…edits now blend more naturally into the background with fewer artifacts, so your results look cleaner, more professional, and ready to share.”
Important point: Users are not charged Generative Credits when using the Remove Tool, unlike Generate Fill.
Projects (beta)
Pinch-point: It can be quite challenging to stay organized and fully share assets and work products when collaborating with other creators, especially when many versions exist.
Projects (beta) allows collaborators to group assets, maintain organization and work cohesively while keeping creative work accessible and in one space. Also, it eliminates the need to deliberately send individual assets back and forth.
Generative AI Model Picker (beta)
Pinch-point: Photoshop’s Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools are powerful and all, but provide less than optimal creative control in some situations.
Generative AI Model Picker (beta) allows users to choose between different Firefly Image Models (Firefly Image 1 and Firefly Image 3) when using Photoshop’s Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools. The two models produce different results, and many consider Firefly Image 3 to be “significantly better.” But won’t it be fun to experiment?
—Jon Sienkiewicz