Adobe + AI: Photoshop’s Generative Fill

May 28, 2023

I saw on Twitter that Adobe had a beta version of Photoshop out, which had this thing called Generative Fill. It uses AI to modify a selected area, allowing you to enter a text prompt for it to “fill in the area.”

It’s powered by something called Firefly, and has been really interesting to play around with.

While I’ve had so-so success with text prompts adding things to images, I’ve found it pretty amazing when I just leave the prompt blank. And what Firefly does is more or less try to fill in the blanks (fun thread on expanding album covers).

Here’s a photo from Scotland, when I was visiting Cairngorms National Park. Now check out what Firefly does with this image:

A few more images from Scotland:

Liz, walking through the Glasgow Necropolis.

Island hopping, from Lochranza to Claonaig.

Some fish and chips, on the last leg of a day of island hopping from Kennecraig to Port Ellen (Islay).

And here’s me trying to add things with Generative Fill (and also removing things, using the Remove Tool):

It’s not an outright replacement for designers, but it’s pretty impressive for a Beta. And it seems to have happened really fast.

The effects aren’t perfect, but they’re fast and get about 80% of the way there. It’s akin to someone who knows how to use Photoshop somewhat well, and do better than a copy/paste, but needs some work on the blurring/edging.

For a noob like me, it’s impressive what I can do with just a few clicks.

I’ve got a subscription to Adobe, so I was able to download the Beta version of PS to play around with this thing. You can try it out on the web, but may need an actual Adobe account to access it.