Photoshop is getting a bunch of new AI tools

Adobe is kicking off its annual Adobe Max conference today with the launch of new AI-powered features across its Creative Cloud apps. New AI features for Photoshop, like automatic background distraction removal and a more powerful Firefly generative AI model, are the biggest announcements, with Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro also getting new features that can help to speed up traditionally labor-intensive design tasks.

For example, a new "Distraction Removal" feature has been added to the Remove 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 brushing over them. The new Distraction Removal feature, which Adobe teased last year, makes it even more like Magic Eraser by automatically identifying common distractions for you, like people, wires, and cables, and removing them with a single click.

Distraction Removal is available now in Photoshop's desktop and web apps, with "more to come later," according to Adobe. Photoshop users can now also choose whether the Remove Tool uses generative AI - specifically Adobe's Firefly image model - or non-generative AI tech, with a third option that automatically selects which tech to use "based on the image and scene" 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 that was launched in beta in April. Adobe says this update improves the variety and photorealistic quality of generated outputs, 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 the objects in an image.

Adobe Illustrator is being updated with a new "Objects on Path" feature that allows users to quickly attach, arrange, and move objects along 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 widely available, and the Image Trace feature that converts raster images (JPEG, PNG, PSD etc) to scalable vectors has been improved, too. Adobe says it now creates "crisper vectorized outputs with cleaner lines that are more accurate to the original image."

The Generative Expand tool that was first introduced in Photoshop is now generally available for InDesign, allowing users to extend images to fit whatever layout they require. And Adobe's new Firefly AI Video Model has introduced a new Generative Extend feature to Premiere Pro. It's in beta for now, but the Video model will likely be used as the base for other features across Adobe's Creative Cloud apps in the coming year.