How to Use Photoshop’s New AI-powered Image Tools

Photoshop maker Adobe is no stranger to AI images, but today marks a new milestone in the company’s efforts to make accessible, ethical generative AI. For the first time ever in the Photoshop app, users can now generate full images from scratch without ever needing to leave the program. The innovation is powered by the company’s new Firefly Image 3 model, and comes alongside the abilities to generate backgrounds, upload reference images, and iterate on existing AI art.

What is Adobe Firefly?

Firefly is Adobe's own take on an AI art generator, and while it’s been slightly integrated into Photoshop since last year, enabling features like the aspect ratio stretching generative expand, the ability to generate imagery from scratch has, until now, been restricted to the Firefly web app (barring some cheats with using generative fill on a blank canvas).

Firefly differentiates itself from other AI art models by limiting its training data to stock photography and art that Adobe owns, with the goal being to make it safer for commercial use. Firefly Image 3 is the latest update to the model, promising “higher-quality images” with a greater focus on composition and lighting as well as better understanding of prompts.

How to start generating AI images in Photoshop

First, download the Photoshop beta desktop app because these features are technically still in testing. Next, open a new project, navigate to the Contextual Task Bar, and click “Generate Image.” If you can’t find it, you can also navigate to Edit > Generate Image or look in your Tools panel.

Then enter your prompt. You should also see buttons in the Contextual Task Bar for swapping the Content Type between Photo and Art, and for applying Style Effects to your result. These can be applied both before and after generation—you should also see them in the Properties Panel.

How to use Photoshop to generate an AI image with a reference

Photoshop doesn’t restrict you to generating images from scratch. You can also use an existing image to give the AI an idea of what to make.

To use a reference image when generating AI art in Photoshop, first generate a base image using the instructions above. Then, navigate to the Contextual Task Bar or Properties Panel and select Reference Image. Upload your image and run your prompt again to tweak it to better match your reference. Photoshop also comes with a number of its own reference images that you can use instead of an upload.

How to tweak AI art generated in Photoshop

Included in the most recent Photoshop beta is a “Generate Similar” feature, which allows for slight tweaking of already generated AI images. Essentially, this works like the “Reference Image” feature, but allows you to use freshly generated images rather than requiring you to download and re-upload them.

To Generate Similar AI art, first follow the steps in this article’s second subheading to generate an AI image from scratch. Then, select your image and click on Generate Similar from either the Contextual Task Bar or under the three dots icon in the Variations Panel. You’ll be able to view your generated variations from the Properties Panel.

How to generate an AI background in Photoshop

You can also remove backgrounds from existing images and replace them with new ones generated by AI. To do this, first select Import Image on a blank canvas, then Remove background in either the Contextual Task Bar or Discover Panel.

Then, navigate to either the Contextual Task Bar or Edit Menu and select Generate Background, where you’ll be able to follow a similar workflow to generating an image from scratch.

How to enhance detail in Photoshop

The final AI feature in the new Photoshop beta is the ability to Enhance Detail. This is an adjustment to Generative Fill, which you can select in either the Contextual Task Bar or Edit Menu. Unlike Generate Image, Generative Fill will generate objects only in specific parts of your canvas.

Once you’ve generated an object with Generative Fill, navigate to the Properties Panel and then Variations, where you can pick a specific version of that object and click the Enhance Detail icon to increase its sharpness and general detail.

New non-AI features in Photoshop

Joining this new suite of AI features is the Adjustment Brush, which can apply non-destructive, non-AI-powered color and lighting edits to specific parts of an image. For instance, turning a section of blue hair into green hair.

To use the Adjustment Brush, select it within the Brush Tool in the Tools Panel. From there, choose your adjustments and paint where you’d like them to be applied. They’ll show up in a new layer that won’t change the underlying image file.

Alongside the Adjustment Brush, the new Photoshop beta also includes an improved font browser that will allow direct access to fonts stored in the cloud without requiring the user to leave the program.