Adobe has announced significant updates to its photo editing and creative software, Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Express. These updates introduce new AI-driven features powered by Adobe Firefly. These advancements are designed to enhance the user experience and streamline workflows for photo enthusiasts and businesses alike.
Adobe Lightroom has unveiled Generative Remove, a powerful new tool that leverages Adobe Firefly to enable users to remove unwanted objects from photographs non-destructively with a single click. This tool intelligently matches the removed area with pixel-perfect generations to produce high-quality, realistic results. The Generative Remove feature is available as an early access tool across Lightroom mobile, web, and desktop versions.
Additionally, Lightroom's AI-powered Lens Blur tool is now generally available, coming with new presets aimed at adding aesthetic blur effects swiftly. This feature, combined with other Lightroom tools, aims to speed up everyday workflows and provide both professional photographers and hobbyists with advanced editing capabilities.
Ashley Still, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Creative Cloud, expressed excitement over these updates, highlighting how they bring the "magic of Firefly" to millions of Lightroom users, enabling them to edit, manage, and share photos effortlessly.
The Generative Remove feature aids in editing complex backgrounds, such as removing stains from clothes or unwanted reflections in water, thus opening up new creative possibilities for users. Adobe plans to continue engaging with its photography community during the early access phase to gather feedback and further refine this AI functionality.
Other new tools in Lightroom include expanded tethering support for new Sony digital cameras, HDR Optimization for enhanced image editing, and a revamped mobile editing experience featuring a streamlined toolbar to prioritise popular features. These tools aim to make photo editing more intuitive and accessible from any device.
Firefly, Adobe's AI model, is integral to these new features. Trained on licensed content, such as Adobe Stock, Firefly is designed to generate content that is commercially safe and respectful of intellectual property rights. Adobe has committed to developing AI responsibly, with a focus on accountability, responsibility, and transparency.
Adobe also introduced Adobe Express for Enterprise, aiming to expedite marketing content creation across various business functions. Powered by the Adobe Firefly Image 3 Model, this version promises stunning and photorealistic outputs while ensuring commercial safety. Key features include Brand Controls, Bulk Create, and Firefly Custom Models, which enable marketers to swiftly adapt campaign assets and reduce time to market.
The integration of Adobe Express with Adobe Acrobat, Creative Cloud, and other tools, combined with capabilities like instant content generation and translation, strives to enhance team efficiency. Govind Balakrishnan, Senior Vice President at Adobe Express Product Group and Creative Cloud Services, noted that these advancements allow enterprises to produce impactful, on-brand content rapidly.
Several leading organisations, including IBM, Dentsu, and Red Hat, are already using Adobe Express for Enterprise to speed up content creation while ensuring consistency with brand guidelines. Thanks to the streamlined workflows enabled by Adobe Express, these companies have reported significant improvements in time to market and engagement metrics.
Adobe is working in collaboration with Microsoft to develop an Adobe Express Extension for Microsoft Copilot. This extension aims to allow users to create on-brand content seamlessly within Microsoft 365 apps using simple prompts, thus enhancing productivity and creativity without disrupting workflows.