The 7 biggest announcements from Adobe MAX London

Adobe MAX London is the place to be right now, as Adobe is announcing a slew of updates to its tools. With the amount of news coming out of the conference, it can be hard to keep up, but don't worry, because we've rounded up the latest and most important news for you right here.

From hot new Photoshop tools to potentially controversial additions to the AI generator Adobe Firefly, here's the news you need to know about. We'll be updating this page as and when more announcements are made so stay tuned for more.

If you're not already a subscriber to Creative Cloud and are in the UK, then don't miss the 50% off Adobe Creative Cloud offer, which is live right now.

1. New Photoshop tools

New tools in Photoshop announced at Adobe MAX London include Composition Reference, which enables users to take the same structure and visual arrangement from a reference and apply it to AI-generated output.

You can also now Select Details in PS rather than just Subject and Object, making it easier to select and mask tricky things like hair and clothing.

There's also Adjust Colors, which enables users to quickly adjust the hue, saturation and lightness of specific colours all in a panel on the main workspace.

The final major update is the introduction of a new Actions Panel that offers workflow suggestions – a step towards Adobe's goal of adding an AI creative agent to Photoshop.

2. Firefly Image Model 4 and Ultra

Adobe has announced two new Firefly AI Models – Firefly Image Model 4 and Firefly Image Model 4 Ultra (both very catchy names, I'm sure you'll agree). The new models apparently offer more realistic output and better resolution (up to 2K).

Adobe also says that these new models offer more control. The plain Model 4 is supposed to be better for everyday creative tasks while the Ultra version is better for more detailed and realistic projects. The credit/pricing structure has not been announced yet.

3. Firefly Boards (beta)

There's also a new tool within the Firefly webapp called Firefly Boards (previously Project Concept, pictured above) designed for non-linear moodboarding and ideation.

It provides an infinite canvas where you can both import images and generate them using AI, organise them, move them about to create moodboards and storyboards and export assets to other tools.

Like Midjourney Patchwork, it supports collaborative working, but it also provides a great deal of control, with options to remix images on the fly and combine aspects from different images to create new ones.

You can also extract specific extracts from one image, e.g., composition, style, to apply to another to create assets that fit a consistent artistic direction. The tool's still in beta at the moment, and you'll need to apply to join the waiting list.

4. Third-party AI generators

On its initial launch, Adobe billed Firefly as the first 'commercially safe' AI image generator. Some even called it ethical. So today's announcement that the likes of Google, AI, Runway, Pika and Ideogram can now be used in Firefly, is bound to cause a stir.

Adobe is emphasising the benefits of choice and flexibility, but whether this announcement will go down well with creatives remains to be seen.

5. Content Authenticity

Adobe's new Content Authenticity web app aims to help artists know/record exactly where an image has come from by enabling them to 'digitally sign' their work with an identity tag, which allows people to see how that content can be used.

Adobe Fresco now has a “created without generative AI tag” which can be included in an image’s Content Credentials.

Our editor, digital arts and 3D, Ian Dean, sat down with Andy Parsons, the senior director of content authenticity at Adobe. You can read their conversation over on our Content Authenticity app explainer.

6. Other Creative Cloud updates

Aside from Photoshop and Firefly, there are some updates across other Creative Cloud apps. For graphic designers, Illustrator has new AI tools Generative Shape Fill and Text-to-Pattern, and many effects are now faster. InDesign also now has Firefly-powered image generation and Generative Fill (beta) can transform vector graphics into artwork from simple text prompts.

For photographers, Lightroom now has a Select Landscape tool that can automatically detect and create masks for common landscape elements like water, plants and sky. And video editors using Premiere Pro now have general access to Generative Extend and Media Intelligence.

7. Adobe Creative Apprenticeship

Finally, an exclusive that we broke here on Creative Bloq. The new Adobe Creative Apprenticeship sounds a bit like a golden ticket for young creatives. The scheme will offer mentorship, networking and real-world experience both with Adobe and brand partners.

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And to tie in with all the announcements, Adobe is running a 50% discount on Creative Cloud All Apps! Find out more on Adobe CC's website.

See our Adobe software guide and our guide to finding an Adobe Creative Cloud discount for more on Adobe's software.