Can Adobe's new custom Firefly models finally tame AI?

Back in October, Adobe announced custom models for Firefly. These let users generate images and content designed to align with your brand or aesthetic – for example, using a consistent character design or set of icons. Perhaps the main reason many are hesitant to use generative AI is the unpredictability of the output, but custom models might just change that. And now they're available in public beta.

Custom models can preserve details like stroke weight, colour palette and lighting. Adobe claims they're especially powerful for illustration styles, character designs and photographic styles, where consistency across visuals is essential.

"A creator’s style is their signature. For creative pros and brands, it’s their identity," the company shared in a blog post today. "Everyone from social influencers to billion-dollar brands invests years building a visual identity. Maintaining that across media, campaigns, formats and platforms takes intention. To grow a brand, you need a steady stream of assets that consistently express who you are. Those assets should be yours and yours alone."

Once trained, your custom model can generate new ideas aligned to your aesthetic. "For teams producing high volumes of content," Adobe says, "that consistency becomes a competitive advantage. And your models are private by default, so the content you create with them remains entirely yours."

Create On-Brand Content at Scale with Firefly Custom Models | Adobe for Business - YouTube

Watch On

While the overall effectiveness and consistency of custom models remains to be seen, the idea of having more control over what a generative model spits out could certainly be appealing for creatives and brands. Adobe claims several of the latter, including Tapestry and Deloitte Digital, have already used custom models to scale on-brand creativity.

Custom models are available now in public beta on Adobe Firefly.