Adobe has just announced a sweeping set of updates across Creative Cloud, and if you’re a photographer, video editor, or designer, you'll want to know about them. Rolling out this week, these innovations are squarely focused on cutting out the friction of editing, giving you more time to create.
From AI-powered video generation inside Lightroom to a redesign of Premiere Pro's colour workflow, there is a lot to get through, spanning a few of the apps from the Adobe software list. Here are the major highlights you need to know about.
Lightroom gets an AI speed boost
Photographers will agree that this is one of those tedious jobs AI should be used for. Adobe launches Assisted Culling, which will stop you from having to search through hundreds of identical shots. This includes a new Face View and highly customisable filters, designed to help you lock down your best frames in a fraction of the time.
There are also the following AI integrations:
- Photo to Video: Exclusive to Lightroom desktop, this feature lets you transform static images into polished B-roll or social reels. It uses AI-generated motion powered by Adobe Firefly and Google Veo.
- AI Sharpen: Adobe has integrated Topaz Labs’ acclaimed Noise-Aware Sharpen model directly into Lightroom. You no longer need to export to a third-party app to rescue soft details.
- Sony a7R VI Support: If you've been eyeing Sony's powerhouse new camera, you're in luck. All Sony RAW formats for the newly announced a7R VI are now fully supported across Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Camera Raw.
Smarter video editing in Premiere Pro and After Effects
Video editors and motion designers are going to like these upgrades. If you dread rotoscoping, After Effects' new features will help. The new Object Matte tool completely reimagines the process, replacing the old brush-only Roto Brush with four precise, AI-powered tools: Object Selection, Quick Selection, Selection Brush, and Refine Edge.
Premiere Pro is also getting a flurry of updates:
- Colour Mode: This is a brand-new, ground-up colour grading experience built specifically around how editors think and work, making grading much more intuitive.
- Single Word Captioning: For those crafting social content, you can now edit captions with precise, word-level accuracy.
- Fresh Effects: New native effects and transitions, including Channel Blur, Gradient, Noise FX, 3D Spinback, and Slide.
- Sequence Index Panel: You can now preview and license Adobe Stock assets directly inside Premiere without breaking your flow.
Photoshop and Illustrator are also updating
Adobe Illustrator is introducing Concept to Vector, a dream feature for graphic designers that instantly turns rough sketches or low-res assets into clean, fully editable vector artwork.
Over in Photoshop, the Remove Tool has received a powerful upgrade. It now gives you much tighter control over reflection removal and image cleanup, and it can now access a generative AI model completely on-device and offline.
If your hardware has seen better days, you need our guide to the best laptops for Photoshop.
