Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the Adobe Create Now event in Portland, Maine. While this event primarily focused on the features offered through Adobe’s new generative AI tool, Adobe Firefly, they also dove into the (relatively new) Adobe Express.
5 Things I’m Excited About
1. Transparency
I’m happy that the Adobe Create Now event discussed the materials for training Adobe Firefly. I was first introduced to Generative AI last fall with MidiJourney. I remember a significant outcry from artists and creators whose copyrighted materials were used to train generative AI tools without compensation or permission. According to presenters at the event, Adobe Firefly was trained exclusively on Adobe Stock materials and images within the public domain.
2. Improved Text to Image
Though still in beta, Adobe Firefly 2 greatly improved from Firefly 1. I tested it out with some assets for Dungeons & Dragons (yes, I said what I said), both character design and scenic compositing. While Firefly 2 still has some issues generating people consistently (miscellaneous limbs, extra digits), I’m looking forward to messing around with this more, especially concerning concept development for my homebrew D&D campaign.
This picture uses three iterations of text-to-image and generative expand.
3. Text to Vector
The next couple are all focused on beta features in Adobe Illustrator utilizing Adobe Firefly. Text to Vector works similarly to Text to Image. You can refine your results based on what kind of vector you’d like: a subject, icon, scene, or pattern, and the resulting vector is fully editable.
4. Retype
This beta Illustrator tool would have been life-changing when I worked at Portland Magazine, especially on advertisements. Have you ever wanted to un-rasterize text or pull a font directly from a picture? Have you ever had immediate regrets when you converted text to outline, forgot what font you used, and then needed to change the type? Retype can look at the text you’ve selected and determine the font it matches from Adobe Fonts. If it’s outlined text, it will convert it back to text, so it’s editable again! Huzzah!
5. Generative Expand
This Photoshop tool works similarly to Generative Fill, except it’s accessible through the “crop” option. I won’t “expand” on this too much since it’s reasonably straightforward.
2 Hesitations
1. Adobe Express
I want to like Adobe Express. The fact that it integrates with Photoshop and Illustrator is fantastic. Here’s my problem. It’s so SLOW and glitchy it’s virtually unusable. I use a recent Macbook with an M1 chip and an updated iOS. There is no reason why Adobe Express should be so fussy. I’ve read some troubleshooting articles on this, and this issue is both frustrating and not unusual. The same articles have discussed how it’s a breeze on mobile, but that change in workflow seems ridiculous. Perhaps Adobe is looking to have Express as a desktop application in the future. I hope it improves. (*For an updated look at my opinion on Adobe Express, read “Exploring Adobe Express: 4 Stars and a Wish.“
2. Future
The giant Text-to-Image elephant in the room is the future of graphic design. Do these AI tools replace jobs in creative fields? For selfish reasons, I hope not.
However, tool improvements have consistently resulted in improved accessibility and changes to the targeted workforce. Just look at something as simple as a book. Thankfully, with the advancements in printing and word processing, books are readily available to anyone. Imagine if we still needed monks to hand-copy every written word.
“Brother Methuselah, my friends and I require the latest faerie smut for our book group. Go forth and make six copies with detailed illustrations.”
Adobe Firefly certainly makes design more accessible to the masses. That being said, Generative AI is still just a tool. It’s a tool that makes connections and acquires information considerably faster than a single person or team, but it is a tool nonetheless. There is no inherent creativity with Generative AI alone; it is a collaborative tool.
One of the Adobe Max sessions addressed this concisely: The Intersection of AI and Creativity. It’s worth a watch.
I’m excited to see what options Adobe Firefly will continue to bring to my design workflow. Like it or not, Generative AI is here, and it makes sense to learn how to use it as intelligently and ethically as another tool in the designer’s toolbox.