How Adobe Firefly provides the Generative Fill and Generative Expand capabilities within Photoshop
If you’re a seasoned Photoshop user but haven’t started working with its AI enhancements, you’re missing out. Here’s how it works.
Photoshop in now deeply integrated with the advanced AI capabilities of Adobe’s Firefly model. If you haven’t yet discovered Firefly, it’s a generative AI system designed to work not only with Photoshop but with other Creative Cloud applications including Illustrator, InDesign and Substance 3D. The latest versions introduce Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools that enable users to add, remove or transform elements within images using simple text prompts. This AI-driven workflow is proving transformative for creative professionals and enthusiasts alike.
At its core, Generative Fill allows users to make non-destructive edits by generating new pictorial content based on written descriptions. Rather than manually building images from scratch, Generative Fill can instantly synthesise realistic scenes, objects, textures and more, that blend seamlessly into existing compositions. Effectively users can now think of an idea for a full or partial image, “magic” it into an area of an existing image and then use AI to provide unlimited variations of the scene until they are satisfied. The potential for accelerating creative enhancements at speed is obviously immense.
The process begins with selecting an area within an image using Photoshop's standard selection tools. With the Generative Fill option, users can then enter a text prompt describing what they want to be generated in that region. Powered by advanced machine learning, Firefly takes the prompt and within the context of the selection, produces a series of photorealistic image candidates that match the description.
Users can browse these variations in Photoshop's Properties panel, fine-tuning the prompt if the result isn’t quite right until they have something that works. These additions are also non-destructive - once a variation is selected, it gets added as a new layer, leaving the original image untouched below. From here, normal Photoshop adjustments can refine the new element further.
This ability to visualise creative concepts on-the-fly is immensely liberating for any image-maker. Designers can rapidly explore numerous aesthetic directions without painstaking manual editing. Photographers can improve their original shot by seamlessly blending AI elements into scenes. Artists can populate their illustrations with vivid, photorealistic details at speed. The creative possibilities are endless.
Enhancing Generative Fill: Reference Images and Generate Similar
Adobe has turbocharged Generative Fill even further with a Reference Image option that allows uploading sample imagery to influence the AI output. This simple addition provides a better chance that generated content matches the user’s goal in terms of lighting, perspective and so on.
Another new capability, Generate Similar, takes an existing AI-generated variation and uses it as the seed to produce new candidates with comparable styling and content. Iterating on successful outputs becomes much easier, accelerating the journey from concept to final, polished image.
Both Reference Image and Generate Similar are smart workflow optimisations that reduce friction when working with generative AI. They empower users to steer Firefly's creations in a more targeted direction through visual references rather than text descriptions alone.
Generative Expand: Extending Canvases with AI
Complementing Generative Fill is Photoshop's Generative Expand tool, which uses AI to extend the canvas beyond an image's original borders. By dragging the handles of the crop tool outwards, users can extend an image into new areas automatically filled with AI-generated content that blends into the existing scene. Environmental and landscape imagery are great examples of subjects where photographers might want to extend their original composition into an expanded panorama with realistic detail, all synthesised by Firefly to match the original. For designers, Generative Expand provides an easy way to build out open canvas space with contextually relevant filler before layering in other graphic elements.
Like Generative Fill, Generative Expand is non-destructive, with AI output confined to new layers above the base image. This affords maximum editability as artists continue to refine the new content using Photoshop's full toolset.
Ethical Considerations and Commercial Viability
As generative AI goes mainstream, concerns about copyright, consent and representation are raised. Adobe says that it has made ethics a top priority, stating that it has trained Firefly solely on commercially licensed stock imagery to avoid potential infringements. The company also offers indemnification for any IP claims related to Firefly output used commercially. Additionally, all Firefly-edited content includes tamper-evident "Content Credentials" metadata that explain that it was AI-generated. These Content Credentials serve as a sort of nutrition label that allows users to see the content's "ingredients", such as the creation date, the creator's name and the tools that were used to create the image.
This transparency supports Adobe's principles around accountability and responsible AI development. While no generative model is perfect, Adobe's proactive approach to these complex issues is encouraging wider adoption of its AI tools by professional creators.
The Future of Image Editing is AI-Augmented
Generative Fill and Generative Expand have rapidly become two of the most popular features in Photoshop due to their ability to streamline creative workflows. They allow artists to “outsource” basic tasks such as generating backgrounds or producing concept imagery, giving them more time to focus on higher-level creative expression. And the human-AI collaborative workflow exemplified by Generative Fill and Expand is just a marker. As Adobe continues to refine its Firefly model and expand its generative AI capabilities, we can expect image editing to become even more productive in the years ahead.
Related Training Courses
Useful Resources
- Adobe's official guide on using Generative Fill in Photoshop Use simple text prompts to add or remove content non-destructively with Generative Fill in Photoshop on desktop
- Adobe's guide on Generative Expand in Photoshop Expand the dimensions of your image and generate content with simple text prompts using Generative Expand in Photoshop on the desktop
- Phlearn tutorial video on Generative Expand Details of how to use Generative Expand to add new elements to photographs and images
- How to use Reference Image in Photoshop’s Generative Fill Explains the new Reference Image feature that lets you upload reference photos to guide the AI generation process.
- How to Use Photoshop AI Generative Fill A detailed tutorial from Elegant Themes