Professional Lighting Controls Come to Photoshop
While Adobe has focused heavily on generative AI recently, the latest Photoshop update introduces a highly anticipated feature for photographers: professional-grade lighting controls similar to those found in Lightroom. The new Light Adjustment Layer allows users to perform non-destructive edits directly within the Photoshop workflow.
These controls offer adjustments for exposure, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, and contrast. By providing “camera raw-level results” within a layer, Adobe aims to streamline the editing process, allowing creators to make high-quality adjustments without toggling between different applications.
New AI-Powered Creative Features
Adobe is also expanding its AI capabilities, powered by the Firefly Image 5 model. Key additions include:
- Instruct Edit with Masks: This tool allows users to apply specific changes to a masked area of an image. For instance, users can provide simple text prompts—such as “place a hat on this person”—and the AI will execute the edit while keeping the unmasked portions of the image intact.
- Markup: Perhaps the most intriguing addition, the Markup tool allows creators to communicate their vision visually. By drawing rough shapes, sketches, or arrows directly onto the image, users can guide the AI to add or modify elements. For example, sketching a simple cat shape allows the AI to fill that space with a photorealistic, AI-generated animal.
AI Assisted Editor and Enhanced Workflow
To help users navigate these powerful features, Adobe is introducing an AI Assisted Editor in beta. This interface provides a dedicated space where users can access various tools, such as Generative Fill, Remove Background, and the new Markup tool, all through a natural-language prompt bar. While this interface simplifies the experience for many, all tools remain available within the standard professional workspace for power users.
Additional Improvements
The update also includes several productivity-focused features:
“Adobe has expanded Dynamic Text to support any custom shape or path, offering designers more creative freedom.”
Furthermore, Adobe has integrated a Stock Panel directly into the Photoshop interface. This dockable panel grants users immediate access to a vast library of over 900 million Adobe Stock assets, simplifying the process of incorporating external elements into ongoing projects. All these updates are currently rolling out via Creative Cloud.