Author: María López

As of today, we can find a plethora of organization programs and applications. Adobe has wanted to contribute its bit to the productivity sector with PDF Spaces, a shared workspace focused on PDFs and other types of files.

In fact, it is the ideal solution for all those users who have ever searched for collaboration tools focused on PDFs. It is more than just a shared space, like any cloud service: with PDF Spaces, multiple people (or yourself) can edit, comment, review instructions from different files, and have AI-generated summaries, all from one place. And here we will explain what it is and how it works.

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What is PDF Spaces?

PDF Spaces is one of the most interesting new features of Adobe Acrobat that focuses entirely on productivity. Within PDF Spaces, you can gather several PDF files, documents, links, and notes in one place to read, analyze, comment on, summarize, and even share if you want.

However, it is much more than just a simple place to share files. PDF Spaces can analyze your PDFs and create text or audio summaries with generative artificial intelligence so you can quickly grasp the ideas of more complex texts. Additionally, you also have an AI Assistant at your disposal to ask your questions about the document and get instant answers.

How PDF Spaces Works

The easiest and most direct way for you to access PDF Spaces is by logging in to Adobe Acrobat from your trusted browser. Once you do that, you will see that section at the top of the page, right next to Home.

By clicking there, you will directly access the PDF Spaces panel. If you want to create your own space, start dragging files from your computer that you want to be part of it. On the other hand, you can also click on Select files and upload files from your PC. You have a third optional way, which is selecting PDF Spaces > Create a PDF Space.

Wait for the documents to load and you will see how they appear listed in the left panel. Further to the left, you will see a series of options for your space. The first, Overview, will help you quickly see what files you have uploaded and two summaries, one generated by written and the other by audio. On the right, you will always find your AI Assistant, to “whom” you can ask more specific questions.

Then you have Files, which is for viewing the files directly, and finally, Creations. From Creations, you can access a podcast generated by Adobe that explains what you have in your Space and what the uploaded documents are about. They are very useful tools, especially if you work with files that are very dense or difficult to understand (legal documents, medical reports, etc.)

If you want to use PDF Spaces from your mobile, simply download the Adobe Acrobat app for iOS or Android and log in with your Adobe username and password. Then, tap on PDF Spaces, the button you will see below next to Home. Start by adding files from Add files, from here you can take photos, add web links, or upload your documents from your iPhone or the cloud.

AI Assistant, your virtual companion

At this point, we have our space created. Now, you can ask AI Assistant things like: “summarize the key points,” “compare these two documents,” “detect contradictions,” and more. Adobe explains that PDF Spaces allows you to know what the key points are, make more concrete summaries, and compare documents if necessary.

In this case, to make the most of AI Assistant, you should speak to it in a specific and concise manner. It will always be better to ask for a specific action, such as “make a table with agreements, responsible parties, and deadlines” than to ask it to tell you “what the important things are.” If you don’t do that, you are likely to get less optimal results and give the AI the opportunity to “hallucinate.”

When we talk about an AI hallucinating, we mean that it generates a fabricated response with data that is not found in the document. That is why it is important to formulate your questions well and sensibly.

Share your Space with others

You can share your space with other users from the Share button, located at the top right. Here you have several options: the first, is to write the emails of the users you want to share the space with. When you do this, you can assign them the permissions of Viewer to view files and notes, Reviewer to comment, and Contributor to add comments, files, or notes.

You can also control access by using an invitation or by creating a link for people in your company or the public. We don’t need to tell you that, for sensitive documents, it is wise to avoid public links by all means. To set who can view the link or not, configure it from Change.

How can I access PDF Spaces?

PDF Spaces is part of Adobe Acrobat and you can access it from the web or from your mobile (iOS and Android). To create your own spaces, you need to log in with an Adobe account; if you don’t have one yet, you can create it for free in just a few minutes.

Unfortunately, PDF Spaces is not free. The feature is available for users who are subscribed to Acrobat Studio or who have the AI Assistant add-on. However, you can try for free for 7 days the Acrobat plans, such as Acrobat Studio. Through the official Adobe website, you can access trials of their applications to help you decide if it’s worth it or not.

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Photoshop adds new options. If you have already updated to the April version, you can try two quite interesting features, Rotate Object and Reflection Removal. If at any point you designed a scene and thought “I wish I could rotate this object a bit,” Rotate Object is what you needed.

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On the other hand, with Reflection Removal we can wipe out all the reflections from the glasses in one go and leave the images completely sharp. To find out how to apply each of these functions, stay with us a little longer: it’s much easier than it seems.

Rotate Object: this is how it works

Rotate Object is undoubtedly one of the most striking (and probably useful) features that have been included in the latest updates of Adobe Photoshop. As its name suggests, it allows you to rotate and tilt objects in different perspectives.

To use it, first open the image you want to rotate or the project where the object you want to rotate is located. Now, select the layer (of pixels, mind you) that contains the object. If you have opened a JPG directly in Photoshop, it is most likely that this layer is locked. To unlock it, double-click on it and in the panel that appears, rename the layer (if you want) and click on OK.

With the layer selected, go to Edit > Rotate Object. You can also do this from the floating menu that appears when selecting a layer (if you don’t see it, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar). From there, you will need to select the icon for Transform Image > Rotate Object.

Let Adobe Photoshop analyze the image and prepare it for rotation. When the process is complete, you will see how the resolution decreases, but it is only temporary so you can rotate the object freely. Use the Rotate and Tilt controls to turn the image in the direction you want. If you want to be even more precise, you can go to the properties panel (Window > Properties) and even enter the degrees of tilt.

When you finish, click on Done. A new additional layer will be created with the modified object and the original, untouched, will remain in a separate layer.

Here you have to keep in mind that the more complex the structure of the object is, the worse the results will be. Rotate Object works best with objects that have a clear and recognizable shape, so keep that in mind when using it in your projects.

Reflection Removal

Now let’s detail how Reflection Removal works, designed to eliminate reflections. If you have photographed someone or something that is behind glass, for example, with Reflection Removal you will completely remove any trace of reflection.

To begin, open your image in Photoshop and select the layer that contains the reflection. Remember that the layer must be rasterized; if you want to be completely sure, you can go to the layer, right-click and select Rasterize Layer Style. Next, look for Edit > Remove Reflection.

When you click on Reflection Removal, a series of options will appear. First, you have the option to activate Create separate reflection layer, which is exactly for that: to have the reflection on a separate layer. In Quality, you can choose from several quality options, which are Preview, Standard, and Best. Choose according to your preferences and click on OK to make the changes.

Adobe Firefly, the technology behind all AI features

If you’ve ever wondered how these options work and what lies behind them, the answer is as follows: Adobe Firefly. It is a family of generative artificial intelligence models, designed to create and transform content from written descriptions.

The functions we have described before and many others within Adobe Photoshop, such as Generative Fill, use Firefly. The main goal is for them to serve as support tools so that you can streamline many processes that could have taken you hours before.

If you’re curious and not yet an Adobe user, you’re in luck; you have a 7-day free trial available for any of Adobe’s most well-known programs, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, etc. To use it, you just need to go to the official Adobe website and click on the program you want to try, Adobe will guide you from there with the steps to follow.

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At the moment you leave with your camera in hand, you know when you start but not when you finish. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a job or just for pure leisure, you keep pressing the shutter button until the battery or the SD card can hold out. However, the worst part comes afterward, when you have to review hundreds of photos to choose the best ones. Fortunately, with the arrival of Assisted Culling in the latest versions of Adobe Lightroom, this process will feel less burdensome.

Next, we will delve into what Assisted Culling is, how it works, and how you can use it as a photographer.

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What is Assisted Culling?

The Assisted Culling feature is found within Adobe Lightroom and uses artificial intelligence to intelligently organize photographs. When using it, the program identifies the highest quality images and also highlights those that do not meet certain standards. By itself, Assisted Culling cannot delete photos, it only indicates which ones you should theoretically keep and which ones to discard.

In the latest update of Lightroom, the feature has especially improved in face detection, so it will be very useful if you take photographs at weddings or other social events.

If you use Lightroom Classic, you will need to activate the feature from Edit > Catalog Settings > Metadata > Assisted Culling and check the box for Analyze photos of selected source when Assisted Culling Panel is open.

In the latest version of Lightroom, you will find the option much more visible in the tool panels as soon as you open the program. It doesn’t matter whether you are working in Cloud or Local, the option will be there.

How to use Assisted Culling in Lightroom

As you will see below, it is quite easy to use within the new Lightroom. First, start by importing your photographs (although you can also use a folder of photos that you have previously exported in Lightroom). You have two practically identical ways to do this: the first is to click on Add Photos, located in the left panel. The second, in case you do not see or the Add Photos button does not appear, is to go to File > Add Photos.

Afterwards, you have two organization options to choose from: Cull and Stack. Cull will help you select the best portraits from a group of photos. With Stack, you can organize them according to the times they were taken or by their visual similarity.

In the Select section, click on the options you prefer when analyzing the images. These are the ones available to you:

• Subject sharpness: Select the photos where the person is in focus. You have a slider to set the level of focus.
• Eye sharpness: Select the photos where the eyes are the ones that are in focus. You can adjust it as well, and additionally, you have another option to select only photographs with the eyes of one or more people.
• Eyes open: Select photographs where the people appearing have their eyes open. Here you have two additional options, one of which allows you to choose photos where it is not entirely clear whether the subjects in the photograph have their eyes open or closed.

Below, you will see the Reject section, where you can choose which options to consider for discarding photos:

• Exposure Issues: Reject photos with exposure problems.
• Misfires: Reject blurry or accidentally taken photos.
• Documents: Anything that is a document goes out.

Right below you will see the Review section, where you can view the selected and rejected photos after using Assisted Culling. Then, it will be your turn to review manually to ensure everything is correct and see which photos pass the final filter and which do not. Finally, in the Organize Results section, click on Apply Batch Actions to set tags, ratings, and ultimately, organize your photographs.

Assisted Culling in Lightroom Classic

If you are using Lightroom Classic, the process differs a bit but not too much. When importing your photos, you will need to select at the very top in Assisted Culling.

When doing so, wait a moment for Lightroom Classic to finish analyzing the photos. After that, in the left panel, you will see the options available to filter the photographs. Just like before, you can choose to import those with the subject in focus, with eyes open, and reject documents or photos with exposure issues.

When Lightroom finishes making the selection, don’t forget to do a quick check to see that everything is okay. Then, select Import to import the chosen photos. If you click on Done, you will save the settings you have chosen in the Assisted Culling panel but will not import the photos.

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One of the heaviest tasks for any illustrator or designer is the creation of multiple views of the same object. And in most cases, to achieve a good result, you will have to invest a lot of work time. 

With the arrival of the Turntable feature in Adobe Illustrator, this process changes significantly. This new tool allows you to generate multiple rotated views of a vector or raster object from a single illustration, reducing production time and maintaining a consistent appearance across all versions.

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What is Turntable?

Simply put, the Turntable function uses Adobe Firefly technology to automatically generate different angles of an object from a single view. It does not build a 3D model, but from the outside, it might look like it. The function interprets shapes and creates new editable perspectives that closely mimic the original illustration.

By using Turntable, you can explore different viewpoints without having to rebuild the drawing from scratch. It also represents a time saver if you need to work with different views of containers, characters, or other similar elements. 

How to use Turntable 

Using Turntable is quite simple. To get started, open your project in Adobe Illustrator and select the vector or raster object that interests you. 

From here, there are several ways to activate Turntable. If you select the object, a floating contextual menu will appear with various generative AI options, colors, and more. Click on the sparkles icon located all the way to the left and select the Turntable option. If you don’t see this floating menu, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar to make it appear. 

You can also activate the Turntable feature from the properties panel. You can access it by going to Window > Properties. When selecting Turntable, we will have to wait a few moments for Adobe Illustrator to generate the views. When it finishes, we will see a new floating menu below the drawing with a slider and arrows to change the views and rotate the object.

You have to keep in mind that, on some occasions, it won’t work very well. This happens when we deal with objects that are very abstract, as it is not able to generate views that are very reliable. Otherwise, you can be quite calm and be surprised by the results.

Combine with other Illustrator tools

Turntable by itself is a great feature, but it can be even more useful and surprising if we combine it with other generative AI functions within Adobe Illustrator.

One of the newest, Concept to Vector, allows you to convert a simple initial sketch into a vector illustration. If you are someone who usually captures conceptual ideas in notebooks and the like, Concept to Vector can help you vectorize your ideas without needing to invest much time.

To use it, open the image in Illustrator and select it. Once done, the contextual menu we mentioned earlier will appear. There, click on the Concept to Vector option. You can also access it from Object > Generative > Concept to Vector.

Once the main piece is created, Turntable can automatically generate new perspectives of the same object.

Similarly, Generative Expand helps to expand your compositions and adapt them to different formats. From a vector drawing, you can generate multiple views with Turntable and then expand the scene to use it in banners, ads, or social media content.

To use Generative Expand, select the object and then click on Crop Image, an option you will see in the floating context menu. If you don’t see it clearly, look for its symbol, which is located on the right.

Drag the frame limits in the direction you want to increase the image area. You can use the shortcut Shift + Alt (Option on Mac) while dragging with the mouse to move the frame equally in all directions. You can also specify the exact measurements in the Properties panel if needed.

Select Generate in the contextual bar and you will see how an “expanded” copy of the original image is created. You will see three variations with different results in the Properties panel, keep the one you like the most or regenerate others if you don’t like these.

Current Limitations

Although it is a very powerful tool, Turntable is not meant to replace manual work or 3D modeling.

As we mentioned before, Adobe emphasizes that it works best with clearly recognizable objects and may provide less accurate results with abstract shapes, complex texts, or certain advanced effects of Adobe Illustrator. Other features, such as gradients, effects, or complex constructions, still have many limitations.

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Over the past few years, Adobe has been perfecting more and more the tools powered by generative AI within its programs, such as Photoshop or Illustrator. However, the use of this technology has a cost that many users may not be aware of.

That is why we have generative credits. Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of them or don’t quite know what they are for: below, we will explain in detail everything you need to know about generative credits.

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What are generative credits?

Although many may not be aware, using generative AI has a cost that is much higher than you might think. Generating images, text, and more involves a significant process behind it, which entails the use of very expensive hardware, a lot of energy, server usage, storage, and a long etcetera that would warrant another article altogether.

In Adobe, generative credits are the currency of the platform we have to generate images, graphics, texts, or apply effects.

They are available in almost all Adobe programs, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, In Design, Adobe Express, etc.

Where can I check my credit number?

Any Adobe user can see the number of credits they have in the following way:

• First, you will need to go to the Adobe website and log in with your user account.
• Once you do this, it will take you to the Home of Adobe. Once here, go to the top right corner and click on your user image; it is a round icon located all the way to the right.
• This will open a small window with options, and the Generative AI section will also be displayed. Here you will see the number of credits included in your plan and those you have already consumed in the month.

You can also check it within Adobe programs, as long as they are updated to the latest versions. To do this, you just need to do the same as we described earlier: access the icon of your profile within the program.

Tips for Saving Generative Credits

Within our plan, we have a series of included credits that should not be wasted aimlessly. Credits are consumed when using features powered by Firefly or by other third-party models (Google, ChatGPT, etc). Using Generative Fill within Photoshop, for example, consumes one credit per generation.

Adobe divides the generative AI functions into standard and premium. Within the standard category, there are actions like Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Text to Image, and similar features, all within Photoshop. In Illustrator, for example, they would be Text to Vector Graphic or Generative Recolor. Standard functions generally consume one credit, except for some that consume a bit more.

On the other hand, the premium features encompass more complex and advanced actions, such as those that can create video for example. Features that use third-party models like Google or OpenAI are also considered premium. If you use them, they will cost you many more credits than the standard ones, although the number will depend on what you do.

As you can see, every action has a price and if you want to save the most, you should use your head a little:

• Prioritize manual adjustments before resorting to AI. We know it’s the easiest option, but it’s worth taking a moment to see if there are things we can do ourselves.
• Plan what you want to do before acting. Think carefully about your prompt, review it, and ensure it has all the necessary information, this way you will save yourself from doing extra tests.
• Take advantage of stock resources. There are thousands of resources, both video and photo, that are free and available to you.
• Don’t experiment in vain. Exploring new ideas is fine, but it’s not necessary to make dozens of generations if you don’t have a clear purpose.

How much do generative credits cost?

Have you been excited using AI features and run out of credits? It’s a more common scenario than you think. If your counter is at zero, you can always buy credits through an additional subscription to your Creative Cloud.

Here are several options, depending on whether you are a private individual, student, teacher, or a company. Prices range from $9.99 (€11.17) to $199.99 (€223.68), and you can purchase from 2,000 to 50,000 monthly credits.

From this link you can check each plan, price, and what is included in each of them. Almost all plans also have a free trial period of 7 days, where you can see if the number of credits is sufficient for you or not.

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One of the challenges of layout design in Adobe InDesign is making sure that the text fits in the spaces. The mere act of adding one extra word can throw everything off and require rethinking the design.

In its latest version, InDesign has launched Rewrite, a new artificial intelligence feature designed to solve this problem. With this tool, we will be able to expand, condense, or modify the tone of a text to fit the available spaces we have. Next, we will see how it works step by step.

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What is Rewrite and what is it for?

Generative artificial intelligence has also arrived at InDesign, specifically to help us with texts. Rewrite helps us analyze the content and the space of the text box to make everything fit better in your designs. Thus, instead of editing word by word, we can shorten very long texts, expand them, change the tone, or generate other variants that fit better in the layout.

Changing the tone of a text can be useful for certain situations; in some cases, you may need a more professional approach, or perhaps the complete opposite. In the end, you can generate different versions that maintain the essential information but change how it is communicated.

How to use Rewrite in InDesign

To begin, open your project in InDesign and select any text you want to modify. You can also place the cursor over a text frame to select the entire story.

When you select the text, a floating contextual bar will appear. If you don’t see it, go to Window and click on Contextual Task Bar to make it appear. In this floating bar, select Generate Text; by doing so, you will also open the Generate panel.

There are other ways to access Generate. To start, you can activate the option by going to a text box, right-clicking, and selecting the Generate Text option. On the other hand, you can make the Generate panel appear by going to Window > Generate. From this panel, you have several options, but we will focus now on Rewrite. Below Rewrite, you will see a text box where you will need to write your prompt. Simply describe there how you want the selected text to be modified and click on Generate.

When I finish processing your request, you will see how the text is automatically replaced in your layout while respecting the paragraph style you have applied. As a detail, keep in mind that the language of the generated text will match the language you used to write the prompt.

You can also see other variations of the text in Results (through the Generate panel) in case the one you see doesn’t fully convince you. Choose one of the three alternatives and select Done to finish. Below you will see other symbols that will help you confirm that the result is good (thumbs up), that it is bad (thumbs down), or to try again (retry symbol).

If you want, you can modify the text with a series of predefined shortcuts, such as Rephrase, Shorten, Lengthen, or Fit Text, for example. These “buttons” will help you perform very specific actions in a short amount of time.

If you want to improve the results of this function, you must consider the length of the text to be modified and ensure that it does not exceed 1500 words. On the other hand, do not lose sight of the cost of generations made with AI. Although the Rewrite and related options are free for InDesign users, the Fit Text function does consume a credit per generation.

Images also receive updates

In addition to Rewrite, InDesign also includes a series of improvements in images. Within the Generate panel, there is also the option of Text to Image. Just like in Photoshop, within InDesign we will be able to generate images from a prompt.

This can help you create images that serve as provisional while you wait for the final ones. Just like lorem ipsum, this way you can visualize how your almost final layout would look. If you click on the Advanced option, you will be able to access a new panel with more options that will help you create more detailed images.

There you can choose artistic styles, the aspect ratio, and even upload a reference image so that the generated output closely resembles the final image.

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Open almost any social network these days and the screen fills up with one thing: video. Short, long, vertical, horizontal. That tidal wave is the reason video editors have stopped being a niche tool and become an everyday essential for content creators.

Among the thousands of things you can do with Adobe Premiere Pro, there’s one that’s pretty much non-negotiable: adding music and sound to your videos. Below, you’ll see how easy it is, and how quickly you can pull it off on your own, even if you’ve never touched Premiere Pro in your life.

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Set up the project

With your videos ready, open Adobe Premiere Pro and create a new project by clicking on New Project. Type the name in Project name and pick where to save it on your PC under Location. You can grab a preset template from Templates, but it isn’t essential.

Now, select the video or videos you’ll lay the music over. From the left panel you’ll see the different locations on your PC, so you can jump straight to the folder where the clips live.

When you’re done selecting, click Import (if you don’t spot it on the first try, the button sits in the bottom right corner). Then drag the music file or sound effect directly onto the timeline. The other route is to go to File > Import. Don’t lose track of your assets: everything lives in the Project panel.

Once imported, drag the audio onto the timeline. All audio tracks sit below the video clips, both the ones you add yourself and the ones that came baked into the video. Premiere Pro displays them as a sound wave, which helps you see where the silences or volume peaks are.

Adjust it on the timeline

Once the music is on the timeline, you can move it, cut it with the Razor Tool (C), or stretch it, the same way you would with a video clip.

You can also add fade-in and fade-out effects so the music doesn’t start or end abruptly. It feels more natural and pleasant in general, though it all depends on the effect you’re going for.

If you want the music to gradually drop in volume at the end until it goes silent, select the audio clip and head to Properties. With that in view, go back to the timeline and, with the audio selected, position the playhead at the point in the video where you want the volume to start dropping. That should be a little before the actual end of the video. Then go back to Properties and click on the small diamond symbol (Keyframe). Return to the timeline, move the playhead to the end of the video, and on the Volume slider, drop it to the minimum.

A good trick is to make the music move with the visual rhythm of the video. If there’s a big shift in the imagery, a title card or a transition, try to line it up with a standout moment in the music.

And if you need something extra… you can always use Adobe Stock

One mistake we all make when adding music to a video is using songs without checking the rights first. If the videos are just for you, nothing happens. If you upload them to social media, that’s a different story: get ready for platform takedowns, copyright claims and similar headaches.

To avoid all of that, you can use Adobe Stock Audio, Adobe’s own library of royalty-free music and sound. From there you can search tracks by style, duration, mood or tempo, preview them, and pick the one that fits your video best.

You’ll find it especially useful for commercial pieces, branded content, ads or social media. Instead of wasting time hunting for music on third-party sites, you can find any track without leaving Premiere Pro. To use it, go to File > Search Adobe Stock….

You’ll see that, alongside sounds, there are templates, videos and images. From the official Adobe Stock page you can check the different pricing tiers, all depending on the material you end up using.

Set the volume and export your project

Making sure your video has the right volume balance is critical. Select the audio clip and adjust its volume from the Effect Controls or directly on the timeline. A practical rule: if there’s voice, drop the music until the narration is easy to follow without strain.

Listen to the video on headphones and through speakers, because what sounds great on one device might not on another. Keep in mind: when the sound is bad, you notice straight away; when it’s good, nobody complains.

Adobe Premiere Pro is available through Adobe’s Creative Cloud, with a free trial that lets you test the full editor before you commit. You can grab it on its own as a single-app plan or as part of the All Apps bundle if you also work with Photoshop, After Effects or Adobe Stock. Check Adobe’s official pricing for current rates.

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Let’s be honest: a pricey phone with a great camera won’t stop you from ending up with blurry shots. Shaky hands, low light, a split-second of movement, any of these can turn a good moment into a detail-free memory. The good news is that Adobe Photoshop can fix most of these problems with the right approach.

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What Photos Can You Actually Fix in Photoshop?

Before diving in, it helps to know which photos are worth the effort. It all comes down to the type of blur you’re dealing with.

Images with light motion blur respond best to correction. The classic shaky-hand shot, where everything looks just slightly out of focus, can improve a lot.

Low-resolution images also benefit from Photoshop‘s AI tools, which can rebuild textures and recover a surprising amount of sharpness. Photos with noise or heavy compression are also worth trying (anything you’ve downloaded from a social media chat, for instance).

What you can’t easily save are photos with extreme blur, the kind that’s nearly deformed or where you mostly see smudges. Even AI won’t get you far there. Push it too hard and it’ll start inventing details rather than recovering them.

Here are the main tools inside Photoshop to rescue most of your photos.

Use Smart Sharpen

Smart Sharpen is one of the most effective tools for dealing with soft or blurry images. With your photo open in Photoshop, go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. You’ll see three main controls: Amount, which sets how intense the sharpening is; Radius, which determines how far the effect spreads from edges; and Reduce Noise, which tones down any grain the sharpening introduces.

In the Remove drop-down, you choose which type of blur to eliminate. Out-of-focus blur and motion blur aren’t the same thing, and the tool handles each differently. For motion-blurred shots in particular, Smart Sharpen delivers excellent results. That said, don’t go overboard with the sliders. Push them too far and you’ll end up with an artificial halo effect that looks worse than the original.

Reduce the Noise

If your photos have too much noise, you can smooth things out quite a bit. This tends to happen when shooting in low-light conditions, and it makes images look less sharp than they actually are.

Open your image in Photoshop and go to Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise. Work the Strength, Reduce Color Noise, and other sliders until you’re happy with the result. Make sure the Preview checkbox is on so you can see exactly what each adjustment does in real time.

Improve Your Images with Generative Upscale

Photoshop has some genuinely powerful AI tools, and Generative Upscale is one of the most useful for resolution problems. It lets you enlarge low-resolution images while keeping the detail intact, which is a lifesaver for old photos that never looked great or any downloaded image that’s too small to work with.

With your image open, click Image > Generative Upscale. You’ll need to choose the scale (2x or 4x) and which AI model to use. Firefly Upscaler is built specifically to restore low-res images. Topaz Gigapixel focuses on preserving fine detail and handles a wide range of photos well. Topaz Bloom takes a more creative approach, adding texture where there wasn’t much to begin with.

For most photos, Topaz Gigapixel is the one to go with. In most situations, it delivers sharp, natural-looking results with plenty of detail.

Photoshop or Lightroom: When to Use Each

You might be wondering whether Lightroom could work better for some of this. Both tools have their place. It really comes down to what you need.

Lightroom shines when you’re making general adjustments across a large batch of photos at once. It’s the go-to for photographers who want to fix exposure, color, and basic corrections quickly, without getting into complex edits.

Photoshop is a lot more involved. It’s the right choice for compositing, very specific corrections, and the targeted fixes we’ve covered in this guide. That said, you don’t have to pick just one. Try handling the basic adjustments in Lightroom first, then bring the image into Photoshop for the detail work. You’ll get the best of both.

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If you’ve been generating images with AI tools for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed the pattern: everything starts to look the same. The same compositions, the same color palettes, the same visual language. Generative AI has made image creation accessible to anyone with an internet connection, and that accessibility has produced a flood of content with almost no personality. Impressive at first glance, increasingly generic once you’ve seen it a few dozen times.

Adobe has taken a different approach with Adobe Firefly, its generative AI model. One of its newest features, Custom Models, lets you train an AI model using your own images, so what it generates actually reflects your visual identity. If you want to know how it works, here’s what you need.

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Custom Models in Adobe Firefly: What They Are and How They Work

Custom models are AI models trained on your own images. Instead of generating content from Adobe’s general dataset, Firefly learns from the patterns in your work: your color palettes, your visual style, the kind of compositions you typically use.

The difference in output compared to a generic model is significant. When the model is trained on your content, the images it generates look like yours. And since Firefly’s underlying technology is used throughout, everything you create is commercially safe.

If you’re working in an organization, you can share and manage custom models across your entire team. That means faster workflows and visual consistency from the start, instead of everyone generating in different directions.

How to Create Your Own Custom Model in Adobe Firefly

On the Adobe Firefly main page, you’ll find a list of sections in the left sidebar. Click Custom models to get started.

First, you’ll choose a training method. There are three options: photos, illustrations, and characters. Photos is the right pick if you want the model to generate realistic, detailed imagery. Illustrations and characters are more focused on stylized and artistic output.

Once you select a category, you’ll see the requirements for best model performance. You’ll need to upload between 10 and 30 images, each with at least 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution and a consistent aspect ratio. The images should share a distinctive visual style and include enough open space for product compositions. Make sure every image is the best quality you have.

Select Start adding images and upload your files. Firefly will analyze each one. When it’s done, every file gets an automatic description based on what appears in the image. On the right, you’ll see tags you can use later when generating new images.

You’ll also see a Model Score, where Adobe rates the quality of the data you’ve uploaded. Keep in mind it’s a guide only and still in beta.

When you’re ready, click Train and grant Adobe permission to use your images to build the model. You’ll receive an email from Adobe when it’s done. You can track the training process from Model Inventory by selecting your project.

Training a custom model currently costs 500 credits. In Adobe, credits are the currency for advanced generative AI features. Depending on your subscription plan, you get a set number of credits per month. If you run out, you can purchase more through this link.

Is My Content Safe Inside Firefly?

If you’re wondering whether it’s safe to upload personal or company material to Firefly to build custom models, the short answer is yes.

Adobe confirms they don’t use your data to train Firefly’s commercial models, the ones available to the general public. You also get control tools to manage who can view the training data and use the models.

You can upload your material without concern. Content Credentials are added to every generated asset, showing how the image was created, which tools were used, and whether generative AI was involved. Adobe’s goal is that anyone can identify whether something was AI-generated or not.

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Changing the color of an object is one of those Photoshop tasks that looks different every time. Same goal, different image, different result. Suddenly you’re not sure which tool actually fits. Adobe Photoshop gives you several ways to approach it, each suited to a different situation, and the one you reach for first should depend on the image, not just habit.

You don’t need to be an advanced user to handle most of these. With AI tools now built into the app, even complex color swaps are more accessible than they used to be.

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Three methods stand out. Which one you use depends on how precise you need to be and how much you want to preserve the original.

Apply Hue/Saturation adjustments

For subtle or broad color shifts, the classic adjustment tools are still the fastest path. Hue/Saturation handles exactly that: hue, saturation, and brightness in one panel. Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation to open it directly.

You can also create an adjustment layer from the Layers panel if you want to apply changes non-destructively. Once it’s open, you’ll see three sliders: Hue, Saturation, and Lightness.

At the top of the panel, Presets let you apply a color shift style with a single click. Below that, the eyedropper targets specific tones. Quick and global.

There’s also a Colorize option. It replaces all the colors in your image with a single unified tone, which is useful for a monochromatic look. The three sliders control the hue, saturation, and lightness of that unified color.

Use Replace Color

When you need more precision than the classic adjustments offer, Replace Color is the next step up. Find it under Image > Adjustments > Replace Color. This one is destructive. Duplicate your layer before you start if you want to keep the original intact.

Opening it gives you a small black-and-white preview of your image. White areas are the ones Photoshop will modify; black areas are ignored. Click on the color you want to replace with the eyedropper and the preview highlights the affected zones in white.

If the selection is too narrow, the + eyedropper adds more zones. The Fuzziness slider controls how much tonal variation gets pulled in. Check Preview to see your changes in real time as you work.

Change colors with Generative Fill

Generative Fill does what the other methods can’t: it rebuilds the way light falls on the object, not just the color. Powered by Adobe Firefly, it handles shadows and texture automatically so the result doesn’t look retouched.

To use it for a color swap, select the object you want to change first. The Magic Wand, Magnetic Lasso, or any selection tool works. If you’re working with a person, click Select Subject for a faster and usually more accurate result.

With your selection active, click Generative Fill in the contextual toolbar at the bottom of the canvas. If the toolbar isn’t visible, go to Window > Contextual Task Bar.

A text field appears. Describe the color change you want. If you need an exact color, include its hex code in the description.

To find the hex code for a specific color, open an image that contains it in Photoshop, sample it with the eyedropper, then double-click the foreground color swatch to open the Color Picker. Both the RGB values and the hex code are there.

Select Firefly Image 5 as the generative model and click Generate. The results adapt lighting, shadows, and texture on their own. The color change integrates cleanly.

Use each method when it fits

Classic adjustments are fastest for broad changes. When you need to nail a specific tone, Replace Color is what you want. And Generative Fill is in a different category entirely: it doesn’t just change the color, it rebuilds the way light falls on it. Try all three on the same image and you’ll know quickly which situation calls for what.

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