It’s always great to learn from the master—especially when he’s making “spaghetti western” literal!
I’m really digging the experience of (optionally) taking a photo, feeding it into ChatGPT, and then riffing my way towards an interesting visual outcome. Here’s a gallery in which you can see some of the journeys I’ve undertaken recently.
Hah! This is my kind of ridiculous Adobe social content. 🙂 Happy Friday.
Speaking of increasing resolution, check out this sneak peek from Adobe MAX:
It’s a video upscaling tool that uses diffusion-based technology and artificial intelligence to convert low-resolution videos to high-resolution videos for applications. Users can directly upscale low-resolution videos to high resolution. They can also zoom-in and crop videos and upscale them to full resolution with high-fidelity visual details and temporal consistency. This is great for those looking to bring new life into older videos or to prevent blurry videos when playing scaled versions on HD screens.
Interesting recent finds:
If you’ve been sleeping on Text to Vector, check out this handful of quick how-to vids that’ll get you up to speed:
Check out this quick demo of Illustrator’s new text-to-vector & mockup tools working together:
AI generated Logos onto any surface. pic.twitter.com/qY4tEkVK0Q
— Riley Brown (@rileybrown_ai) October 29, 2023
Directly sketch inside a 360º canvas, then generate results:
And see also the styles these folks are working to bring online:
Can you imagine something like this running in Photoshop, making it possible to re-pose objects and then merge them back into one’s scene?
We’re looking to meet great PMs, engineers, data scientists, and more; come check out open roles!
Marc Levoy (professor emeritus at Stanford) was instrumental in delivering the revolutionary Night Sight mode on Pixel 3 phones—and by extension on all the phones that quickly copied their published techniques. After leaving Google for Adobe, he’s been leading a research team that’s just shown off the reflection-zapping Project See Through:
Today, it’s difficult or impossible to manually remove reflections. Project See Through simplifies the process of cleaning up reflections by using artificial intelligence. Reflections are automatically removed, and optionally saved as separate images for editing purposes. This gives users more control over when and how reflections appear in their photos.
Matthew Vandeputte used a mix of Generative Fill and Content-Aware Fill (or both) to make these rad little animations in After Effects:
[Via Tom Hightower]
My old teammates Richard Tucker, Noah Snavely, and co. have been busy. Check out how their Generative Image Dynamics work makes it possible to interactively add small, periodic motion to photos:
I got to spend time Friday live streaming with the Firefly community, showing off some of the new MAX announcements & talking about some of what might be coming down the line. I hope you enjoy it, and I’d welcome any feedback on this session or on what you’d like to see in the future.
Back in the day, I dreaded demoing Photoshop ahead of the After Effects team: we’d do something cool, and they’d make that cool thing move. I hear echoes of that in Project Fast Fill—generative fill for video.
Project Fast Fill harnesses Generative Fill, powered by Adobe Firefly, to bring generative AI technology into video editing applications. This makes it easy for users to use simple text prompts to perform texture replacement in videos, even for complex surfaces and varying light conditions. Users can use this tool to edit an object on a single frame and that edit will automatically propagate into the rest of the video’s frames, saving video editors a significant amount of texture editing time.
Check it out:
Roughly 1,000 years ago (i.e. this past April!), I gave an early sneak peek at the 3D-to-image work we’ve been doing around Firefly. Now at MAX, my teammate Yi Zhou has demonstrated some additional ways we could put the core tech to work—by adding posable humans to the scene.
Project Poseable makes it easy for anyone to quickly design 3D prototypes and storyboards in minutes with generative AI.
Instead of having to spend time editing the details of a scene — the background, different angles and poses of individual characters, or the way the character interacts with surrounding objects in the scene — users can tap into AI-based character posing models and use image generation models to easily render 3D character scenes.
Check it out:
Here’s a fun little tutorial from my teammate Kris on using reference images to style your prompt (in this case, her pet turtle Pablo). And meanwhile, here’s a little gallery of good style reference images (courtesy of my fellow PM Lee) that you’re welcome to download and use in your creations.
Tutorial: How to generate images in different styles using reference image library in Adobe Firefly
It’s a new feature! Write a prompt and experiment with styles from the library or upload your own as a reference.
#AdobeMAX #CommunityxAdobeTry here:https://t.co/c9g7CGiuBU pic.twitter.com/cSt3cmMNR3
— Kris Kashtanova (@icreatelife) October 12, 2023
I’m really happy & proud that Firefly now enables uploading your own images & mixing them into your creations. For months & months, this has been users’ number 1 feature request.
But with power comes responsibility, of course, and we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about ways to discourage misuse of the tech (i.e. how do we keep this from becoming a rip-off engine?). I’m glad to say that we’ve invested in some good guidelines & guardrails:
First, we require users to confirm they have the right to use any work that they upload to Generative Match as a reference image.
Second, if an image’s Content Credentials include tags indicating that the image shouldn’t be used as a style reference, users won’t be able to use it with Generative Match. We will be rolling out the ability to add these tags to assets as part of the Content Credentials framework within our flagship products.
Third, when a reference image is used to generate an asset, we save a thumbnail of the image to help ensure that the use of Generative Match meets our terms of service. We also note that a reference image was used in the asset’s Content Credentials. Storing the reference image provides an important dose of accountability.
To be clear, these protections are just first steps, and we plan to do more to strengthen protections. In the meantime, your feedback is most welcome!
I’m delighted to say that the first Firefly Vector model is now available (as a beta—feedback welcome!) in Illustrator. Just download your copy to get started. Here’s a quick tour:
And more generally, it’s just one of numerous enhancements now landing in Illustrator. Check ’em out:
Hey everyone—I’m just back from Adobe MAX, and hopefully my blog is back from some WordPress database shenanigans that have kept me from posting.
I don’t know what the site will enable right now, so I’ll start by simply pointing to a great 30-second tour of my favorite new feature in Firefly, Generative Match. It enables you to upload your own image as a style reference, or to pick one that Adobe provides, and mix it together with your prompt and other parameters.
You can then optionally share the resulting recipe (via “Copy link” in the Share menu that appears over results), complete with the image ingredient; try this example. This goes well beyond what one can do with just copying/pasting a prompt, and as we introduce more multimodal inputs (3D object, sketching, etc.), it’ll become all the more powerful.
All images below were generated with the following prompt: a studio portrait of a fluffy llama, hyperrealistic, shot on a white cyclorama + various style images:
Powered by Firefly, in development now:
It’s just a super quick tease, but this vid shows Windows 11 calling Express in order to make an Instagram reel from the user’s photos. Check it out:
My old teammates Richard Tucker, Noah Snavely, and co. have been busy. Check out this quick video & interactive demo:
Excited to share our work on Generative Image Dynamics!
We learn a generative image-space prior for scene dynamics, which can turn a still photo into a seamless looping video or let you interact with objects in the picture. Check out the interactive demo:https://t.co/GLPBVpouJY pic.twitter.com/6h1Qq0kL2G
— Zhengqi Li (@zhengqi_li) September 15, 2023
80lv notes,
According to the team, they trained the prior using a dataset of motion trajectories extracted from real-life video sequences that featured natural, oscillating motions like those seen in trees, flowers, candles, and wind-blown clothing. These trajectories can then be applied to convert static images into smooth-looping dynamic videos, slow-motion clips, or interactive experiences that allow users to interact with the elements within the image.
Here are four minutes that I promise you won’t regret spending as Nathan Shipley demonstrates DALL•E 3 working inside ChatGPT to build up an entire visual world:
I mean, seriously, the demo runs through creating:
Insane. Also charming: its extremely human inability to reliably spell “Dachshund!”
In case you missed any or all of last week’s news, here’s a quick recap:
Firefly-powered workflows that have so far been limited to the beta versions of Adobe’s apps — like Illustrator’s vector recoloring, Express text-to-image effects, and Photoshop’s Generative Fill tools — are now generally available to most users (though there are some regional restrictions in countries with strict AI laws like China).
Adobe is also launching a standalone Firefly web app that will allow users to explore some of its generative capabilities without subscribing to specific Adobe Creative Suite applications. Adobe Express Premium and the Firefly web app will be included as part of a paid Creative Cloud subscription plan.
Specifically around credits:
To help manage the compute demand (and the costs associated with generative AI), Adobe is also introducing a new credit-based system that users can “cash in” to access the fastest Firefly-powered workflows. The Firefly web app, Express Premium, and Creative Cloud paid plans will include a monthly allocation of Generative Credits starting today, with all-app Creative Cloud subscribers receiving 1,000 credits per month.
Users can still generate Firefly content if they exceed their credit limit, though the experience will be slower. Free plans for supported apps will also include a credit allocation (subject to the app), but this is a hard limit and will require customers to purchase additional credits if they’re used up before the monthly reset. Customers can buy additional Firefly Generative Credit subscription packs starting at $4.99.
None of this AI magic would be possible without beautiful source materials from creative people, and in a new blog post and FAQ, the Adobe Stock team provides some new info:
All eligible Adobe Stock contributors with photos, vectors or illustrations in the standard and Premium collection, whose content was used to train the first commercial Firefly model will receive a Firefly bonus. This initial bonus, which will be different for each contributor, is based on the all-time total number of approved images submitted to Adobe Stock that were used for Firefly training, and the number of licenses that those images generated in the 12-month period between June 3rd, 2022, to June 2nd, 2023. The bonus is planned to pay out once a year and is currently weighted towards number of licenses issued for an image, which we consider a useful proxy for the demand and usefulness of those images. The next Firefly Bonus is planned for 2024 for new content used for training Firefly.
They’ve also provided info on what’s permissible around submitting AI-generated content:
With Adobe Firefly now commercially available, Firefly-generated works that meet our generative AI submission guidelines will now be eligible for submission to Adobe Stock. Given the proliferation of generative AI in tools like Photoshop, and many more tools and cameras to come, we anticipate that assets in the future will contain some number of generated pixels and we want to set up Adobe Stock for the future while protecting artists. We are increasing our moderation capabilities and systems to be more effective at preventing the use of creators’ names as prompts with a focus on protecting creators’ IP. Contributors who submit content that infringes or violates the IP rights of other creators will be removed from Adobe Stock.
I had fun catching up with folks at the AI Salon (see background) a couple of weeks ago, talking about the past, present, and future of Adobe Firefly. If that’s up your alley, here’s my talk (cued up to my starting point). Note that the content about watermarks & stock contributors predates last week’s “ready for commercial use” announcements.
From Dana Rao, Adobe’s General Counsel & Chief Trust Officer:
Adobe has proposed that Congress establish a new Federal Anti-Impersonation Right (the “FAIR” Act) to address this type of economic harm. Such a law would provide a right of action to an artist against those that are intentionally and commercially impersonating their work or likeness through AI tools. This protection would provide a new mechanism for artists to protect their livelihood from people misusing this new technology, without having to rely solely on laws around copyright and fair use. In this law, it’s simple: intentional impersonation using AI tools for commercial gain isn’t fair.
This is really tricky territory, as we seek to find a balance between enabling creative use of tools & protection of artists. I encourage you to read the whole post, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m so pleased that we’ve now shipped a feature I’ve been nurturing since the launch of Firefly six years—er, months 🤪—ago.
It enables all kinds of fun visual ping-pong, like riffing on sloth politicians:
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Check out this intriguing collaboration with Lupe Fiasco (more interesting than you might think, I promise!):
I’m so pleased & even proud (having at least having offered my encouragement to him over the years) to see my buddy Bilawal spreading his wings and spreading the good word about AI-powered creativity.
Check out his quick thoughts on “Channel-surfing realities layered on top of the real world,” “3D screenshots for the real world,” and more:
Favorite quote 😉:
“All they need to do is have a creative vision, and a Nack for working in concert with these AI models”—beautifully said, my friend! 🙏😜. pic.twitter.com/f6oUNSQXul
— John Nack (@jnack) September 1, 2023
Amazing & wonderful:
Breakthrough brain implant and digital avatar allow stroke survivor to speak with facial expressions for first time in 18 years.
Among other magic, “Simply input an image, and our AI will automatically turn 2D into 3D in less than 15 minutes.”
Check out this quick tutorial from Kris Kashtanova:
Tutorial: How to make a lo-fi animation with new Adobe Express!
Adobe Express is available to everyone today and I made this super short tutorial for you of what’s possible. It has GenAI, background remove, making cool animations and more.
Get it here: https://t.co/PovZvcmDqL pic.twitter.com/jG3hAYoGKk— Kris Kashtanova (@icreatelife) August 16, 2023
You know you’ve entered the cultural conversation when things like this happen. I’m reminded of the first Snapchat filters inspiring real-world Halloween costumes showing puking rainbows & more.
Who will move on to the FINAL?! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/22dHaiefyl
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 15, 2023
Good stuff just shipped on firefly.adobe.com:
You may need to perform a hard refresh on your browser to see the changes. Cmd (Ctrl) + Shift + R.
If anything looks amiss, or if there’s more you’d like to see changed, please let us know!
The title says pretty much everything, but FYI:
Super exciting stuff from this new plugin, free while it’s in beta:
1/ Introducing Alpaca’s public beta (goodbye waitlist!) for @Photoshop. So many exciting new features to share with this update! More below. Try it for free here: https://t.co/j2GAxt8VPY pic.twitter.com/gJHD5iv3vd
— Alpaca (@alpacaml) August 3, 2023
Speaking of using Generative Fill to build up areas with missing detail, check out this 30-second demo of old photo restoration:
Restoring old photos using Generative Fill in @Photoshop?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/UlXj5paDTD
— Howard Pinsky (@Pinsky) August 3, 2023
And though it’s not presently available in Photoshop, check out this use of ControlNet to revive an old family photo:
ControlNet did a good job rejuvenating a stained blurry 70 year old photo of my 90 year old grandparents.
by u/prean625 in StableDiffusion
I found PiXimpefect’s clever use of Quick Mask + GenFill interesting. It’s basically “Select Subject -> Quick Mask -> paint over hair edges -> generate,” filling in areas where the original selection/removal process left something to be desired.
I had a ball chatting with members of the Firefly community, including our new evangelist Kris Kashtanova & O.G. designer/evangelist Rufus Deuchler. It was a really energetic & wide-ranging conversation, and if you’d like to check it out, here ya go:
Here’s a recording of today’s Space with @rufusd and @jnack from @Adobe
We’ll definitely do this again. Thank you all for joining us today.
— Kris Kashtanova (@icreatelife) August 3, 2023
I dig this simple, creative application from Nemanja Sekulic:
It’s here (in your beta copy of Photoshop, same as Generative Fill), and it works pretty much exactly as I think you’d expect: drag out crop handles, then optionally specify what you want placed into the expanded region.
In addition:
Today, we’re excited to announce that Firefly-powered features in Photoshop (beta) will now support text prompts in 100+ languages — enabling users around the world to bring their creative vision to life with text prompts in the language they prefer.
It’s 2023, and you can make all of this with your GD telephone. And just as amazingly, a year or two from now, we’ll look back on feeling this way & find it quaint.
GN 💫 I got too excited and edited a first video draft on my phone in my trusty splice app 👀
images generated in #midjourney, edited in #photoshop and animated in #runway gen2 https://t.co/jKBeMevnqM pic.twitter.com/QQyu4FqqpG
— Julie W. Design (@juliewdesign_) July 24, 2023
Check out my teammate CJ’s exploration around using ChatGPT to produce expression code for use in After Effects:
Happy Monday, courtesy of the AI-wrangling minds at Curious Refuge. 😌
What’s real, and what’s Generative Fill? Watch as photographer Peter McKinnon tries to tell the difference in real time!
What’s a great creative challenge?
What fun games make you feel more connected with friends?
What’s the “Why” (not just the “What” & “How”) at the heart of generative imaging?
These are some of the questions we’ve been asking ourselves as we seek out some delightful, low-friction ways to get folks creating & growing their skills. To that end I had a ball joining my teammates Candice, Beth Anne, and Gus for a Firefly livestream a couple of weeks ago, engaging in a good chat with the audience as we showed off some of the weirder & more experimental ideas we’ve had. I’ve cued up this vid to roughly the part where we get into those ideas, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on those—or really anything in the whole conversation. TIA!
10,000x smaller & 25x faster? My old Google teammates & their collaborators, who changed the generative game last year by enabling custom model training, are now proposing to upend things further by enabling training via a single image—and massively faster, too. Check out this thread: