Adobe MAX London: Will Firefly AI Finally Give Us Creative Superpowers? ✨

I’ve been paying Adobe 60 bucks a month for the past ten years. And quite happily, given how much I’ve used the likes of Photoshop and Premiere Pro over the years.

But in the last few years, I’ve begun questioning whether that 60 dollars is really worth it.

Given all the creative AI tools being released, Adobe’s competition is growing by the day. Why pay $60 per month for a complex editing suite when I can pay $30 for something more user-friendly that also generates visuals?

We have image generators and editors like Midjourney, Canva and GPT 4o changing the way we create and edit images. We have video editors and generators like Veed, Capcut and Runway making video creation more accessible than ever.

Realising this, Adobe have made strides towards integrating generative and intuitive AI into their creative suite.

We’ve been given AI additions likes Generative Fill and Firefly, but nothing that’s truly moved the needle. Adobe is going to have to level up if it plans on keeping up. And they know it.

Adobe’s competitive moat is the ecosystem it’s already created. If all your creative projects are organised within this ecosystem, it makes it painful to leave.

Sure, I might feel like $60 per month is too expensive for an aging creative suite, but the time and organisational cost of finding an all-in-one alternative is just not worth it to me, at least not yet.

Adobe will either integrate AI into its creative suite in a compelling and needle-moving way, or they will continue sliding into digital irrelevance.

If Adobe integrates AI in a way that empowers both creative control and creative output, the possibilities are pretty damn exciting.

So are these latest announcements the start of something big for creatives? Or simply a carrot to keep us paying 60 bucks per month? Let’s find out.

What Was Announced at Adobe MAX?

At Adobe MAX in London, Adobe announced a big leap forward with the Firefly Image Model 4 and 4 Ultra, now allowing for text-to-image, text-to-video, image-to-video, and more.

For anyone who’s ever spent hours fine-tuning a single graphic, these models can instantly give you a realistic draft.

Then you can dive in and make pixel-perfect edits to match the vision in your head.

• Firefly Image Model 4 Ultra takes things even further with high-end detail and realism—perfect for those times when absolute precision matters.

• Firefly Video Model is out, too. You can generate a quick clip from a text prompt, saving you hours (if not days) in early concepting.

And here’s the real punch packer: You can now use other AI models right in the Firefly app—like Google Imagen3, Veo2, and even OpenAI GPT image generation.

I love this because it means I’m not constrained to one “look.” I can pick the AI tool that fits my style—or my client’s.

Firefly Boards (Beta): The Moodboarding Game-Changer

I’ve wasted countless hours rummaging through random reference folders. Firefly Boards promises a more streamlined approach.

It’s a generative AI-first moodboard. You can quickly draft a look, style, or vibe, then refine and refine some more. Once you lock in your direction, it’s just a short hop into production with your favorite Creative Cloud app.

Firefly Mobile App: Creativity in Your Pocket

We’ve all had those moments of inspiration away from the desk.

Soon, the Firefly mobile app on iOS and Android lets you capture ideas, tweak colors, or even generate quick videos on the fly.

I’m excited to edit a rough concept on my phone, then finalize every detail later in Photoshop on my desktop—no more emailing sketches to myself.

Illustrator: Now Quicker Than Ever

Adobe Illustrator has always been my go-to for logos and vector artwork. But speed could sometimes be an issue.

Now, with performance boosts and AI-driven features, Adobe says it’s up to 5x faster at key tasks.

Plus:

• Generative Shape Fill: Start with a vector shape, watch AI fill in perfect details.

• Text to Pattern: Create seamless patterns in a snap (no more manual tile alignments).

• Generative Expand (in Beta): Resize your artwork beyond its original bounds while preserving your style.

This means less time fiddling with repetitive tasks and more time unleashing creativity.

Photoshop: Work Smarter, Not Harder

Photoshop’s new Select Details feature in the Object Selection tool is a lifesaver for things like hair or clothing folds—no more painstaking pixel-by-pixel selections.

And Adjust Colors identifies prominent colors for you, providing on-canvas controls so you can tweak hues or saturation without juggling multiple layers.

The Actions panel also got a major upgrade (in Beta): It automatically suggests complex editing sequences tailored to your image. As someone who’s spent hours creating action sets by hand, I’m stoked to see an AI-driven approach that might teach me new techniques.

Adobe Express: Fast, Fun, and On-Brand

Want to whip up social media posts, animations, or short promo clips in record time? Adobe Express offers:

• Clip Maker: Drop in your existing video or audio, and it auto-generates social clips.

• New Video Editing Tools: Quickly rearrange clips, apply transitions, or even remove background noise.

• Dynamic Animation Presets: Animate Illustrator and Photoshop designs with one click.

• Generate Similar: Take a single image and produce a whole set of cohesive designs in seconds.

If you manage a brand with a tight aesthetic, these new features will save you so much time.

Other Creative Cloud Highlights

• InDesign: Convert PDFs to InDesign docs, try Generative Fill (beta), and handle math/science notations effortlessly.

• Lightroom: New Landscape Masking quickly detects elements like mountains, water, or foliage. It also suggests quick one-tap edits (e.g., teeth whitening, skin softening) tailored to each individual.

• Adobe Fonts: Over 1,500 new fonts, including heavy hitters like Helvetica and Avenir, all included in your Creative Cloud plan.

Helping Creatives Launch Their Careers

Adobe’s Creative Apprenticeship program is designed to mentor the next generation of creatives, offering real-world projects and job opportunities.

Accessible on Behance via the new Career Resource Center, it includes everything from free career guides to apprenticeship opportunities (currently in the US, Canada, and UK).

Protecting Your Work with Content Authenticity

Worried about your creations being misused or misrepresented by AI? Adobe’s launching a public beta for Adobe Content Authenticity, a free app that allows you to attach Content Credentials to your work.

These credentials can include your verified name and social handles, giving you a modern way to sign and protect your art.

Embrace the New Era of Creativity

After a decade of meticulous, pixel-perfect editing, I can’t wait to see how these AI-driven tools speed up the grunt work and let me focus on the fun stuff—realizing the wild ideas swirling around in my head.

Adobe’s new Firefly suite, combined with the performance bumps in apps like Illustrator and Photoshop, marks a turning point: Generative AI can handle the quick draft, and we still get total creative control to fine-tune every detail.

If you’re ready to dive deeper, check out the Adobe Blog for more details. It’s time to reimagine how we create—and do it a whole lot faster. Happy making!