Adobe’s family of AI tools, Firefly, has completed beta testing. This means that creative individuals can now freely use it to create images in Photoshop, experiment with text on the Firefly website, recolor images in Illustrator, and enhance banners and videos created with Adobe Express.
And now we have information about the pricing of Adobe’s Firefly technology. Adobe is not increasing the prices of its products, but it will bundle credits for Firefly usage based on different rates depending on the subscription plan of Creative Cloud that users are paying for.
If you have a full Creative Cloud subscription for $55 per month, which gives you access to all Adobe software, you can create up to 1,000 projects per month using Firefly. If you subscribe to a single program, such as Photoshop or Premiere Pro, for $21 per month, you get 500 creations per month. Subscribing to Adobe Express, a mobile app that costs $10 per month, gives you 250 Firefly usages.
“We want to make it easy for our customers to use Firefly without worrying about running out of credits or feeling restricted,” said Deepa Subramaniam, Vice President of Marketing for Adobe’s Creative Cloud since November.
Based on my experience with Firefly so far, it has generated excellent results, but it does have its limitations. Being a cloud-based service, there is hope that Adobe will continue to improve Firefly and deliver better outcomes.
The potential of Generative AI based on human behavior became evident in 2022 with the introduction of OpenAI’s text-based chat system, ChatGPT. Generative AI tools trained on mainstream devices still make mistakes, but Adobe’s customers are forgiving because they are often searching for ideas. Generative AI proves to be more effective in virtual reality applications compared to virtual reality itself.
Customers with paid subscription plans will be able to continue using Firefly even if they exceed their monthly limit, but at a reduced rate, explained Subramaniam. Free users have access to 25 Firefly usages per month.
Additionally, Adobe’s approach is noteworthy. The company will compensate Adobe Stock contributors whose images were used to train Firefly. Adobe will provide a “meaningful” annual bonus based on the number of licensed images and the revenue generated through image licensing.
I used Photoshop’s Firefly generative AI technology to add a red crab to a photo I took of an American avocet sweeping through the mud with its bill. Firefly is smart enough to display crabs correctly, but if you look closely, the errors are evident.
“This is an opportunity to provide our contributors with additional funding,” said Subramaniam.
Previously, Firefly was only available in beta programs, and Adobe limited its use in commercial projects. To avoid copyright issues that could hinder AI usage, Adobe trained Firefly AI on its collection of Adobe Stock images and public images.
Firefly will be integrated into Adobe’s Premiere Pro video editing tool later this year.
My Experience with Adobe Firefly AI
In my testing, Firefly was often successful at combining images, either by inserting objects using the fill tool or zooming in on a particular area. It could match the lighting and perspective of the scene, a challenging task, and create realistic lighting. It excelled at reproducing detailed areas like leaves.
However, it occasionally produced unusual or problematic results, such as an elephant with a second trunk in place of its tail. Achieving the best outcomes often required rejecting some of Firefly’s suggestions and trying different approaches. Despite its limitations, Firefly remains a popular tool among fans of AI graphics.
Using Firefly in Photoshop, I enlarged the original image on the left with new trees and foliage, which worked well. The added fish are not very clear, but Firefly blended them effectively with the background.
In many cases, dividing the generation process into multiple steps yielded better results. For instance, in the image of the parachuting hippo, I first created the hippo against a blue sky in Photoshop, enlarged the image to enhance the atmosphere, and then added the parachute.
AI-Generated Images Labeled for Transparency
People are often concerned about “deepfake” AI copies of real individuals but are intrigued by authentic AI-generated images, such as the Pope wearing a puffy jacket. To address these concerns, Adobe is implementing a technology called certification credentials to enhance transparency.
Images created with Adobe tools will be labeled as AI-generated using embedded information, according to Subramaniam.
“This is how we can establish trust and transparency and avoid these issues,” she said.
Editor’s note: CNET is using an AI engine to assist in generating some news articles. For more information, see this post.
