Adobe MAX brings new editing tools and more AI to Creative Cloud

Adobe MAX showcased a range of new tools and AI enhancements for Creative Cloud applications. Photoshop, Premiere, and Lightroom users gained more ways to edit and revise their work on Mac and iPhone. Adobe's latest features were AI-powered or AI-assisted, with several tools unveiled at the event.

A new Relight tool added light sources to images, with controls for position, color, and brightness. Generative Restyle created variations from descriptions and converted results into layers. The Remove Tool now removed objects, their footprints, reflections, shadows, and waves, reconstructing the surrounding area. Quick Compare provided an on-canvas slider for reviewing before-and-after versions of an image.

AI Assisted Editor centered on generative tools and natural-language prompts, switching to Pro Editor granted access to layers and full editing tools. Photoshop's beta app added Mockups for placing images onto objects and surfaces, while Camera Angles adjusted an image's viewpoint. Generative Recompose adapted images to different aspect ratios, and Convert to Text Layers extracted text from flattened images for editing.

Timelapse recorded the editing process for sharing, while Remove Ambient Effect Only removed effects like haze, lens flare, shadows, and reflections. Color Mode, now generally available, provided a dedicated interface for video color grading with basic corrections and advanced grading adjustments. The Generative Media tool added video, sound effects, soundscape, and music generation within Premiere's timeline, using edit context to generate additional footage and audio.

Enhance Audio separated dialogue, music, ambience, and sound effects for independent mixing. Separate Crosstalk isolated overlapping speakers into individual tracks, and Separate Sound Source broke recordings into individual audio elements for cleanup. Premiere on iPhone offered access to licensed tracks from Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, with artist-inspired templates.

Adobe Stock Audio remained available for commercially licensed music. Adobe brought AI Assistant to Premiere mobile through a private beta, generating first cuts based on natural-language instructions. Quick Cut created video from selected camera-roll footage, while AI Assistant supported requests for short videos from longer footage or event highlights. Glow added lighting effects, and Blemish Removal expanded retouching capabilities beyond Lightroom's mobile app.

Camera Tethering expanded across Lightroom on desktop and iPad, enabling reviewing, organizing, and collaborating on images during a shoot. Open Eyes replaced closed eyes in reference photos, and Illustrator's content libraries added brushes, graphic styles, patterns, and gradients. Co-editing allowed multiple designers to work on layouts simultaneously, and Flex Layout dynamically resized text frames with live preview. Check Document identified common editorial and accessibility issues during layout work.

Adobe previewed Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations that connected third-party AI agents to Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, and After Effects, preserving editable layers and preserving editable layers, vectors, bins, and sequences. These agents could apply changes across campaign assets or use connected services.