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Photoshop just made it shockingly easy to edit objects and people into photos

Harmonize makes it easy to naturally edit objects and people into other images.

Adobe is launching some new generative AI features for Photoshop that make it easier than ever to convincingly add or remove people and objects in photographs. An update rolling out today introduces AI image upscaling, improved object removal, and an automatic composition tool that can seamlessly blend new elements into images in just a few clicks.

The “Harmonize” compositing feature builds on the Project Perfect Blend experiment that Adobe showcased last year. When you add a new object to a photograph, Harmonize will automatically adjust the color, lighting, shadows, and visual tone of the added element to naturally blend it into the main image — something that typically requires a decent amount of skill and experience with photo editing software. It’s launching in beta for Photoshop users on both web and desktop, and is available in early access on the Photoshop iOS mobile app.

A generative AI-powered image upscaling tool is also launching in beta for Photoshop on web and desktop. Adobe says it provides “high-quality resolution enhancements up to eight megapixels without sacrificing image clarity,” to improve details on low-quality images, helping users to restore old photographs or adapt image assets for various platforms.

The automatic object removal tool for desktop and web Photoshop users is also being updated to “clean up your images with more precision,” according to Adobe. The improvements should result in fewer unwanted background elements, and more realistic content being generated to fill in any unwanted gaps. Notably, it should also now listen to you when you ask it to remove an object without adding something to replace it, which it had a habit of doing before.

A before and after example of Photoshop’s improved object removal tool.

These features have me both excited and fearful. While Photoshop already has generative AI features that can add new objects to images based on prompt descriptions, the results can be unpredictable, and there are safeguards in place to prevent it from generating anything concerning, like deepfakes of notable public figures, violence, or sexually explicit materials. 

By comparison, the only limitation to Harmonize is that the user will have to find the images they want to blend together. Photoshop will apply digital Content Credentials to edited images that contain information about how they were manipulated, which is good for accountability, but not prevention. I can imagine far more wholesome ways to use these tools than I can nefarious ones, but it’s now even easier to do the latter than it was before.

“Customers who use the Harmonize feature must adhere to Adobe’s terms of use, which prohibits generating unlawful or harmful content,” Photoshop product manager, Joel Baer, told The Verge. “Adobe takes content safety seriously across all products, and has implemented safeguards such as Content Credentials, to protect users and combat harmful and misleading content. Content Credentials give the option for good actors to attach edit history to their work and create a digital chain of trust and authenticity.”

Last year, I said that likening concerns about generative AI photo editing apps to Photoshop was a poor comparison. Guess I have to eat my words now.



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