Last week I tried my hands on Photoshop's very popular beta feature, the Generative fill AI.
What is Generative fill?
Adobe has incorporated Firefly (AI-generated art app) into Photoshop (Beta). This allows you to add, remove and extend your image by typing in text prompts.
I started with an Image of a Prius PHEV (from the internet) and went on to create a back-plate as if I were a brochure production artist (not really, I am a Product Specialist 😜), who received a creative brief to create a Green city with Electric charging station giving a sustainable feel.
Let's go through the steps:
1. The base Image.
Selection : Selected the subject & the Inverted selection to select all the background I will replace. Before making the selection I also used the crop tool to expand the canvas and get some space around the car.
Generative Prompt: Electric Charging station in a city
2. The AI generated a few variants, of which I chose the one below. But as you see the electric charger was just in front of the camera 🥱, so let's fix it>
Selection: The electric charger with a small part of the background on the left of the charger. Including a small part of the background is important, this way the AI will merge the generated content seamlessly.
Generative Prompt: Just a plain generative fill without a prompt.
3. Voila! Getting somewhere, it looks good now. But wait, now we need an electric charger again! I would like it to be on the left of the car.
Selection: Area beside the car. Here, the size of the selection will decide the size of the charger.
Generative Prompt: Electric car charger
4. Cool, now we have a nice electric charger. But there is some weird structure behind the car that is kind of distracting and does not go with the clean theme. Gotta remove it!
Selection: The structure and some small part of the background around it. I had to closely select the Silhouette of the car & the charger to prevent the AI to make changes there.
Generative Prompt: Just a plain generative fill without a prompt.
5. Almost done. We will just do some cleaning, shadow fixes & minor fills to give it a final touch.
Selection: All unwanted shadows/elements/textures.
Generative Prompt: Just a plain generative fill without a prompt.
(Note: This was done in multiple layer steps)
Although we can still go a long way to keep making the image better and cleaner, my purpose here was to try the capabilities of this tool and how we can take benefits from it.
Some techniques that work for me:
Selection: The shape of the selection does matter a lot. e.g. if you want to add a vertical charger, making a long vertical selection will produce better results than making a square selection. The same applies for everything like a conical selection for a birthday hat & an Oval selection for a cowboy hat.
Prompts:
- Use nouns & Adjectives!
- Avoid instructions e.g. don't write "Add a cyclist far away" instead just write "Cyclist" while making a selection far away.
- Prompt is not always necessary. Just a prompt-less plain "Generative fill" often works as well.
My take:
The generative fill feature is near-magical! The Generative Fill strives to replicate the perspective, lighting, and style of the original scene. In simpler terms, it endeavours to generate an image that includes suitable shadows, reflections, lighting, and perspective.
If I wanted to do all this manually, believe me, I won't even go anywhere closer.
AI Vs Humans?
Well, this is a debate but I am on the side of sense-full usage of this tool. Let's embrace the incredible potential of this remarkable tool!
In a mere 10 minutes, I effortlessly dabbled with it, despite not being a Photoshop guy at all. Now envision a seasoned digital artist who possesses a deep understanding of layering, selections, and masking techniques. If done with the right prompt engineering, with this tool by their side, they can unlock a treasure trove of time savings, effortlessly finding assets and seamlessly harmonizing colours and lights.
The realm of AI opens up endless possibilities for us to tap into what truly sets us apart as a species. Our boundless curiosity, our heightened consciousness, our vibrant dreams, our emotional intelligence, and our unique vision can take center stage. As we march forward, these algorithms we've created become our trusted allies, effortlessly bringing our authentic artistic visions to life. It's a future brimming with limitless creativity and boundless human potential.
#generativefill #generativeai #photoshop #chatgpt #virtualproduction #ai #postproduction