Adobe adds AI photo edits to Project Indigo

Adobe is pushing its Project Indigo camera app beyond its original pitch of a more natural, SLR-like smartphone look. The company’s Nextcam Team has added a set of generative features called AI Playground, aimed at helping mobile photographers at the moment they shoot.

According to the team, the goal is to explore how generative AI can assist users “at the point of capture.” The first version of AI Playground is split into four sections:

• Object Editing: remove distractions such as people, cars, or signs, and blur the background to imitate a shallower depth of field.
• Styles: transform photos with looks such as “pen and ink” or “ink line with color wash,” making images resemble drawings or paintings.
• Photo Guidance: analyze a photo, critique it, and suggest improvements before the next shot.
• Custom Edit: apply prompt-based changes with more control, including edits like moving a lantern onto a mountain ledge with sunlight coming from the right side of the frame.

Adobe’s Nextcam Team said the feature is currently powered by Google’s Nano Banana model, though it may switch to other models later.

For now, AI Playground is free, but Adobe is keeping the test small. The company said it is available to only “a few percent of our users, and only for a few weeks.” If the rollout goes well, Adobe may expand access or extend the test period.

Recommended reading

X Rebuilt Its Android App to Speed Up Releases

The team also made clear the free access is temporary.

“we can’t offer it for free forever,” and “if the feature proves popular, we will eventually offer a paid version.”