Ross, I paid for Topaz Photo Ai something lime 18 months ago.  I was extremely impressed with its upscale and denoise functions, and it's other functions were none too shabby either.  At the end of the first year I was invited to pay for a further year of updates.  At that time I could not see improvements that warranted the cost of that renewal, so I chose not to do so.  My thinking was that as a worst case I could renew at a time when updates were significantly better, and get a full year of updates from that time.  In a better case, I thought that Photoshop might catch up with Topaz natively making it redundant.   I was not expecting the Topaz Models to be included as partner models, but now that they have been, there is absolutely no need to be giving Topaz Labs your dollars.      Much the same thing happened with Gemini 2.5 Nano Banana.  I was definitely going to pay for a Nano Banana monthly subscription, but could see how quickly things were moving and held off. Now we have the best of all worlds regards that functionality.    ... View more

Do you have the original image on a card, or phone or whatever? The image has been heavily over sharpened, so you'd be much better off going back to the original and NOT over sharpening it.  You can fix it using the Remove tool with a tiny brush, or maybe the Healing brush.   I tried both Nano Banana and Flux Kontext with the prompt: fix the bright halo around the outside of both faces. Remove other effects of the image being over sharpened but neither made and improvement.  This was with Select All.  Making a smaller selection probably won't help with thos models because they would not have enough context to make sense of the prompt.   Was this a Halloween gag or something similar.  They look like plastic mannequins, and just a wee bit suspect.   ... View more

Hi Diane.  Are/were you looking for an application other than Photoshop that can view PSD files, or to actually edit them?  If you search, there are several apps, some of them free, that can open and edit PSD files. I'm guessing that some of the features will not be fully resolved, but I would expect they would still show as layers. ... View more

When you use the term 'Shape' you imply a vector mask. If you have an active path, which you might create with any of the shape tools, or the pen tool. And if you Ctrl click the layer mask icon at the bottom of the Paths panel, it will add a vector mask as opposed to the usual raster mask. The advantage is that you have a fully sharp and scalable mask that can be edited with the Direct Selection or Pen tool. You can even use Mask properties to feather the mask or change its density. The disadvantage is that you can't use filters on the mask, or Alt click the mask to view it full screen.  Not that you'd want to with a vector mask.  ... View more

I'll try and do this in steps, as it needs some possibly hidden parts to it. Create your two text layers. I used the character panel to increase the vertical height to 180%.  I'm using LTC Square Face. This bit is tricky, so read carefully. Ctrl T (Free Transform) Right click and choose Warp Position the cursor just slightly inside the centre at the bottom of the bounding box, and Ctrl click to add a micro point.   Before. Note the Warp handles. There is no handle in the middle of the lower edge of the bounding box. After. Hold down Ctrl. Hover in the middle of the bounding box. You'll see a tiny box with a plus sign in it. Click and you have a new handle/point This is where you can mess up. You need to hold down the Alt key and click on the new handle. Drag down to distort Hold down alt and reposition the central handles (my red highlight). After moving the first, click on the center handle and the other point will show. Alt drag that handle.  If moving one of those points affects the other, then undo and try again while holding down Alt. Try to keep those handles symmetrical, and the vertical, handle (my yellow highlight) vertical. You can adjust lower corner points (my majenta handles) to exagerate the distortion. No need to use Alt for these. OK that and copy it (Ctrl J) Go Filter > Noise > Add noise.  Make it Monocrome, and go heavy on the strength.  Because the layer is a Smart Object you can adjust this as often as you like.   Use the Smart Object mask to hide the noise where needed. Use Mask Properties to feather if that helps. Add a layer mask to the layer (separate from the Smart Object Mask) and use that to fade the lower edge of the text.   I am just doing this very roughly showing you the tools. You'll obviously design to your taste.   OK, let's look at another way to add that noise. I think this is better as it gives you way more options. Search for a 'noise texture' and clip it to the text smart object. You can sharpen, change size, invert etc. etc. to fine tune the noise with this method. You'll need to add a layer mask to this layer. I've done that, but left it reveal all so you can see the texture. Does this give you something to work with? The text will remain sharp, and can be edited. (Font, spelling etc.)   If you use a t-shirt with folds as is the case here, you'll need to use a Displacement Map to shape it to follow the folds, but that's a whole other post, and I'm hungry. ... View more

Looking again at this thread's subject line, there was something at MAX about Gen Fill being free till 1st December. That would account for high demand.  There were also some cool tips and tricks about Ai at MAX, and people will be trying them out.  I know that I am — BIG time — and discovering that it can do way more than I realized. ... View more

Even if you fire up the WIA app directly from Photoshop, you are still at the mercy of how that app works.  If it was not written as a Photoshop Plugin, then there is almost no advantage in trying to use it that way. WIA sup[port was withdraw from Photoshop even before the CC subscription model was introduced, and that was because it too much trouble getting them to play nicely together.  I see it is back now, but I wouldn't risk using it personally.  Just scan and import as JPGs, and open them into Photoshop, maybe using Bridge.   Why make life hard for yourself? ... View more

Just a thought, but did you try Photomerge? You can do it manually by selecting the layers and using Edit > Auto Align layers, followed by Edit > Auto Blend Layers  with Seamless Tones and Colors checked.  I tried it with your images, and it gave me:   I separated the layers and put some red behind them, so we can see exactly what area of each layer was used. This used to be used a lot years ago when HDR was a thing, and considering how new Nano Banana is to Photoshop, Photomerge would probably have been the smart move prior to NB.  Crazy times, and lots more to come I am sure.   I have a couple of posts currently at the end of this thread that might help with Ai use.   ... View more

There is no option top use a reference image with Nano Banana so you need to place everything on the same layer like this. Then Select All, and in the Contextual Task Bar or Edit > Generative Fill, select the Gemini 2.5 model, and use a prompt along the lines of: 'Replace the over exposed window with the properly exposed window.' Which produced this:   I expect you know that the resolution is limited to 1024 x 1024 and will be stretched if the canvas or selected area is more than that size.  To overcome that: Reduce the image to 1024 pizxels on its longest size Use Nano Banana Then use Edit > Generitive Upscale to to raise the image to a suitable size for print (if that is required). Note 4X is the most you you can upscale. ... View more

I gotta know how you did that..... By @Glenn 8675309   I used to do it using the Adobe Clean  font which is what they use in the UI, but nowadays  Select All Generative Fill with Flux Kontext selected. And the prompt:  Replace "Inches" with "Corndogs" Sometimes it will work without the quotes, but more reliable with them. It used zero gen creds for me but we get unlimited standard credits with a full subscription, and 4100 Premium credits. ... View more

One last tip. Check out Mark Heaps' session from MAX last week.  It has some killer tips outside of Photoshop and Firefly Ai, and some in depth info about the Ai tools.  I picked up some completely new to me info from that session.   https://www.adobe.com/max/2024/sessions/work-happy-not-harder-with-generative-ai-in-photo-s6303.html   One more, 'one more' tip. This came from Julianne Kost's session.  If you use Gen Fill with the Firefly model which gives you the three options, the resulting layer is basically a Smart Object.  So you can use 'Convert to Layers' to create a group with those three option each on separate layers.  You are obviously using more file size if you do this as opposed to rasterizing the Gen Fill layer with your favourite option, but you can delete one of the three if it's a stinker. I use this as a convenient way of combining the best areas of the three (or more if you keep hitting Generate) using layer masks.  Hey, I wonder what would happen if you selected those layers and tried Edit > Autoblend layers with Seamless Tones and Colors ?  Probably a mess, But I will definitely be trying it.   ... View more

What model did you use? What sort of selection?   With a situation like below, I would use Gemimi 2.5 Nano Banana with a prompt like: 'Fix the tears in the cardboard box, and leave the rest of the box unchanged.' The selection needs thinking about.  Selecting just the damaged areas is a mistake because that would not give NB enough context to work with, and you are likely to get a completely new box with a reasonably similar perspective. Using Select All is also risky because that can also lead to a completely new box. NB will upload whatever selection you made, and turn it into a square the size of the longest size if you used the rectangular Marquee tool, or a square that encloses freehand selection made with the Lasso tool.  It won't use the information outside your selection. Note: I also included 'and leave the rest of the box unchanged' in the prompt as a belt and braces attempt to restrain what was changed. I am sure you know about the 1024 x 1024 resolution limit.  That comes into play with the size of your selection. So, if your image is 2000 x 2000 pixels, using Select All will compromise the resolution of the fix.   In that case keep your square box selection to 1024 x 1024 will ensure no loss of resolution.   If the image was more than 1024 x 1024 and you need to use Select All, then consider downsizing before using NB, and then use Genaritive Upscale to return to the original size.     I am not sure about credit use for all plans, but with a full subscription all still image Ai tools have unlimited use.   One last tip — I am on a roll here 😉 — if you are using Generitive Fill to change a colour, then use it at full original resolution. Then change the blend mode of the Gen Fill layer to Color. This will retain the new colour information, but use the original layer's tone/contrast information making the fix fully sharp.  ... View more

The CC Libraries was just the last step. As everyone keeps telling you, the Smart Object aspect is the important step. ... View more

I wonder if Acrobat OCR would read that text?  If it can, then you'd end up with fully sharp and scalable text that you'd even be able to edit. @jane-e what do you think? ... View more

I won't say that I never use the Magic Wand tool, but it's a rare day when I do.     It soulds like you have a solid colour on the same layer as other content.  If that solid colour was on its own layer, you could Ctrl click the layer icon top load it as a selection.  You would not select and invert that selection fill an area that surrounds the solid color. You'd fuse another layer below it in the layer stack and completely fill the larger area with the different colour.  Otherwise you are risking an anti alias fringe.    Selection tools are so good now with Select Subject and Remove Background working like magic tricks, they are huge time savers.  In fact so much has happened with Photoshop, and other Adobe apps, in the last year or so, and that change does not look like pausing any time soon does not look like pausing any time soon,  it would be a real pity to miss out on the changes to workflow they involve.   ... View more

A water mark is something you'll use often, so take Aleke's advice and combine the text and background layers a Smart Object, and drag it to a Creative Cloud Library.  That makes it instantly available from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.  CC Libraries are way under-utilised IMHO. ... View more

Works for me. 🙂 ... View more

i meant photoshop lol, typed illustrator by accident. would thiss work with the pathfinder in photoshop too? By @mikufan2   I fixed the subject line. ... View more

How about we list any really cool tips and tricks we got from MAX this year.  Maybe also mention favourite sessions.  I'll start.   Julianne Kost has a nice session on composites that is not really saying much that is new, but the biggest thing I got from her session is that Generative Fill layers are basically Smart Objects. They are containers with the three alternatives within.  So right click the Smart Object and choose Convert to Layers and the Smart Object becomes a new group containing the three Generative Fill layers.  Up till now, I have been performing awkward, and over long, steps to keep all three alternatives from Generative Fill.  Julianne's session is still worth watching, but the regulars here are not going to get much more out of it.   By far my favourite session was from Mark Heaps.  (I think he might be @sharp_hands16B8 so me will maybe respond to to this tag).  Mark's session is entitled 'Work Happy not Harder with AiDriven Workflows in PS S6305'  A lot of it is some deep dives into the Generative Fill models and I am feeling a lot more informed now.  He also had soe killer tips like how to fix crazy over the top neon colours in a photograph.    How would you fix the portrait on the left, and what if it was worse than this with multiple coloured lights? Mark used Nueral Filter > Colorize, which he says might more acurately be called 'Normalize'. I doubt I would have ever thought to try that.   Another session I enjoyed is Martina Flor's See Like a Lettering Designer Build Better Typography   I just noticed some more that have been added since I last looked through the list, like Mark Rober's, so I watch that later this evening.     ... View more

You can select part of a layer and apply any filter to just the selected area. Quick Mask is a good way to makle that selection as you can see how soft or hard the selection is. Most tools and filters will work directly to Quick Mask   Another trick is to remove the background so you can select just the dog outline (Ctrl click the layer's eye icon). Then turn that selection into a workpath using the button at the bottom of the Paths panel.     You can then right cclick the path and choose Stroke, and the resulting drop-down to choose the required tool. You need to set the preset size and strength (in the Options bar) before doing this.  You would do this on a copy of the layer so you mask out the areas you do not want the blur (or whatever) applied to.  This is something I use a lot. ... View more

If you did install two updates, then I'm guessing that 27.0 overwrote the previously updated 26.??. Do you have all of your presets like brushes etc.? ... View more

I'm testing now, and it looks like only the Firefly video model uses no credits. The Firefly Video model says zero credits, and none were used.  Pika2.2 said 250 credits (five seconds at 1080P) and they definiotely came off my total. Pika 2.2 did a way better job than the Firefly Video model. ... View more

If I understood it correctly, they announced at MAX that Firefly will be charging no credits till 1st December.  I am assuming that includeds Premium Credits, because it makes no sense if it doesn't.  I'm also assuming that it includeds using the Firefly engine, and partner models, directly inside Phoptoshop.  I guess the smart thing to do would be to test it. ... View more

I've been waiting for the Sneaks. Trace Erase is a souped up version of the Remove Tool that they absolutely need to keep working on and bring to Photoshop.  It hasn't been published to YouTube yet, but I'll keep looking and link to it when available.  Or you can go find the whole session on the MAX page.  Adobe MAX 2025 - The Creativity Conference     ... View more

Making people laugh is a hard quality to beat Lesley. ... View more

That's clever John.  Nice one. ... View more

@annie_421  the Topaz models were added directly to Photoshop in today's major update.   I think only in the beta version though. ... View more

Did you lower 'Fill' opacity? Use my screen shots as a reference.  It will work if you do exactly as shown. ... View more

Nowadays you just ask the Ai (Firefly) to do it for you.  This used the Gemeni 2.5 model  and the following prompt, but I did not have a clear idea of what you are trying to create.   Fine tune the prompt and try the Firefly 3 model.   Create a 50 assorted swords wands and magical staffs. They should be distributed on a white background and have a mystical quality. Before we had Ai I used to use a thesaurus web site. Enter one of the words of interest and see what alternatives the thesaurus offers, and use the inter words, terms, phrases to search Google images.  That will generate directly usable results, or ideas you can develop yourself by illustrating if you have the skill, or combining elements and compositing in Photoshop.   https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/wand   If I am miles away from what you are asking, you need to give more detail. Your screenshots are good, but explain what they mean/represent ... View more