Cost of AI tools in PS/LR

Question

Cost of AI credits on Images?So that answer is clear as mud. Mostly because Adobe hasn’t made it very clear or hasn’t quite figured it out yet.With your Lightroom/Photoshop subscription you get new credits each month on the anniversary day of when you first subscribed. So if you subscribed on May 12th you will be given credits to use. Then on June 12th you will get a new set of credits.How many credits?That is muddy as well. Pam Perkins gets 250 credits each month as does Jeffrey Pawlan but Mercury and several others report 500 credits per month. Yours truly has the pricey Adobe Creative Suite and I get 4000 credits monthly and for a price you too can buy more credits as needed. To check how many credits you have currently- Click on your Creative cloud icon and then click on the small blue pie chart in the upper right. It will open the box shown at bottom left of this page which shows current AI generation credits. BTW- any credits unused are lost, they don’t roll over.So each time I click an AI function it uses one credit?Not so fast cowgirl - That depends on which AI tool you are using. Starting to feel a bit like you slipped in a cow pie? You are not alone. Below is a current best guess table of AI functions and the cost of a click for each. Good news, one is free for now. See PDF of entire article attached.

Trevor.Dennis · Answer

Colin Smith has promised to do a full breakdown video on his Photoshop Cafe channel.

What plan do you have? I thought it was pretty straight forward as to how many credits come with each plan. It's how many credits do the various Ai functions use that is not so clear IME so far.

Do you use the Google Ai Overview (you can't get away from Ai now — it's everywhere)? It really is very good, and is free to use. I searched with:

'How many generative credits come with each Adobe Creative Cloud subscription model?

Which came up with:

Adobe Creative Cloud subscription models vary in generative credits, with plans like Creative Cloud Pro offering unlimited standard AI (like Generative Fill) plus 4,000 premium credits, while Standard plans typically get 25 monthly credits for basic AI, and specific plans like Firefly Pro provide 4,000 credits for AI tasks, but users can buy credit packs for more, with costs depending on credit volume and usage type (standard vs. premium).

Credit Allocation by Plan Type

Creative Cloud Standard/Photography Plans: Usually receive 25 Generative Credits per month for basic AI features (like Generative Fill in Photoshop).
Creative Cloud Pro & Pro Plus: Include unlimited standard AI usage and a set amount of premium credits (e.g., 4,000 for Pro) for more intensive AI tasks, like video generation.
Adobe Firefly Plans: Offer different tiers, with Firefly Pro including 4,000 credits, while Firefly Standard provides fewer or none, with options to buy credit packs.
Adobe Express Premium: Includes generative features, often bundled with credits or unlimited standard use.

Credit Usage & Add-Ons

Standard vs. Premium: Standard features (like basic Gen Fill) use fewer credits or are unlimited on Pro, while Premium features (like high-res video generation) consume credits faster.
Purchasing More: You can buy add-on credit packs for more capacity if you exceed your monthly allowance.
Checking Balance: Your current credit balance and plan details are available in your Adobe account settings on Adobe.com.

Key Takeaway: Credit amounts depend heavily on whether you have a standard, Pro, or Firefly-focused plan, with higher-tier plans unlocking more powerful AI features and larger credit pools.

We're on a roll so let's keep it going.

'How many generative credits do different Photoshop tools use'

In Adobe Photoshop, most standard generative AI features use one generative credit per click (or per variation generated), while some premium features or third-party models may use significantly more.

Standard Generative Tools (1 Credit per Use/Variation)

Most common Photoshop generative features powered by Adobe's Firefly models consume credits as follows:

Generative Fill: Uses 1 credit per variation generated. Since it often provides three variations with one click of the "Generate" button, a single action can use 3 credits.
Generative Expand: Also uses 1 credit per variation generated.
Generate Image, Generate Background, Generate Similar, and Reference Image: These tools (some of which may be in beta) generally follow the 1 credit per variation rule for standard resolution outputs (up to 2000x2000 pixels).
Remove Tool (with Generative AI toggled On): Uses 1 credit per use as it generates only one result.

If you have a Creative Cloud Pro or Firefly plan, you have unlimited access to these standard generations, and credits are only consumed by premium features.

Premium Generative Tools (More Credits per Use)

Adobe offers access to partner models (e.g., from OpenAI or Black Forest Labs) for higher quality or different types of image generation. These "premium" features cost more credits.

Partner Models (e.g., Flux or GPT models): Depending on the specific model selected, a single generation can cost anywhere from 10 to over 40 credits. The exact number depends on the model, output, and file size.

Tools That Do Not Use Generative Credits

Several AI-powered features in Photoshop and Lightroom do not use generative credits because they do not create new image data but rather manipulate existing pixels:

Select Subject
Remove Background
Object Selection
Lens Blur
Denoise
Remove Tool (with Generative AI toggled Off)

You can check your current credit balance and learn more about how credits work on the Adobe Help Center or in your Adobe account area.

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