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112

Nudity and other issues which appear to violate Adobe Generative AI Guidelines [merged thread]

Community Beginner ,
Feb 26, 2024 Feb 26, 2024

Hello Adobe and its collective users

I am writing to you not only as a devoted user of Adobe’s suite of creative tools but also as a professional photographer whose work has been recognized and displayed in museum settings. My specialization in classic nudes has allowed me to explore the human form in a manner that celebrates beauty, form, and artistic expression. However, I have encountered a significant challenge with the AI restrictions placed on editing images that contain nudity, even when such images are created within a professional, artistic context.

 

As an artist whose work often involves nuanced and sensitive subjects, I understand and respect the complexities of creating ethical AI tools that serve a wide user base. However, the current limitations significantly impact my creative process and professional workflow, particularly when it comes to editing backgrounds for nude or semi-nude images. These restrictions not only prolong my work but also inhibit my artistic expression, compelling me to seek alternative solutions that may not offer the same level of quality and integration as Adobe’s products.

 

I propose the consideration of the following points, which I believe could benefit both Adobe and its professional users:

 

Artistic Integrity and Professional Use: Recognition of the professional and artistic context in which tools are used can help differentiate between content that is genuinely creative and that which the restrictions aim to prevent.

 

Ethical Use Policy: An ethical use policy that accommodates professional artists and photographers, possibly through a verification process, ensuring that our work is not unduly censored while maintaining legal and ethical standards.

 

Custom Solutions for Professionals: The development of specialized software versions that allow more flexibility for editing sensitive content, with appropriate safeguards to prevent misuse.

 

Feedback and Advisory Panel: Establishing a panel of professionals from the art and photography community to provide ongoing feedback and insights on how Adobe’s tools can better serve creative professionals.

 

Transparent Guidelines: The creation of clear, transparent guidelines that navigate the legal and ethical landscape, especially regarding sensitive content, to ensure users can understand and comply with Adobe’s policies.

 

I am fully committed to engaging in a constructive dialogue and am willing to be part of a solution that respects both the creative needs of artists and the ethical considerations of digital content. I believe that by working together, we can find a balanced approach that supports artistic expression while adhering to shared values and responsibilities.

 

Thank you for considering my perspective on this matter. I am hopeful for an opportunity to discuss this further and explore how we can make Adobe’s tools even more inclusive and accommodating for professional artists and photographers.    Steven Williams 

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correct answers 3 Correct answers

Adobe Employee , Apr 02, 2025 Apr 02, 2025

Your insights are valuable; we'll share them with the team. You can refer to a similar discussion: https://adobe.ly/4liAyUo

 

I hope this helps. Thank you for your feedback on Adobe Firefly.

KR

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Community Expert , Jun 12, 2024 Jun 12, 2024

@Dalvidos Similar requests have been made and each time users are referred back to the terms of use outlined by Adobe.

https://www.adobe.com/legal/licenses-terms/adobe-gen-ai-user-guidelines.html

 

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Community Expert , Jun 04, 2024 Jun 04, 2024

Adobe is widely used in educational and business settings. They've made a choice to prevent misuse/abuse and train on licensed models to prevent liability.

If you are working with nudity - there are ways around existing models in Photoshop -

  1. Duplicate the layer. Hide the original Layer.
  2. Paint over the "offensive" areas covering up any triggered items. 
  3. Select and generate.
  4. Turn off the painted layer once you have your generation.

If you are trying to generate nudity - you're better off looking

...
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correct answers 1 Pinned Reply

Community Expert , Apr 22, 2025 Apr 22, 2025

This is a merged thread to collect here in one thread the comments from posters related to Adobe Generative AI guidelines with respect to nudity and similar issues.  Please note that the guidelines are detailed in this document:  Adobe Generative AI User Guidelines

 

    droopy

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328 Comments
Community Beginner ,
Apr 20, 2025 Apr 20, 2025

I am very familiar with that concept.  It's why I wrote they are ". . . well suited to take the hit of a lawsuit or two . . .".  I'm not saying they won't lose money on suits or won't pay their own ridiculously intelligent and well paid attorneys (I'm making an assumption there, but I can't believe they don't have a few good one's on retainer.)  I'm saying they're too greedy and risk averse to take the shot at diving in and come out a better, more profitable company afterwards.  I'm saying there's not enough risk to justify taking losses that will far from hurt the company even if it doesn't work out well in the end.  Adobe should be the one spearheadding AI, not cowering in a boardroom waiting for someone else to be the hero.

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Participant ,
Apr 20, 2025 Apr 20, 2025

I'm not asking for adult content or nudity. I'm asking to be able to remove a vent cover or electrical outlet, or to extend the background 20 pixels, on a photo that has a fully-clothed person in it. It won't allow this if the person looks remotely female.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 20, 2025 Apr 20, 2025

"remove a vent cover or electrical outlet, or to extend the background 20 pixels,"

 

Clone stamp tool should work perfectly for the former, Content aware fill should do for the latter. 

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Explorer ,
Apr 20, 2025 Apr 20, 2025

@Nancy OShea 

 

 

Adobe claims Firefly “enhances workflow” but secretly blocks prompts not listed in their TOS. That’s a violation of truth-in-advertising standards under the FTC Act (15 U.S. Code § 45), which prohibits “deceptive acts or practices.”

 

1. Lack of disclosure = deception. Adobe’s TOS lists what isn’t allowed—but Firefly blocks more than what’s stated. That’s called prior restraint with no user consent or notice—legally dicey.

 

2. Material omission. Under FTC policy, a company must disclose information that would affect a consumer’s decision. If Adobe omits the fact that many prompts are arbitrarily blocked, that’s a material misrepresentation.

 

3. Unjust enrichment. Adobe charges a premium for Firefly tools in Photoshop. Selling a product that doesn’t function as advertised—while restricting use beyond the stated agreement—could be grounds for class action under consumer protection laws.

 

4. Creative suppression without notice. You don’t get to market an AI as “trained on licensed data” and “commercially safe” only to turn around and censor artistic prompts that aren’t even NSFW. That’s misrepresentation of capability.

 

Bottom line? If Firefly isn’t doing what Adobe publicly says it does, and if that impacts users’ creative output and purchase decisions, it’s legally indefensible.

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Community Beginner ,
Apr 20, 2025 Apr 20, 2025

Tommy James comin' in hot!  You win!  I haven't read every post on here, but this is the best I've seen so far.

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Community Expert ,
Apr 21, 2025 Apr 21, 2025

Armchair lawyers are the same as armchair quarterbacks. They talk about how to win big, but it's all just talk & no results. 🙄

 

 

 

Nancy O'Shea— Product User, Community Expert & Moderator
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Community Beginner ,
Apr 21, 2025 Apr 21, 2025

Alright, then let Adobe's real lawyers handle things as they come while Adobe goes about their business unchained from fear.  If all they want to do is play an advisory roll (obviously happening here), get new attorneys!  Why would anyone on the consumer side of this not want that?

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Community Expert ,
Apr 22, 2025 Apr 22, 2025

This is a merged thread to collect here in one thread the comments from posters related to Adobe Generative AI guidelines with respect to nudity and similar issues.  Please note that the guidelines are detailed in this document:  Adobe Generative AI User Guidelines

 

    droopy

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New Here ,
Apr 24, 2025 Apr 24, 2025

Can you take of the babysittter restrictions. [cursing removed]

 

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New Here ,
May 08, 2025 May 08, 2025

VEry disappointed in my inability to generate images to express my experiences as a recovered, homeless, addict.  It's just like META's guidelines.  And Meta protecting people from ANYTHING is a joke.  Especially the hard truths of poverty .    I have no idea why Adobe doesn't allow a picture of a person using drugs.   Look out the window in any halfway large downtown and it's right there.   We can't fix things we aren't allowed to talk about

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Adobe Employee ,
May 09, 2025 May 09, 2025

Hi there!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Our content guidelines are shaped by legal and safety considerations, which can sometimes limit how these issues are visually represented. Your feedback will be shared with our teams as we continue to evaluate how to support authentic, impactful expression.

 

Let us know if you have any questions,

KR

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Explorer ,
May 09, 2025 May 09, 2025

Adobe must understand that its products are used by artists who make visual language their primary means of expression.
Art, photography, painting, sculpture, and cinema are not merely tools for creating beauty or elegance — they are powerful channels for conveying social messages. These forms often exist to challenge, to provoke, and to show people uncomfortable truths or alternative perspectives.

Censoring an image because it contains explicit nudity or shows someone injecting themselves in an alleyway is not a form of protection — it is an assault on freedom of thought and expression. It is a form of manipulation, presenting a sanitized, false reality and erasing anything that doesn’t conform to a narrow, reactionary worldview.

Adobe’s role is to provide tools, not to dictate how those tools should be used. The maker of a chisel does not tell the sculptor what to carve. Nor does the maker of a camera or a paintbrush instruct the artist on what to capture or depict.

Embedding censorship mechanisms into Adobe's tools is not only arrogant — it reflects a specific cultural bias rather than a universal ethical standard. It’s a betrayal of the very communities Adobe claims to serve: the creators, the challengers, the storytellers who use its products to reveal the world, not to hide it.

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New Here ,
May 20, 2025 May 20, 2025

have you considered learning how to be a professional artist in stead of using AI? 

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New Here ,
May 29, 2025 May 29, 2025

Censorship isn’t just a moral issue—it’s a technical one. That’s exactly why I steer fellow creators away from Adobe Firefly. I recently tried generating a simple, creative video of President Trump playing Metallica on guitar, and it was blocked. Why? Because Adobe thinks it should act as the digital thought police instead of just being a software company.

Just like Bud Light, Target, and Starbucks, Adobe seems more interested in appeasing woke ideology than serving the very creators who made it successful. But history is clear: betray your base, and you break your brand. From “Woke to Broke” isn’t just a slogan—it’s a warning.

When a software company behaves like a modern-day Gestapo, deciding what’s acceptable thought and burning digital content in the public square, it’s not innovation. It’s tyranny. And maybe they don’t care. Maybe their ideological obsession is stronger than their desire to stay relevant.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 29, 2025 May 29, 2025

Hi MAX3D2!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. At Adobe, our goal is to empower creators while also upholding responsible and ethical use of generative AI. Our content guidelines are designed to ensure that our tools are used in ways that respect individuals’ rights, avoid misinformation, and maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all users. This includes restrictions on generating content that features public figures in potentially misleading or unauthorized contexts: https://adobe.ly/3FwyyYs

We’re always listening to feedback and evolving our tools to better serve the creative community. If you have suggestions or specific use cases you'd like us to consider, we’d love to hear more.

 

^KR

 

moved to discussions

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Explorer ,
May 31, 2025 May 31, 2025

Not sure what the problem is for woman in bikini anime art. I am working on aprons. 

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New Here ,
May 31, 2025 May 31, 2025

Bonjour,

Je signale un blocage injustifié dans Adobe Firefly Video. J’essaie de générer une animation à partir d’un dessin personnel (voir ci-joint), dans un style ligne claire minimaliste, représentant une figure féminine stylisée avec plusieurs yeux. Il ne s’agit en aucun cas d’une nudité réaliste ou sexualisée, mais d’un travail surréaliste et poétique.

Or, le prompt est systématiquement rejeté dès qu’il évoque cette figure comme "nude feminine figure" ou "multiple eyes", alors que :

le style est graphique, non réaliste, il n’y a aucune connotation sexuelle ou violente, l’intention est purement artistique, onirique et conceptuelle

Je comprends la nécessité de modération, mais ce blocage automatique empêche la création d’œuvres alternatives ou expérimentales, ce qui va à l’encontre de l’esprit de Firefly. Il serait souhaitable de mieux différencier les contenus problématiques des œuvres d’art illustrées non explicites.

Merci pour votre attention

mademo studio
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Explorer ,
Jun 02, 2025 Jun 02, 2025

buongiorno utilizzo Firefly per creare immagini assolutamente positive per crescita personale per copertine di libri e locandine di corsi.

Ma è assolutamente diventato impossibile utilizzarlo (ho un abbonamento full a creative suite) sembra che ogni parola sia vietata.

Non è possibile disegnare una ragazza che cammina a piedi "nudi" o "scalzi" in un prato. Non posso chiedere di migliore i dettagli del viso che sono diventati pessimi rispetto alla prima versione, non posso chiedere rappresentare una persona che spezza una "catena" o che apre la porta di una "gabbia" perché tutte queste parole sono considerate tabù e sembrano violare i termini... Ora va bene il rispetto delle linee guida e sono d'accordissimo con l'utilizzare l'intelligenza artificiale con coscienza, ma queste cose nel mondo esistono e vietarle vuol dire manipolare la realtà in modo eccessivo a mio avviso.

Forse almeno ai professionisti che pagano un abbonamento 70€ al mese da un sacco di anni potreste concedere un attimo di più la libertà di espressione, non credete?

ultimamente Adobe sembra voler lavorare solo per i ragazzini quando ci sono professionisti che da trent'anni ci lavorano con i prodotti Adobe, sembra che ultimamente vi sfugga, questo delude un po'.

Spero sia un bug momentaneo e che ci siano margini di miglioramento.

grazie per la comprensione.

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Participant ,
Jun 03, 2025 Jun 03, 2025

I'm part of a photoshop forum: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/ai-generative-guidelines-violation/m-... complaining about AI restrictions that do not violate any guidelines. But, let's be perfectly clear: If Adobe's AI system is intelligent enough to A) distinguish a child from an adult, B) analyze a photo and determine the child's age, position, inclusion, etc. - then it's intelligent enough to identify unlawful use of the material. And, don't tell me it's not. Adobe's not being "overly cautious" to protect children - Adobe's just covering its own, and taking artist's money while doing it and playing "gatekeeper" for an agenda that extends FAR beyond simply not wanting an image of a child used unlawfully. If Adobe would be honest and simply say that they don't know how to control their AI, they don't want to spend any of the extra billions of dollars they pocket every month to hire programmers for the purpose of advancing their AI, and that they are knowingly restricting artists from being able to use their tool for any effective purpose when it comes to the inclusion of kids, fine. It's Adobe's company. And, if they want to drive everyone away, that's their right. But, by claiming violations of guidelines, making excuses about it being a beta version, etc., is not appreciated and not appropriate. Adobe doesn't get to play the world's gatekeeper for right and wrong for artists if it cannot even be honest. imho

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Participant ,
Jun 03, 2025 Jun 03, 2025

I am not a moderator or rep for Adobe, but in our other forum: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/ai-generative-guidelines-violation/m-... we've seen images that pertain to Christian imagery, getting blocked. I presume this falls under Adobe's T&C of not making images that could hurt someone's feelings, because Adobe has decided they are the world's art gatekeeper. And, as I've posted elsewhere in this forum, if Adobe's AI can recognize children, it can recognize inappropriate material. So, unfortunately, that means there is a chance it could have categorized your picture into one of its anti-protected or hateful images / categories and used the kid excuse as just that, an excuse.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 03, 2025 Jun 03, 2025
quote

 images that pertain to Christian imagery, 


By @Xenohart

 

Sorry, but that is scaremongering. Just try this prompt:

"A Christian scene from the bible with religious people from Nazareth gathering in a house kneeling for prayer to god"

 

I've included a lot of words in it that should trigger the religion police if there were any. It only doesn't exist. So probably it is something else with that image. 

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Participant ,
Jun 03, 2025 Jun 03, 2025

I appreciate your input and understand that your prompt may have worked fine. However, I wasn't scaremongering, so please don't make that assumption. I was just pointing out patterns I've observed, along with others. The thread I linked to, and this one, for example, illustrates related cases: https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/terms-of-service-violation-in-response-to-quo...

 

That and a few Reddit discussions at the time showed multiple reports of Christian-themed prompts being blocked, often without specific feedback. So while it's totally possible Adobe has since updated or clarified these restrictions—especially after user complaints—the issue wasn't isolated to one person or one image.

My main concern is transparency: If Firefly (or any AI tool) rejects something, it should say why in clear terms. Instead, we're left guessing whether it's about minors, religious content, composition, or some internal moderation flag. That ambiguity is frustrating, especially for creative professionals trying to understand the limits. I'm not saying there's an anti-Christian bias—but if an AI tool can recognize and flag children for safety concerns, then it certainly has the capacity to flag content with religious context too, rightly or wrongly. So it’s not unreasonable to ask Adobe to clarify more openly. The goal here is to help creators be able to take put their vision into action. That's all.

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Community Expert ,
Jun 03, 2025 Jun 03, 2025

@Xenohart  schrieb:

I ask Adobe to clarify more openly. The goal here is to help creators be able to take put their vision into action. That's all.


 

These are the rules: https://www.adobe.com/legal/licenses-terms/adobe-gen-ai-user-guidelines.html

 

What exactly is not clear there? You only need more precision when you want to smuggle things through the rules.

 

Every artist can put their vision into action, there are countless tutorials about learning how to paint, draw, photograph, produce films or animation. There are no limits to self expression - there only is no short cut to it.

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Explorer ,
Jun 16, 2025 Jun 16, 2025

questo succede perché Adobe ha una censura esagerata e può esserci anche solo una parola nel tuo prompt che lui non considera appropriata che non ti fa generare l'immagine. qualsiasi parola negativa come "bruciato", "catena", "gabbia"  "triste", "piange", "accovacciato" o anche che indica una tipologia "bambino", "piedi nudi", "mani nude", "magro", "di pelle bianca", "di pelle nera", "ragazzo di circa 15 anni"... ecc. restituisce errore. Ormai la censura di Adobe non permette di rappresentare più niente... nemmeno la realtà purtroppo. 🙁 davvero triste questa cosa. Questo vuol dire manipolare l'informazione non tutelare. Queste cose al mondo ci sono ed è assurdo pensare di evitare di rappresentarle. Bisogna gestire la cosa in un altro modo. Io sto usando altri AI e poi cancellerò abbonamento 

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Community Beginner ,
Jun 16, 2025 Jun 16, 2025

I will never use firefly until you stop telling me every prompt violates your verbage.  When you start censoring people you eventually will get nothing.... Out of the 8 videos I created only one was acceptable to you and they all sucked.

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