Just over a week ago, Adobe released its Firefly Image 3 model to the general public. And while it was a really cool and powerful tool, I didn't see a lot of people using it. Which is a shame, because I really liked the results Adobe Firefly Image 3 puts out. Plus, it's one of those rare cases where the company let others use their shiny new model without subscribing to a premium plan. So, here's why you should at least give Adobe Firefly Image 3 a try; after all, you don't have to pay.

It's really good at flicking between art and photo styles

Get the best of both worlds

One of the first things you'll notice when you use Adobe Firefly Image 3 is that it comes with an art and photo toggle. You can set Firefly to decide which one to pick for your prompt automatically, but you can also take control and select the one you want.

The coolest thing about this feature is that it doesn't require any further tweaking of your prompt to generate either an art or a photo-styled image. Any time you want the opposite of what you have, just hit the switch and let it regenerate your image. Both the photo and the art options are really good, so it's worth experimenting with your prompt and see which one matches your needs best.

It's also amazing at replicating different art styles

Check out different styles before you finalize your image

Another thing I love is how you can check out different art styles really quickly and easily. Near the bottom of the filters, you can choose from different effects and see how your prompt looks in different styles. you can also adjust elements like the intensity, the strength, the lighting, and even the camera angle.

In the above gallery, I used the exact same text prompt for each one: "cute cat on table with laptop and cup of coffee." However, I set each one to be rendered in a different art style; from left to right, I used realistic, art nouveau, cyberpunk, psychedelic, and anime. Each result is really unique, and it lets me pick out the one that suits my tastes best.

You can upload a reference and let Firefly merge it with your prompt

Give the model a baseline model and let it do the rest

Sometimes you have an example picture as to what you want the AI to do, but it's tricky to translate what you see into a text-based prompt. Fortunately, Firefly lets you upload a reference image that the model will use for future prompts. You can adjust the amount of dependence the model will have with your reference; the weaker the dependence, the more creativity the AI model will have with what you fed it.

In the above gallery, I uploaded my current avatar on XDA into Firefly, set the dependence to the maximum, and then asked it to do a fantasy scene. It did a good job rendering my face in different styles, and I think I'll use this reference option if I want the result to follow a specific template.

Adobe Firefly Image 3 lets you tweak the generated image the way you want

Iron out the issues with your result with more prompts

A little while ago, OpenAI added image editing to ChatGPT. This lets you highlight areas of an image that the chatbot generated, and then tell it via a prompt what you want to change. Now, Adobe's Firefly Image 3 has the same feature, but you don't need to pay anything for it.

It's pretty good at adjusting an image with the parameters you give it. It's a nice way of tweaking a specific area of an image that you don't like and lets you either add more stuff, get rid of things, or replace one element with another. Plus, Firefly will generate several results for you to pick from.

Don't sleep on Adobe Firefly Image 3

I know I just spend a while gushing about a product like I'm trying to sell it, but I'm honestly really impressed with the number of tools that Adobe gives you for free. I'm too used to advanced image generation options being locked behind paywalls, that when I see a genuinely impressive AI tool that doesn't even ask for registration, I have to give it some love. Hopefully, you'll give this AI image generator a shot and enjoy what it has to offer without needing to subscribe to anything.