We were thankful to sponsor Adobe MAX again this year, connecting with our friends in the Adobe ecosystem and catching up on the current trajectory of creative software. MAX 2025 represents a real step forward for Adobe. Advances in AI, server-side rendition, and web-based apps are coming of age, converging to exploit the increasing interoperability of general tech. Workflows and production processes are now flexibly defined combining multiple products. The products themselves are built on a wider range of Adobe- and non-Adobe modules.
Adobe has to outdo themselves with AI at each conference, and sure enough this one was even more impressive than last year.
The conference featured a dizzying array of AI examples: Firefly has sharper images, smoother results, and extends to video, music, and voiceovers. The new Firefly model produces 4 MP images with realistic lighting, consistent faces, and fully editable layers. It now lets users train their own generative models with their own (protected) content.
But as the use of AI evolves, the power is not just found in individual capabilities and effects. Rather, it is in the ways that these can be combined in complete solutions. “Agentic” AI offers a paradigm in which agents perform multi-step tasks instead of processing single prompts.
Adobe announced improvements to their Gen Studio platform, which combines Adobe creative tools with AI, and offers integration with distribution channels. This is intended to meet the intense demand for an increasing range of output formats with intelligent automation.
When Google released Nano Banana, some fairly uninformed people said it was a “Photoshop killer.” It produced amazing images, certainly, but it was quite different from Photoshop itself (much more like Firefly). Yet within days, Nano Banana was available within Photoshop.
And it’s by no means the only external model available. Adobe seems to be comprehensive, with models from Black Forest Labs, Topaz Labs, and others that are now available within both Photoshop and Firefly.
Adobe is working towards adding assistants to Photoshop, Express, Firefly and presumably other apps. They previewed “Project Moonlight” – an orchestration-assistant that conveys context (your style, social media presence, library) across apps and social platforms.
Are designers out of work? I don’t believe so. I think they will just become far more efficient. But only time will tell.
Of course MAX conferences generally correspond to new versions of most Creative Cloud apps, and the updates this year were impressive.
It was thrilling to see InDesign reveal more genuine enhancements than any year in recent memory. Flex containers, along with a long-awaited web-based form of InCopy, are quite serious innovations. Also, responsive frames and accessibility improvements show a real understanding of customer needs.
Math type and PDF import improvements were less meaningful. Third party tools from Movemen, Recosoft, and MarkzWare remain light years ahead at these things.
Why did Adobe attempt to copy what was already available? As a fellow Adobe-centric third party, we really encourage you to look at these more serious offerings. Overall, we generally support Adobe third parties, which was our message at MAX.
Illustrator has an exciting beta 3D feature called “Turntable” that lets you magically rotate 2D vector objects in 3D. When it works, it’s stunning! But it doesn’t quite always work. It also offers new snapping options (like “tangent”), font embedding, and some subtle enhancements.
Photoshop improved its AI integration with both Firefly and other AI models. The Topaz upscaling now available is quite wonderful. But the new “Harmonize” feature is a true work of art. It can fix the consistency of lighting when objects are combined in photorealistic scenes.
In general, the main CC products make greater use of GPU acceleration, and offer better integration with Express and Firefly.
Since Adobe acquired Frame.io, its role has changed dramatically. Walking through the Creative Park at Adobe MAX 2025, it was clear that Frame.io isn’t just software anymore — it’s becoming infrastructure.
With Camera-to-Cloud (C2C) now built directly into cameras from Fujifilm, RED, and Panasonic, Frame.io enables near real-time upload and review as you shoot. What was once an enterprise-level workflow now feels almost plug-and-play.
For creative teams, this is transformational. No more SD cards or shuttling drives. Instead, editors, clients, and producers can collaborate instantly. And the amazing Frame/Premiere integration is getting even better, with a new panel scheduled to arrive on November 13th.
Frame.io’s move into the capture layer, along with their deeper Premiere integration, reflects Adobe’s broader vision. This means seamless, intelligent creative pipelines that connect every stage from lens to delivery.
And that’s where Project Graph comes in: Adobe’s emerging framework for linking creative assets, metadata, and AI context across its ecosystem. Together, Frame.io and Project Graph hint at a future where every edit, comment, and asset is part of a living, connected creative graph — not isolated files.
All in all, a great conference — and a reminder that the next wave of innovation lies not just in tools themselves, but in how they connect and evolve together.