(AKA Colin’s Gear Guide)

Click here to buyl the products in one place from B&H Photo.

(I will earn a commission from these links, so I appreciate your support of the CAFE.)

I reviewed a lot of stuff in 2023. What is the best? Check it out here.

2023 is almost gone, but what isn’t, is all the exciting tech and gear we need to make our creative stuff.

I wanted to share all my favorite products of the year. Kind of a Colin Smith’s creative tech roundup kind of thing. There are some that I included last year, that are in here again, Why? Because some are so good

Now, the criteria for this isn’t just a bunch of things I’ve seen other people use. This is tech so good, I actually own and use everyday (where applicable, I mean, I don’t use a gimbal or 360 camera every day. But when I do, these is the ones I prefer.). There were some products that didn’t make the grade, which I returned or they are gathering dust somewhere. When I replace a piece of gear, I usually research and test many options before adopting it. Full disclosure, some of these were given to me and others I purchased myself. If it’s not the best of class I’m not including it, even if it was given to me, so this isn’t a sponsored post, it’s my unbiased opinion. (I’ll add a little asterisk * by the products given to me, so that you know). Most of these I have reviewed throughout this year and I’ll link to those reviews.

This is purely my opinion and based on my hands-on experience. Yes, there will be “what about xyz products?” and these might not be included because I haven’t had hands on experience with them, so I won’t make blind recommendations. I think you get the idea, so please don’t fill up the comments with “what about” posts 🙂

Alright, let’s go!

Best Laptop

Apple 2023 16″ MacBook Pro M3 MAX 64Gb

The 16″ MacBook Pro is a great laptop. It features a large clear screen and lots of ports including a SD card reader. The Apple silicon chip generates very little heat and is super power efficient. Even the earlier M1 and M2 chips still hold up as far as speed goes. With Apple, there is always balance of power and budget and I recommend this configuration as maximizing power without going completely overboard with price. This is a higher end setup, but you will also be happy with a lower tier for less money. Also consider the M2 Mac Studio for a desktop machine.

Review. | Photoshop M1 speed test

Mirrorless Camera (Video)

Sony A7SIII

I went ahead and purchased the Sony A1, the only reason I didn’t include it here, is the price, its not the range of everyone.

I would take a look at the A74 which I would have purchased if I didn’t have the A1.

But for video, the Sony A7sIII is a clear choice, and the camera many have been waiting a long time for. It’s a full frame, low light beast. Shoots H.264 and H.265 and capable of 10-bit video. It can shoot up to 120F/s at 4k and can even output uncompressed RAW through its HDMI. The in body stabilization is amazing, no limit on recording time and has dual slots that can take either SD or CFExpress cards (on both slots). Auto focus is super fast and accurate and it support various log modes. Very importantly for solo shooters, it has a proper articulating flip out screen, which has touch. This is everything we were hoping for and the footage is beautiful at 15 stops of dynamic range. I’m in love with the footage on this camera.

► Buy it here

REVIEW here

Dongle/Dock

Hyperdrive Thunderbolt 4 Dock

I have one of these on my desktop right now. When you have a computer with limited ports (looking at you Apple) you have the option to live that dongle life, or you can use a dock that has it all. The best part is the dock can stay attached to all your peripherals and connect to your MacBook pro or another Thunderbolt 4 equipped computer through a single TB4 cable.

The Thunderbolt 4 Dock is designed for enterprise businesses, PC gamers and video editors looking for an advanced connectivity solution that delivers maximum bandwidth and epic display resolutions. It features two Thunderbolt 4 Downstream ports capable of 40Gbps data transfers and 32G PCIe transfers, and one Thunderbolt 4 Upstream port that provides up to 96W Power Delivery charging for your host device.

Additionally, enjoy gaming and video editing like never before with dual 6K 60Hz display support through HDMI or Thunderbolt, an ultra-fast 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet connection, and high-resolution audio with the ability to choose between lifelike 8K 60Hz resolution or 4K 120Hz resolution to ensure faster rendering with less blur.

Get it here

Portable Hard Drive

Samsung 4TB T7 Shield Portable SSD

These tiny drives are ultra fast and small. I have found these drives very reliable and they don’t require separate power plugs. They are also great value for money.

Get it here

Card Reader

Sony MRW-G2 CFExpress (Type A) Card Reader

This card reader can read up to 10 Gb/s and comes with USB C and USB A cables. It works with CF Express (A)  and SD cards. It’s fast and a solid build.

Get it here

If you just need an inexpensive USB-C SD and Micro SD reader, look no further than

UNI USB-C SD / MicroSD Card Reader 

BEST GIMBAL

DJI RS3 Pro

The newest DJI Ronin gimbal, now called RS3 is very similar to previous RS2. The main update is auto locking motors. The arms are carbon Fiber, the battery detaches to charge without having to be attached. It can be used in briefcase mode, it has locking axes (makes it easy to balance) carries a heavier payload and breaks down into a very small footprint. The inbuilt screen provides access to enough functionality, that you can use the gimbal without having to attach a smartphone for quick shoots.  If you get the pro bundle (I highly recommend you do) you get a mechanical focus to work on any lens and the amazing Raven Eye. Raven eye connects to the app wirelessly and provides remote control over the gimbal movement including a responsive mimic and automatic face tracking. This is now my favorite gimbal, hands down. This is how you get cinematic smooth footage while walking or moving the camera around a subject.

Buy it here

See my setup video for the full Pro bundle 

Best Mobile Phone Gimbal

Insta 360 Flow

The Insta360 Flow is a handheld, pocket-sized gimbal that is designed to stabilize your smartphone camera while you are on the go. The device features a three-axis gimbal that provides stability on the pan, tilt, and roll axis, ensuring that your footage remains smooth and steady, even if you are moving around. This makes it perfect for capturing footage while walking, running, or engaging in other activities where it may be difficult to hold your phone steady.

One of the standout features of the Insta360 Flow is its portability. The device is small enough to fit in your pocket, making it easy to carry with you wherever you go. This means that you always have access to stable footage, even if you don’t have a bulky camera or tripod with you. It also features Deep track, an ai powered smart tracking, that follows the subject, even if they disappear behind obstacles for a few seconds.

See my review here

Tiny Camera

Check out the amazing Insta 360 GO3.

Action camera with a flip up screen that transforms into a tiny remote camera. It’s amazing all the things you can do with this, It has a magnetic mounting system and this camera can go where other camera can’t. Allowing for unique shots.

See review here

Best 360 Camera

Insta360 ONE X3*

The quality of this little 360 camera is amazing, and with the app you can recompose video in post to make it look like the camera is moving around. Miss nothing by capturing the entire scene at once. To boot, it has the best stabilization out of any camera I tested including the goPro.

See review

Buy it here

Best Smartphone

Google Pixel 8 pro*

REVIEW

As far as innovation, the Google Pixel 8 pro wins this year. The screen is gorgeous, the 3 cameras are best in class. All 3 shoot RAW with up to 50mp. Also features an updated Google Tensor chip. Comes with 7 years of updates and new features. This phone also features under-screen fingerprint sensor and a punch-hole camera (no notch).

Microphone

Sure SM7B

This thing is industry standard for podcasts and desktop recording for a reason. The sound quality and rugged reliability is legendary. All my tutorials are recorded with this mic. I also use a Scarlett solo for the USB interface. Because this is a dynamic mic and not a condenser, it may need a little boost, so I use a Cloudlifter.

On camera mics

Rode Wireless GO II

The wireless go is an amazing mic. It’s a belt pack with the microphone built into the transmitter. It’s really fast and easy to set up and the built-in mic is very clear with great signal to noise ratio. You can also plug in a lav mic and use it like a traditional lav set. The range is also very good. Rode has made it even better with the GO II, which features 2 transmitters and a single receiver, so you can mic up 2 people for interviews. There are new features, such as the ability to record directly into a transmitter and save the recording internally. Recently Rode updated their app to offer even more features. It’s worth checking out the Wireless PRO, which I would consider, but I haven’t reviewed it. 

REVIEW HERE 

Review of the new accessories here

Photo Software

Adobe Photoshop 2024

Do I really need to explain why Photoshop is the best image editing software? It’s the industry standard for a reason. Review

Adobe Lightroom Classic 13 (2024)

Lightroom is the best tool for working with lots of photos. Use it to organize your photos, edit them and deliver in many ways. I have always been a fan of the quality edits I can make to my photos in Lightroom and it handles panoramas and HDR better than just about anything out there. It works with 3rd party plugins so you can extend its functionality. Review

Best Music for your Videos

Epidemic Sound, the right songs, the right license at the right price. need I say more? You can download the entire song, or stems.

Get it here

Graphics Tablet

Wacom Intuos Pro M*

Wacom is head and shoulders above all others when it comes to pressure sensitive input from a stylus. If you have ever used a Wacom tablet, you will realize these is a reason it’s what almost all the pros use. The feel is the closest you will get to pencil on paper, with no lag and lightweight pen that doesn’t need batteries. The latest Intuos Pro now supports 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, which allows even the lightest touch to register and not turn into a dotted line (as almost everything else does). It has built in Bluetooth or USB-C connectivity, so you can choose how to connect. I find the medium to be the “goldilocks” in sizes. It’s large enough to provide the precision and real-estate for drawing and not too large as to hog your desk space. For retouchers the Wacom tablet is a necessary tool, not an accessory. I sure couldn’t create the imagery I do without one and the latest release is worth the upgrade with the Pro pen2, metal back and high level of sensitivity. review

get it here

Color Management

X-Rite Color checker Passport photo 2*

For perfect color, you need a reliable source with known colors to calibrate your photos. Take a shot with the passport in frame,  create a color profile that works in Lightroom or ACR and all your photos are looking good with lifelike color

Buy here

X-Rite Color checker Passport video*

You need to calibrate your video too and this is the solution.

Buy here

X-Rite Color checker XL*

If you are serious about color management, you probably already have an X-Rite color checker. This card enables you to have known colors when you shoot. This enables you to dial in correct colors when you are editing the color of your photos or video. There was a problem with the color checker though. If you are flying a drone or using 360 Cameras, the chart was a little small to get a good reading sometimes. Enter the XL (For Extra Large). As an Xrite Coloratti, I was involved in testing the XL and providing real-world feedback. Not only was it amazing for drone work, but I love it in the studio. I use this to calibrate my cameras, Its nice and large, has true blacks, whites and gray tones as well as skin tone and primaries. The larger size enables me to double it up as a take-off pad for my drone, bonus! see it here

Best Monitor

BenQ 32″ SW321C Photographers IPS Monitor.*

This monitor is very pleasant to look at with extreme care given to color accuracy and color management. It supports 99% Adobe RGB. It comes with a puck to change color modes as needed. I can go between Adobe RGB, sRGB and Rec.709 in an instant. It comes with a hood to protect it from glare and color contamination. The stand allows for adjustment of height and angle, as well as rotation. This is the monitor sitting right in front of me most days.

Get it here

Best Pro Monitor on a Budget

BenQ PD2706UA

This monitor has a crisp clear 4K display. It also comes with some great features live KVM mode and an articulating arm. You can quickly adjust the height, angle and even flip between vertical and horizontal displays quickly.  Check out my full review in this little beauty. This is currently my 2nd monitor on my desktop for daily use.

Review

The Best Drone

DJI Mavic 3 Classic

It’s going to take a lot to beat the Mavic 3. Why? This little drone is amazing. It’s the drone I’ve always wanted. It’s portable and easy to travel with and has great range and battery life. This in itself isn’t enough though. I really need the sharpest high resolution photos and video and the onboard Hasselblad camera brings this. The Classic provides the same quality as the 3 Pro with a single camera for a more affordable price.

Review

Mavic 3 Classic Review

Get it here

Smaller Drone

DJI MINI 4 pro

I don’t have a mini 4 pro, but I love the mini 3 pro, see my review here

Wireless Charging

Apple Magsafe Duo wireless charging.

This 3 in one wireless charger I recommended last year broke. I replaced it with this Apple one which folds up into a small footprint and charges quickly and reliably. Be warned though, this charger doesn’t come with a charging brick, so you will have to shell out extra on tip of this already expensive piece of gear.

Get it here

Screen Calibrartion

Calibrate Display Plus*

This is the best device for calibrating your monitor for accurate color. The Display plus now supports a wider color gamut and can also calibrate HDR monitors.

BEST CONSTANT LIGHTS

Luxli Timpani 1×1 RGB LED Light Panel (2-Light Travel Kit)

I have recently been turned onto these lights. I shot my ebike review with them, if you want to quickly see the quality.

What I love about them, They are bright and consistent. You can adjust the color temp to match existing lights, or go into RGB mode and dial in almost any color you like. They are sturdy and well built. Many light panel have weak yokes, but not these. They come configured as a convenient kit that includes a sturdy travel bag that will protect them for years to come.

PS, I currently use a Gitzo tripod as well as Siri and Vanguard.

My favorite bags right now are Think Tank Airport and Hex Cinema Backpack.

Ok, that’s it for now. If there is a category that I have excluded, drop a comment and I’ll see what I can do to expand this gear guide.

Thanks for checking this out.

Great to see you here at the CAFE!

Colin

Here is a link to buy all the products in one place from B&H Photo.

The post Best tech in 2023 for Creative Pros – PhotoshopCAFE picks appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

The google Pixel 8 Pro is out and there are some significant camera updates as well as updates all around.

This review compares the Pixel 8 pro to the Pixel 7 pro as well as the iPhone 15 Pro max as well as highlighting the new features in Pixel 8,

Check out the video above and Ill get written info as soon as I can.

The post Pixel 8 Pro Camera review, vs pixel 7 vs iPhone 15 Pro Max appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

So why review a phone on PhotoshopCAFE? Unless you have been living under a rock, these hand-held pocket computers are so much more than a phone. In fact some people use them just for the camera and don’t even have a wireless plan on them. The worn out adage goes, “The best Camera you have, is the one on you.” So, I say, why not carry a better one? Besting Best with better. IN a nutshell, unless you have a DSLR or a Mirrorless camera, your phone might be the best camera you have, at least riving most point and shoot cameras.

A lot of development has gone into developing tiny sensors, lenses and computational photography. The iPhones are now capable of shooting RAW, HDR and can sense depth and more. “But It’s not real photography?” I used to have this argument with photographers back when we were moving from film to digital. Unless you are shooting a film camera, time to jump off the high horse and at least be aware of the future that’s coming at light speed. Having said all that, my primary camera is still a mirrorless and that took some getting used to after a digital Single reflex camera aka mirror.

I was invited to a weeklong trip in the Catskills by google last fall and we shot exclusively with the google pixel phone. That’s when my eyes were really opened to the potential of these pocket cameras, installed on a phone. Some people think a phone camera is taking all the skill away. I would say the opposite. You don’t have to look long to see bad photos taken on a phone camera. With things like Lightroom mobile, phone photography is a real thing, and if you actually try it, you might just enjoy it. If not, at least you have your phone to capture photos when you’re not carrying your camera. What all that rant? I listen, and I hear people pushing back against phone photography. Ok on with the camera review

Watch the video above to see side by side examples of photos taken from the iPhone 15 Pro max and the previous 14 pro.

Spoiler alert. There isn’t much is any noticeable difference in the photos from the 14 and 15 in normal conditions.

The big change is the addition of an optical 5x periscope lens on the 15 Pro MAX. (They use prisms to use the height, rather than the thickness of the body to increase the distance between the lens and sensor to get a longer focal length.)

There are 4 focal lengths.

The iPhone 15 Pro, is unchanged (in lenses and image quality) from the 14 range. So 14 pro, 14 Pro Max and 15 Pro: .5, 1, 2x, 3x

If you want the 5X optical Telephoto it’s only on the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max. It also has a new optical image stabilization for that lens, and it works really well. As far as physical camera hardware, the only change, but there is more.

.5 ultra wide

1X

2x

3x

5x (15 Pro Max only)

Macro

There is a new Macro mode and it works really nicely for close up photos. This is new on all the lenses.

Auto depth maps.

If you are shooting a person or and animal etc, the phone will detect a strong subject and add a depth map automatically. (Portrait mode)

Tethered

You can shoot directly to disk (tethered) using Capture One for photos. We will see if Lightroom gets this, I hope so!

You can also record video directly to disk, this comes with a new log format.

RAW

Apple Pro Raw has always been a hassle to use because you turn it on, then when you relaunch the camera, it defaults to heif (or jpg) unless you tap the RAW button each time. Now you can set it to stay on raw in the preferences.

Other Changes

Since this is about camera, we focus on that (sorry for pun). But there are some notable changes.

Faster processor

USB-C Finally, you can travel with a single cable, now that (with regulation from the EU) the proprietary Lightning plug is gone and replaced by a standard USB-C. There is no fast charging, I suspect because of heat. The pro models get use-3 speeds, Which aren’t the fastest available, but much faster than the old Lightning for transferring data. (Apple makes a lot of noise about being a champion for the environment. Then why did they create a ton of e-waste by introducing a proprietary cable system in the first place? And why didi it take the EU to make them adopt the standard everything else uses? //endRant #justAsking)

Titanium body

They have now changed the bezel around the edge from Aluminum to titanium. The result is a slight reduction in weight, which you can feel. Independent tests show that isn’t not stronger, but a bit weaker than previous models because of the glass on that back.

Action Button

The silence switch is now a programmable action button. I set mine to launch the camera. Yes! Small, but huge when I think about all the shots I missed because I couldn’t launch the camera fast enough.

Battery Life

Battery life hasn’t changed. Although Apple touts staggering numbers (staggering how they got them) in real-life, It’s still kind of bad. If you are out all day, you’ll still need a charger with you. (Google Pixel 5a and 6a are true all-day battery monsters).

Color

Overall the color is nice, maybe a little too enhanced. But be aware of surrounding colors causing a serious shift. See the video for examples in action.

Buying advice

If you upgrade every year, then do your thing, but don’t expect much of a change.

If you are on the iPhone 14 pro and want to upgrade to the 15Pro just for the camera, you won’t notice much if any difference (unless you are doing macro). Maybe skip this version unless USB-C is worth it to you.
(remember your AirPods, Magic Keyboard, mouse, twin wireless charger and Apple Remote are all using Lightning. (Bring on the waste as we dump perfectly good products for a different charging port).

If you want the Longer telephoto lens, then the iPhone 15 Pro MAX it is. (I begrudgingly got the bigger phone for this, but its lighter than previous Pro MAX).

If you have an old iPhone and need a new one. These are quality devices with great cameras. The imaging quality is really good and it’s a solid upgrade. I’m not suggesting they are bad, they are really good, just largely unchanged from the last model.

Hopefully this info helped you

Colin

The post Photographer reviews iPhone 15 Pro MAX camera appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

I recently made a tutorial on all the new features of Photoshop 2024. I got a lot of questions and comments on Youtube and various social medias, so I’ll address the most asked ones here. There is also a video well worth watching above (It’s more in depth).

Is Generative Fill a paid add on?

A lot of talk about this one!

Generative Credits

Adobe is introducing Generative credits. The easy way to understand this is like a phone plan or data plan. An unlimited data plan allows unlimited data, but once you pass a threshold the speed may be throttled during peak time.

If you are a paid subscriber, you will get fast processing credits. Once you pass that limit, you can still generate without extra costs, but the speed may slow down if the servers are busy.

You don’t have to pay for the credits. Each month your meter will refresh.  AKA top off. You can’t accumulate credits and roll them over.

You can see the amount of credits you will receive each month in this chart from Adobe’s website. FAQ here

This doesn’t begin until Nov 1, 2024

Main ones are
Full CC: 1000 Credits per month.
Single app (aka Photoshop) 500 per month,
Photography + Lightroom CC 250 per month. New subs after November 1 will get only 100 per month.

What if you run out of credits?

To be honest, Most people won’t get though 1000 or even 250 credits per month. But if you do, then what? You can continue to use the feature and you may experience slow downs, or even a daily cap  (We don’t know what that means yet, because it hasn’t happened, but my guess is the cap is to stop people abusing the system, like starting a generation farm and selling as stock).

If the speed throttle is bad, you have the option to buy more credits fro $4.99 per month for 100. So basically it gives you priority processing, and you go to the back of the line when you use your monthly credits. They refresh each moth like the minutes on your phone.

Generative credits do not apply to the Remove tool to other ai features in Photoshop, only Generative Fill and Generative expand. Adobe express and Firefly it also applies to Text effects and Text to image.

Is resolution still limited to 1024 x 1024

the generated resolution is 1024 x 1024 px

This means 1024 px on the longest side. If your selection is larger than 1024  high or tall, the generated pixels will be enlarged to fit the selection resulting is a softer looking image. At selections of 2or less, the resolution should match your image.

I have a tutorial here on how to get high resolution fills in your image, see the tutorial here

Where is High Resolution?

Here is my best guess. I don’t know for sure, if Adobe had told me, I won’t be able to talk about it because of NDA, but I don’t, so I’m only speculating.. but it’s an educated guess

On Adobe’s site they say future capabilities may include Higher Resolution, may incur additional Generative Credits or additional cost. Lets examine that

If you compare to Mid journey, you have the ability to generate new images, or to upscale any of the variations.the U1-4 mean create high res on demand.

When you generate high resolution, it costs 1 credit.

My guess is Adobe will allow us to generate in low resolution (like now), but in the future we may be able to choose to redraw a variation in high resolution. This is like the current practice of using Adobe Stock for free in low res with a watermark. When we are happy with the results, we license the image and it’s replaced with a clean, high resolution version.

Maybe that high res generation will cost 1 credit, or even 5 depending on the resolution. We will see.

Is it Photoshop 25 or 2024?

They are the same. Photoshop is at version 25 as an app, but all the apps in Creative Cloud 2024 are called 2024 no matter their individual app versions.

Where are my Presets, plugins etc

When you install a full dot version update, (25 vs 24.7 etc) sometimes preset and plugins might be missing or not working. (I actually had good luck with my plugins this time and they all work)

Your plugins should be in: Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2024\Plug-ins folder

The key is to not replace your old version until you can be sure everything is working.

When you choose update from Creative Cloud, don’t remove old versions.

You can uninstall them later if you like.

Also if you do this, make sure you turn off Auto Update, I strongly encourage this anyway, or it could update you and wipe out your presets without your knowing. It’s happened to me before.

Running the correct version of Photoshop

If you need to reinstall an older version of Photoshop you can. To get back discontinued functionality like 3D.

Click the menu in the Creative Cloud app next to the open button in Photoshop

Click other versions

A menu will appear with other versions. You can install multiple versions at once.

Where are the new tools?

You may have the new version installed. Make sure you are launching the correct version if the new features aren’t there. You might Have added 2024, but still launching 2023. Check the name next to the icon.

Where is the Remove tool?

If you are using a workspace that didn’t include the Remove tool, generative fill or other new features at the time, they will be missing from your toolbar.

Click and hold on the toolbar options, you will see a fly-out menu.

Click Edit Toolbar

Click restore defaults and done and everything should be there now. If you had a custom workspace, update that workspace, or the tool will disappear again the next time you reset the workspace.

Wrong version is opening in Lightroom

When you right-click on an image in Lightroom classic, you can choose to Edit In>Photoshop

Some people are only seeing beta and can’t get it to open in the regular Photoshop

For Mac users, go to preferences>External Editing

Change the Photoshop version

When you right-click you will see the correct version of Photoshop, You can target the beta or other versions if you prefer.

For windows users, you need to First Launch Photoshop and then when you choose Edit in, it will open in Photoshop 2024.

I hope these tips are proving useful for you.

Drop a comment and let me know!

Thanks

Colin

By the way, I heard from some people they were waiting for Generative Fill to come to the main Photoshop because they didn’t want to mess with the beta. Well, it’s here now.

As you may know, I made a course on Generative fill (the first and as far as I know, the only course) and everything on the course works exactly the same in the final release, except you don’t have to download the beta anymore. If you missed the discount before, I thought it would only be fair to offer it again here if you are now ready to jump in.

I’ll give you a week to use the code GENFILL2 to save 20%.  Grab it here (If you already bought the course, you don’t need to buy again, it’s unchanged, as the features are unchanged)

The post Updating to Photoshop 2024, Your Questions Answered appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Adobe released the new update to Photoshop and we will look at the new features. Some of these features have previously been in the Photoshop beta and I’ve already done in depth tutorial in each. Where appropriate, I’ll add links to the other tutorials. This is a overview of everything that is new, in the main shipping version of Photoshop.

First: I have already been asked this question many times: “Can I now uninstall the Beta version and just work in the new update?” The answer is, it’s up to you. Both versions can co-exist on your computer. If you were just using the beta for Generative ai, sure you can get rid of the beta. New features will appear in the Photoshop beta before they make their way to the regular Photoshop, so it’s up to you if you want a steak peek or not. As always, I’ll let you know in our newsletter and make tutorials to make you aware of new features.

The floating taskbar has been tamed.

You may have noticed the taskbar that appears when you do certain things in Photoshop.

This taskbar is loaded with shortcuts to common tasks.

But sometimes it gets in the way and jumps over your image

If you click on the Menu, you can choose Pin Bar position. It will now stay wherever you put it.

I heard a lot of complaints that it didn’t remember this when you restart Photoshop and you have to keep pinning it every new session.

I’m happy to say, the bar stays put now, even when you restart.

Updating Photoshop to v25 aka Photoshop 2024

Sometimes people have trouble finding the update.

Launch your creative Cloud app, from the top taskbar on Mac, or bottom on windows. (Or search “Creative Cloud”)

On the left, click updates

Here is a step, many people miss.

Click on check for updates on the top right.

This will look for the very newest updates, often they aren’t loaded in yet.

You will see Photoshop with update next to it. You can see I already updated mine here.

NOTE: This is a new version and will replace your version 2023 if you choose that option.

Be aware, because it’s a full version update, you will have to reinstall your plugins. If this is an issue for you, keep version 2023 as well and launch that when you want to use your plugins.

Generative Fill in now in the main Photoshop version

Gen fill is now out of beta and available in the main Photoshop. It has 3 main uses. Replace, expand and remove. I’ll cover them briefly here, but choose the ai art and tools category here at PhotoshopCAFE, for lots of detailed free tutorials on these tools. Check out my full course with lesson files to learn even more. Because it’s out of beta, Generative Fill is now approved for commercial purposes.

Lets look at replace using Generative Fill ai.

Make a selection around an object to replace.

Type in what you want. Let’s do hair dryer.

Click generate

You will now see the object you described. This is not stock photography. This image has never existed before. The ai looks at all the images it has been trained on, by looking at millions of photos. It then knows what a hairdryer should look like and generates (or draws) one to match the lighting and angle of the photo. I go more in depth on my topical tutorials. Generative Fill tutorial. 

Notice the the properties panel, you can click on 3 variations.

There is also a new button in the Properties panel that allows you to see larger thumbnails.

If you click, generate again, you get 3 different variations. Generate as often as you like to get more options.

Generative Fill for expanding or outcropping

The 2nd use is to extend a canvas, this is probably the one we will use the most.

Say we want to expand this image into a panorama.

Choose the crop tool

Drag outwards with the crop tool to expand the frame.

This is very extreme, often we will do it just a little bit.

Without entering any text, click generate. (You will notice new tips as the expansion is happening). This happens on the cloud, you will need internet access to use this tool.

You will see that it generated pixels to match the existing image.

The new generated pixels aren’t factual, they are randomly created match the aesthetic. So think of this as an aesthetic way of using it, for things like design and not for location factual uses such as a hotel listings. I’ve covered all the ethics in other tutorials, so we will just stick to the tools in this one.

One of the downsides is the resolution of generated pixels is limited at this time. Here is how to hack higher resolution from Generative Fill.

Adobe has said that high resolution is coming.

Generative Expand

Before getting to the 3rd use of Generative fill, let’s look at a closely related tool. Generative expand.

Generative expand is basically Generative fill, but with fewer steps and the ability to use the sizing presets in the crop tool. I have a separate tutorial on Generative Expend here. 

Choose the crop tool and use an aspect ration preset if you like.

Let’s make a square with 1:1

Drag with the crop tool. Position the image within the frame.

Click generate

The crop tool will crop away the sides and generate pixels at the top and bottom to fill the square.

This is game changing for social media, and changing image aspect ratio. Previously, we had to do a lot of cloning and content aware fill to do the same thing.

Generative Fill for removing object

The 3rd main use for Gen fill, is removing things from a photo.

Make a selection around the car.

Click generate

The car is gone and background has been created to fill the hole.

Generative Fill is amazing, but there are things it can’t so, or do well, and we address that next. First more info about the changes.

Generative Fill as paid add on

Generative Fill is entering a paid phase in its life. Don’t freak out yet though, let me tell you what’s happening.

All this ai stuff takes an incredible amount of super-computing power. The processing is done in large and expensive data centers. So it’s not free for Adobe to run, in fact it’s very expensive. So here is what Adobe has announced:

Starting November 1 2023 there will be a limit on generations. For Full Creative Cloud members, it’s 1000 a month, for Photoshop and photography program, it’s 500 a month. Each generation counts as 1. Honestly, from using a paid mid-journey account for a year, most people won’t get anywhere near the 500 or 1000. But if you do hit that allotment, you will still be able to generate, but it will be slower. You can buy more fast credits if you want.

Credits refresh each month and you can’t accumulate credits, it just restarts. From the lounge on Adobe’s website, it sounds like the higher resolution generation will count as more than 1 credit each. No more is known at this time.

Only Generative Fill and Generative expand count as credits. The remove tool and other ai tools don’t use credits.

Remove tool

If you want to remove things from your photos, the ai powered remove tool is a better option on many cases. I compared the remove tool ai with Generative fill here. 

Choose the remove tool

Paint over the plant.

The plane disappears and is filled with natural background.

New way of using the remove tool

This is a brand new behavior. You can circle the object you want to remove, much like you would with magic eraser on the Google Pixel phone.

And it disappears.

Advantages of the remove tool over Generative fill include:

1. Often faster
2. On device, so no internet needed
3. Works in full resolution
4. No ai Gen credits used

New Gradient tool

The new gradient tool features re editable and non destructive gradients, I made a tutorial here on the new Photoshop gradient tool

For the sake of this example, let’s do lighting on a mask. I made another tut here, and it’s popular!

Start with a wall

Lets make it nigh-time

Add an adjustment layer

Choose color lookup

Click Load 3D LUT on the properties panel

Grab moonlight

Now it’s night.

To add a spotlight, choose black to white as fairground and background

Choose gradient tool (make sure it says Gradient, and not Classic Gradient)

Grab black to white and make it a radial gradient.

Drag to add a spotlight effect

Drag the dot on the side to change the shape.

You can add more than 1 light, see the video at the top

Some people wills, we could do that in Lightroom and Camera RAW. You would be right, but remember, this is a fully functional gradient tool that is capable of so much more, I’m just using it on a mask here to demonstrate.

Ok, that’s a wrap up of the new features in a nutshell. Check out all my other in-depth tutorials to explore there features more.

Thanks

Colin

By the way, I heard from some people they were waiting for Generative Fill to come to the main Photoshop because they didn’t want to mess with the beta. Well, it’s here now.

As you may know, I made a course on Generative fill (the first and as far as I know, the only course) and everything on the course works exactly the same in the final release, except you don’t have to download the beta anymore. If you missed the discount before, I thought it would only be fair to offer it again here if you are now ready to jump in.

I’ll give you a week to use the code GENFILL2 to save 20%.  Grab it here (If you already bought the course, you don’t need to buy again, it’s unchanged, as the features are unchanged)

The post Photoshop 2024 New Features appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Luminar Neo is a full- featured photo editing application, similar to Lightroom in many ways. It can work as a stand alone application, or as a plug in for Photoshop. Lightroom, Lightroom Classic and Apple Photos.

Skylum (maker of Luminar) recently released a module to stitch panoramas together. This is a tutorial on how to stitch panoramas out of photos and even video. This also serves as a review of Luminar, as I show some of the key features as we process the finished panoramas and other images.

This is a sponsored post, however all thoughts and tutorials are my own and not censored or edited by Skylum.

Skylum are providing a 10% discount, use the code PHOTOSHOPCAFE. Get it here 

Let me know your thoughts!

Colin

The post How to use Panorama Stitching in Luminar Neo appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

With all the excitement around Generative Fill in Photoshop, its kind of overshadowed another amazing new ai tool. The remove tool, is equally an amazing, and maybe even more useful? Watch the video, or read on to see.

I made a tutorial on the Remove Tool when it was in Photoshop beta. Now its in the shipping version.

I have made a course on Generative Fill in Photoshop. Check it out here

Before I explain the differences in the tools, lets put them through their paces. The video shows the settings and variations of this basic theme I used.

At this time, Remove tool in in the main Photoshop version, generative fill is only in the Photoshop beta. Here is a short tutorial on how to get the Photoshop beta.

The Remove Tool

For the Remove tool, I created a new layer and then painted on the objects I wanted to remove.Creating anew layer gives non destructive use. Make sure to turn on Sample all layers for it to work. The remove tool in in Photoshop beta and also Photoshop 24.5 or newer.

The remove tool, is nested under the spot healing brush. If it doesn’t show in the toolbar if you are using a workspace preset. Click the 3 dot menu on the toolbar and choose edit toolbar to show the tool if its missing.

Make a new Layer

Paint over the object you want to remove

It removed the object and rebuilds the pixels behind the object based on the surrounding pixels and ai. Much better than Content aware fill, which is not ai.

I also removed the shadow in the video.

Meet Generative Fill

Generative fill is only in Photoshop beta right now. It only works on the cloud, so an internet connection is required. Generative fill is capable of creating objects and extending a canvas, In this comparison, we are only going to use it for object removal. I have plenty of other tutorials on other usage of Generative Fill.

For this tutorial, I used the lasso tool to make selections, and then chose, Generative Fill

Generate to fill with Generative fill, which uses a machine learning model than has been training on millions of images from Adobe stock.

It fills the area the car used to be with relevant pixels.

Removing a large object with repetitive background.

Lets remove this cabin.

Starting with Generative Fill.

Make a selection with the lasso tool.

Choose Generative Fill>Generate, leaving the prompt blank.

Tip: According the Adobe documentation, adding words like remove, don’t work. If you want to remove something, leave the text prompt empty. “Currently, the prompts used for the description are supported in English only. For best results, use descriptive nouns and adjectives in text prompts instead of instructive prompts like, “fill the area” or “create a scene“.”

Here you can see it didi a decent job.

Let’s grab the remove tool

Paint over the building and release

We also get a decent result. Although with this, we can see some repetition in the trees.

On close examination, the fill with Remove is the same resolution as the original image. It also works faster than Generative Fill.

If you look at Generative Fill results up close, they are soft and pixelated. That is because Gen-Fill uses a maximum resolution of 1024×1024 px to fill a selected area. This will change in the future. Here is a tip to get better resolution.

Removing a Difficult object from a picture

In this shot, we want to remove the tower.

With the Remove tool, paint over the tower first.

Then remove the power lines, it works well.

The moment of truth. How will it fare, while painting over an area of semi transparency, such as this veil.

It works wonderfully!

Ok, let’s try Generative Fill

Select the tower.

Hit Generative Fill>Generate

Oops, not so well here. None of the 3 variations are any better.

Lets try selecting the area through the veil.

Not too bad,

Note, if the entire tower was selected in a single selection, Generative fill worked much better. If you select part of an object, it tries to extend it rather than replace it.

You can’t type in remove, as it doesn’t understand those types of instructions, I tried sky, but also got weird results.

Removing a person, with a complex background

Starting With Gen Fill. Make a selection with the lasso.

And this did a fantastic job.

Same thing with Remove tool.

A very muddled result in the background.

Applying the Remove tool a few more times over the background changed it into a more acceptable result, although not as good as gen-fill on this one.

Removing a face

Let remove a person from this group.

Make a selection with lasso tool

Choose Generative Fill>Generate

On all 3 variations, Gen-Fill added a new face instead of removing the person entirely. On a second attempt, it did the same thing.

Let’s try the remove tool

I had to use it on smaller areas to rouch up the result, but it was very easy to remove the person.

The Conclusion

It looks like each tool excels in different circumstances and types of images.

The remove tool works very well on smaller areas and simpler backgrounds, although it can handle more complex backgrounds, you need to work it a few times to massage the results.

The remove tool is faster because it’s installed locally and thus doesn’t require an internet connection either.

The results are in high resolution and they are ready for prime time, because they are in the shipping version of Photoshop.

The Generative Fill can actually generate objects and thus works well on complex backgrounds, but remember its still low resolution and not yet for commercial purposes (beta).

The very best solution, is to use both together. I often start with Generative Fill and then use the remove tool to manually tweak the results.

I hope you found this tutorial useful, definitely check out the video if you haven’t, there is so much more o be gleaned than this brief writing.

Check out my new course on Generative Fill in Photoshop, Check it out here.

Also follow me on Instagram, Tik Tik and Twitter.  for shorts and reels.

Great to see you here at the CAFE

Happy Photoshopping

Colin

The post Generative Fill vs Remove tool ai in Photoshop, when to use each tool appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

The drone’s ultra-low latency video transmission system allows it to be flown via FPV camera, making it possible to maneuver around obstacles in environments without a direct line of sight, such as forests. The Inspire 3 also has a 360-degree optical avoidance system, and the sensors are integrated into the landing legs. The system can be fully customized, giving pilots the option to turn off or bypass a subject or object. The drone is equipped with DJI’s proven vision sensing system with down-facing sensors and is very stable, able to hover precisely over a spot. The new software algorithm eliminates the need to use the compass, making it more precise in flying straight lines. The camera is a custom-built 8.1K full-frame sensor that can shoot 120 frames per second, 4K slow motion, and 35-megapixel still photos. It also has 14.7 stops of dynamic range and a dual native ISO sensor. The Inspire 3 matches with the latest and greatest cinema cameras out there, making it a valuable tool for professional photographers and videographers. The camera also has several professional codecs, including ProRes Raw, ProRes 422HQ, and cinema DNG. DJI integrates several lenses, including a new 18mm lens that replaces the 16mm lens. Other lenses include the 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm, with a new telephoto lens coming out soon. Overall, the Inspire 3 is an excellent drone for professionals, and its compact design and high-quality features make it a valuable tool for any photographer or videographer.

The big headlines are a 35mm Full Frames Sensor (a big deal) with interchangeable lenses. 8.1k prores and raw video. 15km range with 1080 video. Integrated FPV camera for the pilot. Adaptive Obstacle avoidance. spotlight pro and Waypoints pro.

When you look at the price point, you realize this is for people who make a living making these shots. In the professional Film making industry, its actually very reasonably priced when compared to the alternatives. Hobbyists can oly hope some of these features make it into the prosumer market.

Get it here: https://bhpho.to/440XPkZ

Let me know your thoughts

Colin

________________________________________

Colin Smith is a Los Angeles based creator. He is founder of one of the worlds most popular websites for creators, PhotoshopCAFE.com. Which has received over 60 million visitors. As an Award winning digital artist, Colin has 3 guru awards under his belt. His work has been featured in most of the industry magazines as well as Time Magazine and the New York Times.

His client list includes, Toyo Tires, Microsoft, Saatchi and Saatchi and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, David Lee Roth.

As a leading trainer, Colin has written 21 books, and too many video courses to count. His training clients include Adobe, Apple, Disney and Edison International. He is a regular speaker at major conferences,  including Adobe Max, PPE, WPPI, Photoshop World, Creative Pro and Imaging USA

He runs a popular youtube channel (photoshopCAFE) with 370,000 subscribers. When he isn’t at his computer, Colin can be found pursuing his passion of travel and capturing beauty with this drone and camera. 

The post DJI Inspire 3 Drone, Hands on at NAB appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

The Insta360 Flow is a handheld, pocket-sized gimbal that is designed to stabilize your smartphone camera while you are on the go. The device features a three-axis gimbal that provides stability on the pan, tilt, and roll axis, ensuring that your footage remains smooth and steady, even if you are moving around. This makes it perfect for capturing footage while walking, running, or engaging in other activities where it may be difficult to hold your phone steady.

One of the standout features of the Insta360 Flow is its portability. The device is small enough to fit in your pocket, making it easy to carry with you wherever you go. This means that you always have access to stable footage, even if you don’t have a bulky camera or tripod with you. It also features Deep track, an ai powered smart tracking, that follows the subject, even if they disappear behind obstacles for a few seconds.

In terms of functionality, the Insta360 Flow offers several different shooting modes. These include Auto, Follow, Pan Follow, and FPV. Auto mode is designed to automatically follow your movements, adjusting the pan and tilt as needed to keep your subject in frame. Follow mode is similar, but it allows you to choose a specific subject to follow, making it ideal for vlogging or capturing footage of people or animals.

Pan Follow mode is perfect for capturing smooth panning shots, while FPV mode is designed to create the feeling of flying through a scene, much like a drone. Each mode offers unique advantages, and users can switch between them quickly and easily using the device’s physical controls on in app.

One of the other standout features of the Insta360 Flow is its built-in selfie stick and tripod. The device features a small, extendable arm that allows you to hold your phone out in front of you, making it easier to capture footage of yourself. It also has a small tripod that folds out from the bottom of the device, making it easy to set up stable shots on any flat surface.

The Insta360 Flow is compatible with a wide range of smartphones, and it comes with a magnetic mounting plate. It also comes with a companion app that offers a range of advanced features, including, object tracking, ai shot genie, panoramas and more.

Shot Genie, actually analyzes environments and provides tips on how to best shoot the scene, thus teaching you film making.

Overall, the Insta360 Flow is an excellent device for anyone who wants to capture smooth, stable footage with their smartphone camera. Its portability, versatility, and ease of use make it a great option for anyone who wants to create high-quality content on the go.

The post Insta360 Flow the new AI smartphone stabilizer that teaches you how to film appeared first on PhotoshopCAFE.

Within the last week, it was just announced that Microsoft invested a further $10 billion into OpenAI. (they previously invested 2 billion)

What is AI Generated Art?

Now, OpenAI are the people that make Dal-e and of course, Chat GPT everyone’s talking about. Now, of course, there’s other ai art generators such as Mid Journey and Stable diffusion. And in fact, about a few months ago, maybe six months ago, I did a video on Mid Journey, kind of showing you how it works, how to use it, and then a little discussion at the end. I’ve kind of updated a lot of my thoughts since then. So having six months playing around and digesting this technology, I definitely have developed some different thoughts on it than I had back then.

Back then, I just kind of didn’t know what to think. And for those of you who don’t know about these AI engines or artificial intelligence, give them a text prompt. And based on that text prompt, it can produce art. So you could describe something, or you could describe a scenario, say it’s a cold day in Memphis and it will create art.

You can also direct it to create art in the style of a modern artist or DA Vinci, Giotto, or a pop artist, maybe Andy Warhol, and it will generate art in that style.

And as far as styles, it can do everything from cartoon, hand painted, photorealistic, photographic, it can look like 3D renders. And you can tell the AI all of these things and direct it. In creating art, essentially what it’s doing is you’re becoming an art director and you’re with these text prompts telling it, hey, this is what I want you to create. So we always thought with robots and technology, they’re going to do mundane tasks so we can sit around and create art and take photos. I thought one of the last things that would ever be replaced is the arts.

These are all unretouched images I generated with mid journey (Mid Journey Tutorial here)

But yet here we are today, where this AI on anybody’s computer or anyone’s phone even, is able to create art as good, if not better, than most artists. So it can do visual arts, chat GTP can also do written, where you can tell, hey, write me a story. And it can write a very convincing story. In fact, just recently, I think it was a week ago, they said it just passed the exam at Wharton Business School. And of course, even in the areas of music, AI is in there, and now it’s creating songs.

But let’s focus on photography and digital art because this is kind of what our niche is here.

History of Technology and how it affects jobs

So to kind of figure out where we’re at, why don’t we take a quick stroll through human history? Initially, humans were able to start building tools and things out of stone. And this enabled us to do things that we couldn’t do before. And then of course that went on to the bronze age, the iron age.

We were able to start building different tools and inventing things and eventually this led to the industrial age. And then came the industrial age where we were able to elevate beyond just creating tools into creating machines. And these machines were able to mass produce things. They were able to bring down the cost of living and at the same time raise living standards and provide us with a lot of the things that we enjoy even till today. Now, there is good and bad to all of these, of course.

One of the good things about the industrial age, it actually doubled the life expectancy of the average person. But one of the things about the industrial age of course, is now a machine can work more efficiently than a human and requires less skill. You can kind of see where I’m going with this. So there’s a term that we use for people that are against technology and against progress and that’s a Luddite. And this actually came around the time of the power loom.

Resistance to change – Luddite

There were highly skilled textile workers that made a good living and were very good at what they did. And they had these workshops where they created textiles, which is what cloth and clothing were made out of. Along came these power looms, they started building factories and were able to produce much more textile. And because of this, the prices came down, the workshops couldn’t compete. A lot of them closed down.

The workers went to the factories to try to get work. And of course they couldn’t all get work because number one, they didn’t need as many workers because of the machines. And number two, they didn’t need such highly skilled workers because the skill needed to run these machines was much less than the skill needed to create these things by hand.

And so the legend goes that the luddites were named after a guy called Ned Ludd. Now apparently Ned Ludd never actually existed, but it was a good folklore to kind of get things motivated.

And then the Luddites actually mobilized and went around smashing machines and to the point that the British army was fighting against them. And at one time, believe it or not, there were more British soldiers fighting against the Luddites than were fighting Napoleon at the time. So eventually they were suppressed and everything just kind of moved on.

We go from the industrial age, (through the atomic age, first space age) then we moved into the information age where computers come along. Now remember, computers also replaced a lot of jobs.

So during this time, there was a lot of people that were doing things that were very labor intensive, that were now being automated. Even like today, things are being automated and replaced by machines. Machines are much more efficient they’re cheaper to run. They produce more. They don’t need to be fed, they don’t need sleep. They can’t go on strike. There’s a lot of reasons that it’s more efficient to use machines. Now. As more machines come along, less people have work in those areas.

So let’s go back a little bit, and then we’ll move forward.

Movable type was invented, which is the printing press. And before that, scribes that used to write. That’s how they made their living, by writing these books. All the books were created by hand. Monks and scribes wrote all these books by hand. That was their job. So then the printing press replaced them.

But look at the new opportunities that came out of that. So out of the printing press came people working in printing press. There were printers now. There were newspapers and bookstores. That’s kind of interesting. And so a lot of people were working in the print industry, and that created jobs. Now, of course, a lot of that is starting to diminish now, and it’s being replaced by digital and online. But think about that.

Now we have a whole IT industry. We have whole new jobs. I think about what I do as a digital artist. I wouldn’t have my job if it wasn’t for computers.

One of the interesting things about the industrial age is this brought about these massive cities that started to build, because now people were coming together because it was possible because of this technology, and also they were coming together to work and build things.

Where we are now? We’re in a different place, where now that’s being democratized, and we’ve already seen this happening. This is not new as far as outsourcing. Now everybody in the world competes for the same job. So it’s not necessarily someone next door that’s competing for your position in IT. It could be someone in India, it could be someone in Ireland, it could be somebody in New York. They could be anywhere.

That’s changed things, where literally now, because of the Internet, we can live and we can work anywhere. There’s less jobs in this particular area, but new jobs have opened up, and also new opportunities have opened up. All right, but where does that go for us as artists? Let’s look at photographers for a second. Okay, so I actually started photography when we were using film.

I was predominantly a graphic designer for a living, but I was making part of my living, part of my job was doing photography. And I would go to events, and I would take my camera and I would load my film. And I had a very specific skill set. See, here’s the thing. I couldn’t look on the back of my camera and see, like, all my exposure, everything’s, right? No, I had to learn the craft. I had to know the settings on the camera. I had to understand what was going to work and what wasn’t going to work, where I could hire myself out for a job. Because you can’t go and shoot a major event and then go to develop the pictures and none of the pictures came out. That’s not a good way to make a living.

A lot of photographers will nod and say, yes, wedding photographers will understand that. So there was definitely a skill set required to take photographs. Then along came the digital camera. Has that changed photography?

Absolutely.

We go to every event and someone’s got a digital camera, everyone’s got a digital camera, everyone’s got a phone. Yes, but now that everyone’s taking photographs with phones, is that taking away the art or is it making the artist obsolete? I don’t think so. I think the fine art photographer is still going to have a place, because that level of expertise and that level of skill to create that piece is beyond what the average person has with their phone. Not just that, but a lot of the photographs are throw away photos, like when I go to a hotel, I take photos of my room number so I know what room I’m in. I take photos of the menu at a restaurant so I can just look at it on my phone. It’s much more convenient. So the camera has become a tool, which is more than just art or documentation. But let’s look at this professionally, maybe as a working artist, graphic designer, illustrator.

People that used to do illustration were replaced by a camera. Does that mean illustrators are gone? Let’s go all the way back. Does that mean stone workers are gone? No, there’s still people working with stone (usually the last possession anyone has), there’s still people working with steel, there’s still people creating handcrafted goods.

So as designers, we’ve been using props for a while. For example, stock photography. There was stock photography, which was rights managed, licensed before we got into royalty free. And having licensed stock photography as part of my job, I can tell you there’s many times where it has been more cost effective to have just gone photograph it myself or sent a photographer out than it would have been to use the stock photography. Of course, now with royalty free (and micro stock), it’s become very cheap.

Now, that doesn’t mean that stock photographers don’t have a job anymore. And notice I’m going back there. I’m talking about stone workers, steel workers, photographers. They still work. I’m going somewhere with this.

And this will apply to Photoshop and what we’re doing in a second. While we’re working, we can use stock photography, but then there’s other things. We’ve been using overlay assets, templates. So we’ve been using these things to aid us in our work, and it hasn’t put us out of work. And in fact, the design digital art industry is probably bigger than it’s ever been because of the advent of new technology, because now a lot of things are going from print to digital to online. We’re looking at things like iPads, phones, we’re looking at websites, we’re looking at apps, we’re looking at ads, social media. So now there’s more demand than ever to create these digital assets.

Is the Digital artist doomed?

All right, let’s bring all of this in for a landing and wrap all of this up where it all kind of comes together and makes sense. This is what I think. So if we look at AI art that is able to generate what people need, will it replace the digital artist, the photoshopper, the photographer?

And I say, no, I don’t think it is. When I first started using it, I was like, oh, my gosh, this is ridiculous. This can do this. Why do I even need to learn this craft? Well, there’s some limitations that I’ve kind of noticed. And yes, it’s getting better. Mid journey, couldn’t do eyes before. Now it can do eyes perfectly. Now it can’t count. If you look at hands, teeth, toes, you’ll very often get ten fingers on one hand or 100 teeth in a mouth.

Ai art is Improving, but how fast?

So there’s definitely some areas where it has to improve, and it will get better. Now, here’s the thing. It’s not going to get perfect overnight, because there’s that whole principle of, you know, 80/20, that last 20% is going to take way more time and way more computational power than the initial 80%. If you learn a musical instrument, you’re going to learn some chords and stuff on a guitar.

You can learn some chords very, very quickly, and you can make progress very quickly. But the further you go and the better you get, the more difficult it is to make more noticeable progress. So one of the things I found is that AI is capable of generating some incredible things, but it cannot generate what I see in my mind. If I have a picture or a vision in my mind, maybe I can draw it. Or I can find someone to draw it (a job), and then I can feed it into the AI, and that will actually get a lot closer to what I’m looking for.

Now, if it’s not perfect, you can’t tell mid journey, “hey”, “rotate that person 45 degrees and put a blue hat on them instead of a yellow hat.”

It can’t do that right now. So this is where the Photoshop skills come into play. You can take that AI piece, maybe as a plate or as a starting place, and then you can composite over the top of it. You can move things around. You can change the color. You can change the hand into only five fingers. Now, these things still require skill, so there’s always going to be skill. But  you’re applying your skill in a different place. There will be retouchers in the future who’s job is to retouch AI. Now there’s a position that didn’t exist. There were retouches that did commercial retouches of people cars, shoes, whatever. But now we’re going to be doing retouching on AI. We’re going to be using AI to generate ideas. And we might use those ideas as a basis for doing a photo shoot or for creating another piece of work.

How to secure your future

So AI is going to reduce the amount of digital artists that are needed. That’s a fact. Am I excited about that? No. Can I change it? No. So what do I say to you?

I say to you, get as good as you can. Start learning the AI. Learn how to apply it, use Photoshop with it, use it with photography, use it for backdrops, for photography, use it for different things. Start to understand it, start to learn how to use the prompts. And you’re more likely to be one of the people that’s going to be hired in the future to create and make things.

What about the Hobbyist?

So what about the hobbyist? Well, as a hobbyist, it shouldn’t change anything if you’re doing something because you enjoy doing it. It doesn’t matter if a machine is doing it or if other people are doing it too.

It doesn’t matter how well it pays or it doesn’t. If just for this sheer joy of doing it, you should still do it. If you enjoy photography, do photography. If you enjoy design, compositing, enjoy design and Compositing. Maybe use AI to help you with your compositing, to create some of the elements so you’re not searching for stock photography for hours and hours.

You can generate some of those elements in AI, cut them out, drop them in and put them together inside of Photoshop. And at the other side of things, there’s going to be new opportunities, new positions created.

There’s going to be prompt, artists. People’s job is going to be to work with this AI and feed it with the right prompts to create what we want, to create different iterations. And there’s other jobs I can’t even think of right now, but with each one of these major steps forward in humanity because when I talk about AI, we’re not just talking about art, we’re talking about robots, we’re talking about self driving cars, self driving lawn mowers.

All of these things are real and they’ll be more and more ubiquitous in life as we go forward. The AI age is upon us. It’s going to cause a lot of changes. It might change the way we live. Just like the Bronze Age, the Stone Age, the industrial, the machine, the atomic, all these different ages have changed the way we look at the world, the way we live, where we live, all these things.

It’s the future and it’s coming at us very, very quickly. And so my advice is don’t fight the future. Embrace it. It is coming anyway. So learn how you can use it to improve your lifestyle.

Because one of the things, through each of these ages, the standard of living and the life expectancy of humans has gone up. Rather than look at this from a dystopian point of view where this is it. We’re doomed. This is the end. I prefer to be optimistic about it and look at how this can enhance our lifestyles. The new opportunities, new jobs that we never even thought of are coming. We’re able to live in ways we’re going to enjoy things that we weren’t able to enjoy. We’re going to spend less time doing menial things, more time doing the things we want. And so, okay, here’s my prediction. What is going to be valuable in the future?

The future value of art?

I believe that handcrafted goods are going to be valuable in the future. If we look at the young people right now, digital natives, people born within the last 20 years, they always had digital with them. They always listening to music on ipods, never listening to records, never having cassette tapes. And trust me, if you’ve had cassette tapes, they’re not that good. But yet the kids today are craving them because they want something tactile.

They want to have an experience. So saying, “hey Siri/Alexa/Google, Play this song.” It’ll just play that song, and if I want to hear it again, I’ll play it again. But there’s an experience in putting a cassette tape, be it good or bad. You remember we had hold it half down. I’d be like and you hear the gap up, and you’re like, okay, there’s the beginning of the song, and then you’ll hear the song again. To get to the beginning of the song, you know what I’m talking about.

If you’ve used the cassette tape. And then, of course, it gets in the heads. They get dirty. It gets all chewed up. Then you get the pencil out, and then you turn it on the cassette, and then you put the tape on it, where it gets cut or it gets chewed, and then you’re listening to your favorite song, and then there’s this sound in the middle, because where it got chewed, right? And it sounds warbly or whatever, or the record gets a scratch. So they’re not perfect. But yet people are craving that experience. It’s something real.

Even now with photography, because digital cameras that take perfect photos, so young people are craving things like lomo, holga cameras, things that have floors. Wabasabi. Wabasabi is looking at the beauty in the imperfection. Wabasabi is your favorite pair of old jeans. There’s something special about them.

And so with handcrafted goods. In the future, as we get more 3D printing and doing all the things with technology and everything moving forward, people are going to crave that hand crafted good, that pot, that’s not quite round, that painting, that’s not quite perfect. That photograph, that oh, it’s got a little bit of noise. There’s some shadow over there. These things are going to be what make people fall in love with handcrafted goods when we’re living in a world of artificial perfection.

People are going to be craving for the imperfection, for the imperfect which is us humans, humanity. We are not perfect. We don’t do anything perfectly. Everything is different. Handcrafted, whatever it is, things that are handmade, I believe, are going to have extreme value in the future. So I’m curious to know your thoughts. Let’s open the discussion. And two things I ask. Number one, be civil. And number two, respect other people’s viewpoints and emotions. Because we’re all at different places with this. As we’re changing and growing, it it’s not comfortable. I’m not going to say it’s wonderful and this is so great and so comfortable. No, it’s uncomfortable. It’s a time of change.

It’s a time of transition. Things are changing. Let’s come together and support each other. And together we can forge the new way forward where we can create more beautiful things than I’ve ever been created.

Thanks

Colin

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