Adobe is adding experimental AI features to Project Indigo, its iOS camera app designed around manual controls and computational photography. The update can assess photos, suggest ways to reshoot them, remove unwanted objects and apply generated visual styles.
The tools are grouped under a new AI Playground tab and are initially available to a small percentage of users. Adobe said the experiment may be expanded, changed or discontinued based on how people use it.
AI Provides Photography Feedback
Project Indigo’s Photo Guidance section uses a large language model to examine framing, lighting, colour and emotional impact. It then gives users a written critique and practical recommendations for taking the photograph again.
A separate set of suggestions explains how users could adjust the framing, exposure or objects visible through the camera. The app can also recommend edits that can be completed with Adobe Lightroom controls.
Project leader Marc Levoy said the feature is intended to help users understand photography rather than simply modify an image. Levoy previously worked on computational photography for Google’s Pixel phones.
Preset Controls Reduce the Need for Prompts
Adobe’s official AI Playground announcement divides the new functions into Object Editing, Styles, Photo Guidance and Custom Edit. Most actions use buttons or toggles connected to prompts prepared by Adobe, instead of requiring users to write detailed instructions.
The Object Editing section can identify and remove people, vehicles, rubbish bins, cables, poles, fences and other background distractions. Users can also describe a specific item they want removed.
The app fills the empty space after an object is deleted and can generate a shallow depth-of-field effect to simulate a blurred background. Similar removal tools already exist in Apple Photos, Google Photos and Adobe Photoshop, but Project Indigo reduces the need to outline objects manually.
Styles and Custom Edits Added
The Styles section can change photos into formats such as watercolour, pen and ink, monochrome, colour wash or backlit portraits. Pressing the same option again may produce a slightly different result.
Custom Edit remains available for changes that are not covered by the preset controls. Users can type, save and revise their own prompts to describe how a photograph should be altered.
Adobe is initially using Google’s Gemini-based Nano Banana model for the features, though it may test other systems, including Adobe Firefly. The company is also considering Content Credentials and Google’s SynthID technology to identify AI-edited images.
Project Indigo remains an experimental iOS app, and Adobe has not confirmed whether the AI Playground will receive a wider release or become a paid feature.
Featured image credits: midiman via Flickr
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