By Jack Neubart
Photographer, photo-technical writer, musician/composer, software developer, birder.
Text and images ©2025 Jack Neubart. All rights reserved.
Photographer, photo-technical writer, musician/composer, software developer, birder.
Text and images ©2025 Jack Neubart. All rights reserved.
Picture it: the sun rises slowly, as if pacing itself, revealing the dawn of humankind. (The orchestra plays the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey, hitting a resounding crescendo, then slowly fading as another image emerges…) On the horizon lies a figure of massive proportions, soon to be awakened, and, once awakened, finds itself propelled forward. The flurry of movement is beguiling and bewildering. Upon reaching the digital stage, it will have reached a pinnacle of being. It will rise on eagle’s wings and soar into the heavens!
Well, that may be a passable opener for a novel, but, really, it’s not that far from the truth. Adobe Photoshop has been around for a long time. And I’m happy to say, I had the pleasure of working with this giant of digital image editing in its formative stages.
Back then, I was new to image editing, as were we all. And, truth be told, I was a bit intimidated by all this new technology. There was a handful of notable editing apps out there back then – I tested them all. But, of those, Photoshop was the only one to stand the test of time. And, yes, it has soared, if not on eagle’s wings, then certainly on its own merits.
Well, that may be a passable opener for a novel, but, really, it’s not that far from the truth. Adobe Photoshop has been around for a long time. And I’m happy to say, I had the pleasure of working with this giant of digital image editing in its formative stages.
Back then, I was new to image editing, as were we all. And, truth be told, I was a bit intimidated by all this new technology. There was a handful of notable editing apps out there back then – I tested them all. But, of those, Photoshop was the only one to stand the test of time. And, yes, it has soared, if not on eagle’s wings, then certainly on its own merits.
Okay, it's actually a sunset, but you get the picture. And it was processed in Adobe Photoshop 2025. ©Jack Neubart. All rights reserved.
That Brings Us to Adobe Photoshop 2025
Wait a minute! What happened to that wine metaphor from the title? Well, technically, I believe it’s a simile. But, either way, Photoshop has aged well. Instead of merely resting on its laurels, this behemoth of the editing world has evolved and has been refining and redefining itself as newer and newer technologies emerged around it.
You may be saying to yourself: Do I need all this imaging sophistication? The answer is a qualified, no. But before you know it, you’ll have grown beyond the basics, your mouth will begin to water, and your creative juices will start flowing. And then you’ll say, Wow, it’s all here for me to savor and work with, one flavor, one texture at a time. And before you know it, you’ll have developed a sommelier’s collection of rare wines to suit even the most discerning and demanding palates. Your image editing will have grown, and your images will be lining the walls of the finest restaurants. Hey, look at that! I did manage to bring it full circle.
Just as you don’t jump into the deep end of the pool when you first learn to swim (mixed metaphors aside), you have to gently immerse yourself in Photoshop to reap the greatest rewards. And that’s what we’ll be doing. Kinda. For starters, I want to acquaint you with the various flavors and textures at your disposal at the shallow end before plunging you into the deep end. Enough so that you’ll be able to season the image just enough to bring out its full flavor. Or at least get you cooking. And the best place to start…
Wait a minute! What happened to that wine metaphor from the title? Well, technically, I believe it’s a simile. But, either way, Photoshop has aged well. Instead of merely resting on its laurels, this behemoth of the editing world has evolved and has been refining and redefining itself as newer and newer technologies emerged around it.
You may be saying to yourself: Do I need all this imaging sophistication? The answer is a qualified, no. But before you know it, you’ll have grown beyond the basics, your mouth will begin to water, and your creative juices will start flowing. And then you’ll say, Wow, it’s all here for me to savor and work with, one flavor, one texture at a time. And before you know it, you’ll have developed a sommelier’s collection of rare wines to suit even the most discerning and demanding palates. Your image editing will have grown, and your images will be lining the walls of the finest restaurants. Hey, look at that! I did manage to bring it full circle.
Just as you don’t jump into the deep end of the pool when you first learn to swim (mixed metaphors aside), you have to gently immerse yourself in Photoshop to reap the greatest rewards. And that’s what we’ll be doing. Kinda. For starters, I want to acquaint you with the various flavors and textures at your disposal at the shallow end before plunging you into the deep end. Enough so that you’ll be able to season the image just enough to bring out its full flavor. Or at least get you cooking. And the best place to start…
American Goldfinch Foraging in Autumn. In addition to cropping to focus attention on my subject, I set the Color profile in ACR to Adaptive Color, which made the image pop, requiring only a smattering of adjustments to flavor the shot to my taste. ©Jack Neubart. All rights reserved. Shoot Raw – Then Season Accordingly
For starters, and I can’t emphasize this enough, I set whichever digital camera I’m using to capture in Camera Raw. The reason is simple: Raw retains all the juices, flavors and textures for you to recapture when processing the image.
If you start with JPEG, you’ve already lost some of that, because you’re starting with a fully cooked dish that can only be garnished with a few seasonings thrown on top, not baked into it. In the capture process, the dish – our JPEG - has already lost some of what would give it a mouthwatering and savory appeal, relying largely on the camera to interpret the scene, despite our best intentions. Likewise, when you process a JPEG beyond the camera capture stage, your options are limited. You’re treating the image superficially.
On the other hand, when processing a Raw image, you open yourself up to an expanding universe of settings and everything you add is cooked right into it. The image on your plate has the aroma, the texture, the taste that it was meant to have – that was there when you envisioned the scene in your mind at the outset. And where you take it from there… Well, the sky is pretty much the limit, as they say. And, yes, you’ve provided room for the eagle to soar.
I should point out that, sadly, options are limited when shooting with a smartphone, at least from my experience. The camera in this device dictates when you can shoot in Raw. Select the wrong mode and you’ll be shooting in a pre-processed, compressed format, such as JPEG or HEIC, despite your best intentions. Still, Photoshop gives us the tools to make the best of what’s on our plate.
So, to take this a step further. Let’s use White Balance (WB) as an example. When you shoot a JPEG, the WB setting is locked in. If you select a different WB setting, you may find you’ve introduced some color distortions. Not so with Raw files. The Raw processing engine, in this case, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), sees that but still gives you the option to start clean, with an entirely fresh WB setting. Without throwing the colors out of whack, I might add.
When opening a Raw image directly from Adobe Bridge, as I did here (think of it as the “bridge” between your image files – or “assets” – and Photoshop, without the need to build catalogs), the application immediately takes you to its Raw image processor, Adobe Camera Raw. The 3-letter file name extension (we’ll use “.Raw” as a generic example) dictates that step. (To simplify, we usually refer to it as “Raw” – without the dot.)
Hmm, so what’s this DNG file format I’m hearing so much about?
Adobe, some time back, standardized the Raw format with the “DNG” (or “dng”) “Digital Negative” file format as universal – at least, in theory. A few cameras adopted this standard. Others, among them, Nikon, Canon and Sony, chose to continue on their own path when it came to Raw image capture, opting to employ their own native file format. Since most cameras use a proprietary Raw engine, Adobe keeps pace by supporting each emerging Raw file format. But DNG stands at the ready and comes to the fore on occasion in Adobe Camera Raw.
For starters, and I can’t emphasize this enough, I set whichever digital camera I’m using to capture in Camera Raw. The reason is simple: Raw retains all the juices, flavors and textures for you to recapture when processing the image.
If you start with JPEG, you’ve already lost some of that, because you’re starting with a fully cooked dish that can only be garnished with a few seasonings thrown on top, not baked into it. In the capture process, the dish – our JPEG - has already lost some of what would give it a mouthwatering and savory appeal, relying largely on the camera to interpret the scene, despite our best intentions. Likewise, when you process a JPEG beyond the camera capture stage, your options are limited. You’re treating the image superficially.
On the other hand, when processing a Raw image, you open yourself up to an expanding universe of settings and everything you add is cooked right into it. The image on your plate has the aroma, the texture, the taste that it was meant to have – that was there when you envisioned the scene in your mind at the outset. And where you take it from there… Well, the sky is pretty much the limit, as they say. And, yes, you’ve provided room for the eagle to soar.
I should point out that, sadly, options are limited when shooting with a smartphone, at least from my experience. The camera in this device dictates when you can shoot in Raw. Select the wrong mode and you’ll be shooting in a pre-processed, compressed format, such as JPEG or HEIC, despite your best intentions. Still, Photoshop gives us the tools to make the best of what’s on our plate.
So, to take this a step further. Let’s use White Balance (WB) as an example. When you shoot a JPEG, the WB setting is locked in. If you select a different WB setting, you may find you’ve introduced some color distortions. Not so with Raw files. The Raw processing engine, in this case, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), sees that but still gives you the option to start clean, with an entirely fresh WB setting. Without throwing the colors out of whack, I might add.
When opening a Raw image directly from Adobe Bridge, as I did here (think of it as the “bridge” between your image files – or “assets” – and Photoshop, without the need to build catalogs), the application immediately takes you to its Raw image processor, Adobe Camera Raw. The 3-letter file name extension (we’ll use “.Raw” as a generic example) dictates that step. (To simplify, we usually refer to it as “Raw” – without the dot.)
Hmm, so what’s this DNG file format I’m hearing so much about?
Adobe, some time back, standardized the Raw format with the “DNG” (or “dng”) “Digital Negative” file format as universal – at least, in theory. A few cameras adopted this standard. Others, among them, Nikon, Canon and Sony, chose to continue on their own path when it came to Raw image capture, opting to employ their own native file format. Since most cameras use a proprietary Raw engine, Adobe keeps pace by supporting each emerging Raw file format. But DNG stands at the ready and comes to the fore on occasion in Adobe Camera Raw.
Adobe Adaptive Profiles
That brings us to Color Profiles. You may have noted that a setting on your digital camera lets you choose, among other options, Adobe Color (Adobe RGB) as the profile. Again, as with WB, when shooting Raw this is just a “suggestion” for your image editing application to follow. But I tend to choose it to give me a better sense of what the camera is capable of capturing once the images are uploaded to my computer. And, it was a good starting point.
Lo and behold! In 2024, Adobe introduced computational, AI-assisted “Adaptive” profiles. Instead of flatly applying the same range of settings indiscriminately to each image, the Adaptive engine analyzes the image and applies the settings best suited to that specific image. And Adobe presents us with two Adaptive options: one for color, the other for black and white, respectively, Adaptive Color and Adaptive B&W.
Here's how Adobe explains it (https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/10/14/the-adobe-adaptive-profile):
“The latest version of Camera Raw includes a new profile, called Adobe Adaptive. Unlike existing profiles such as Adobe Color or Adobe Landscape, Adobe Adaptive is image dependent. An AI model analyzes the photo and adjusts tones and colors to make them look just right. The effect is as if the AI had changed Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, Color Mixer, Curves and other controls for you, although the actual controls stay in their original neutral position.”
Choose either Adaptive model and you’ll discover the picture has added depth and sparkle right out of the box. I have to say, these Adaptive profiles have opened my eyes to some wondrous possibilities, saving time and effort. Adobe, this is a clear step in the right direction.
That brings us to Color Profiles. You may have noted that a setting on your digital camera lets you choose, among other options, Adobe Color (Adobe RGB) as the profile. Again, as with WB, when shooting Raw this is just a “suggestion” for your image editing application to follow. But I tend to choose it to give me a better sense of what the camera is capable of capturing once the images are uploaded to my computer. And, it was a good starting point.
Lo and behold! In 2024, Adobe introduced computational, AI-assisted “Adaptive” profiles. Instead of flatly applying the same range of settings indiscriminately to each image, the Adaptive engine analyzes the image and applies the settings best suited to that specific image. And Adobe presents us with two Adaptive options: one for color, the other for black and white, respectively, Adaptive Color and Adaptive B&W.
Here's how Adobe explains it (https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/10/14/the-adobe-adaptive-profile):
“The latest version of Camera Raw includes a new profile, called Adobe Adaptive. Unlike existing profiles such as Adobe Color or Adobe Landscape, Adobe Adaptive is image dependent. An AI model analyzes the photo and adjusts tones and colors to make them look just right. The effect is as if the AI had changed Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, Color Mixer, Curves and other controls for you, although the actual controls stay in their original neutral position.”
Choose either Adaptive model and you’ll discover the picture has added depth and sparkle right out of the box. I have to say, these Adaptive profiles have opened my eyes to some wondrous possibilities, saving time and effort. Adobe, this is a clear step in the right direction.
ORIGINAL IMAGE.
Processing the Image
We’ll assume you’re processing a Raw image. From Bridge, the image opens in ACR, where we are greeted by the Edit panel containing numerous sub-panels (we’ll simply call them “panels”).
The Profile panel resides toward the top (below the histogram), so it may make sense to start here. I’d recommend jumping straight to the Optics panel further down before addressing other settings. (BTW – you can move the panels around so they’re more immediately at hand. More to the point, I moved the Optics panel up, so it’s just below the Profile panel. Also, if a panel is collapsed, just click it and it opens up.)
If supported (and very few lenses are not), Profile Corrections in the ACR Optics panel can detect which lens was used and set the stage with various optical adjustments to normalize the image. No need to manually mess around with these settings, unless you’re going for something out of the ordinary, or in the rare instance the lens is not supported. Adobe is very good at keeping up with these profiles as new lenses are introduced. Unfortunately, an older version of a lens may get tossed in the bin to make way for newer optics – and newer profiles. Still, a small price to pay, and, as far as I can see, nothing is lost in translation. Any way you look at it, a decided time-saver.
We’ll assume you’re processing a Raw image. From Bridge, the image opens in ACR, where we are greeted by the Edit panel containing numerous sub-panels (we’ll simply call them “panels”).
The Profile panel resides toward the top (below the histogram), so it may make sense to start here. I’d recommend jumping straight to the Optics panel further down before addressing other settings. (BTW – you can move the panels around so they’re more immediately at hand. More to the point, I moved the Optics panel up, so it’s just below the Profile panel. Also, if a panel is collapsed, just click it and it opens up.)
If supported (and very few lenses are not), Profile Corrections in the ACR Optics panel can detect which lens was used and set the stage with various optical adjustments to normalize the image. No need to manually mess around with these settings, unless you’re going for something out of the ordinary, or in the rare instance the lens is not supported. Adobe is very good at keeping up with these profiles as new lenses are introduced. Unfortunately, an older version of a lens may get tossed in the bin to make way for newer optics – and newer profiles. Still, a small price to pay, and, as far as I can see, nothing is lost in translation. Any way you look at it, a decided time-saver.
Keep an Eye on the Histogram
Then I examine the histogram at the very top of the panel. In fact, my eye continually jumps back to this graphical representation of tonal range and contrast with practically each adjustment I make, to see how things stand visually. I set it to show me highlight and shadow “clipping” – where my image has lost important detail. When working with color, I try to avoid bright highlights from washing out and deep shadows from being blocked up. Adjusting the histogram directly often proves more efficacious than moving the individual tonal sliders, although they may also come into play as an adjunct. (Black-and-white requires a more tactful approach, depending on the effect you’re going for.)
Once I’m done here, I move on to Effects (“Texture,” “Clarity” and “Dehaze”). You’ll note that these settings affect the histogram, and you may have to pull back on each in turn, notably to keep lights and darks in check. I may also employ “Vignette” to help focus on the subject, without going overboard and making it obvious. From here I go to Detail, specifically “Sharpening.” Again, don’t overdo it, or you’ll add very noticeable artifacts at the edges where dark and light meet.
Beyond this point, there are still more settings with which you can imbue the Raw image. But let’s leave it here for now and jump to Photoshop. So, we click “Open” and away we go.
Then I examine the histogram at the very top of the panel. In fact, my eye continually jumps back to this graphical representation of tonal range and contrast with practically each adjustment I make, to see how things stand visually. I set it to show me highlight and shadow “clipping” – where my image has lost important detail. When working with color, I try to avoid bright highlights from washing out and deep shadows from being blocked up. Adjusting the histogram directly often proves more efficacious than moving the individual tonal sliders, although they may also come into play as an adjunct. (Black-and-white requires a more tactful approach, depending on the effect you’re going for.)
Once I’m done here, I move on to Effects (“Texture,” “Clarity” and “Dehaze”). You’ll note that these settings affect the histogram, and you may have to pull back on each in turn, notably to keep lights and darks in check. I may also employ “Vignette” to help focus on the subject, without going overboard and making it obvious. From here I go to Detail, specifically “Sharpening.” Again, don’t overdo it, or you’ll add very noticeable artifacts at the edges where dark and light meet.
Beyond this point, there are still more settings with which you can imbue the Raw image. But let’s leave it here for now and jump to Photoshop. So, we click “Open” and away we go.
Carriage Horses, Old Town, Prague. I’ve found that making people disappear – in photos, that is, is not always a one-step process. Focusing on the horses, particularly the one nearest camera, with a 14mm lens at f/6.3, let me throw this colorful backdrop into a soft blur. And that helped to minimize the appearance of people who happened to pepper themselves throughout the shot. It took several successive tries to remove them, and some manual removal (for people and other bits-and-pieces) to clear this scene of intrusive elements. ©Jack Neubart. All rights reserved.
Adobe Photoshop 2025 and Generative AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an ever-increasing role in today’s image editors, and Photoshop is no slouch in that department. When Adobe chose to go the AI route, the company did not drag its heels, but jumped into the pool at the deep end, giving us an array of tools with depth and character. Okay, maybe stepping gingerly, but they’re getting us there.
The imaging (and music) world refers to it as “generative AI” and for good reason. The AI engine is designed not simply to make something appear out of thin air but to generate and realize a concept – an image (or musical composition) – based on your directions. You have to take the first steps. Is the process flawless? Well, I ask you, are we flawless? That should answer your question. More to the point, does generative AI give us something we can work with? And that answer is, Yes, it does, and decidedly so (controversies aside). The Adobe generative AI engine is called Adobe Firefly.
That brings us to this year’s smorgasbord of generative AI features – and what a delectable and delightful feast it is! We’ll examine a few of these in the photos and accompanying captions. One basic observation, though: For these new tools and generative AI to work their magic, backgrounds should be uncluttered and uncomplicated or clearly out of focus. Busy backdrops tend to require a more studied hand – or eye.
Next time, Part 2. I’ll keep you guessing as to where we go from here. Hint: we’ll be exploring Adobe’s generative AI engine in greater depth. This journey may take us on some winding roads, but that will season the experience with even more satisfying flavors, intensify the textures, and lead us on the path to images that appeal to all the senses.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays an ever-increasing role in today’s image editors, and Photoshop is no slouch in that department. When Adobe chose to go the AI route, the company did not drag its heels, but jumped into the pool at the deep end, giving us an array of tools with depth and character. Okay, maybe stepping gingerly, but they’re getting us there.
The imaging (and music) world refers to it as “generative AI” and for good reason. The AI engine is designed not simply to make something appear out of thin air but to generate and realize a concept – an image (or musical composition) – based on your directions. You have to take the first steps. Is the process flawless? Well, I ask you, are we flawless? That should answer your question. More to the point, does generative AI give us something we can work with? And that answer is, Yes, it does, and decidedly so (controversies aside). The Adobe generative AI engine is called Adobe Firefly.
That brings us to this year’s smorgasbord of generative AI features – and what a delectable and delightful feast it is! We’ll examine a few of these in the photos and accompanying captions. One basic observation, though: For these new tools and generative AI to work their magic, backgrounds should be uncluttered and uncomplicated or clearly out of focus. Busy backdrops tend to require a more studied hand – or eye.
Next time, Part 2. I’ll keep you guessing as to where we go from here. Hint: we’ll be exploring Adobe’s generative AI engine in greater depth. This journey may take us on some winding roads, but that will season the experience with even more satisfying flavors, intensify the textures, and lead us on the path to images that appeal to all the senses.
Expanding Universe – Or How I Got a Whale to Breach on the Rhine. Simple, really. I used the Generative Expand tool (an extension of the Crop tool), extended the image to the left, added context (breaching whale), and voila! Okay, so it did take a few tries to get the whale image I wanted. Even if a whale is out of place, it made for a fun experience. ©Jack Neubart. All rights reserved.
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