Adobe brings AI image generation to Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat users can now generate and edit images in PDFs via text prompts with the addition of Adobe’s Firefly AI image model.

The update gives Acrobat and Reader users access to some of the same image creation and editing capabilities available in Adobe design apps such as Photoshop, without the need to switch tools. This means it’s possible to create new images from scratch using Adobe’s latest Firefly Image 3 model — which Adobe claims will enable greater realism and more control over the images produced compared to previous models — or manipulate existing content with Generative Fill and Remove Background tools.

The Firefly image feature, announced Monday, is available for Adobe Acrobat Standard and Pro customers; they will receive 250 “generative credits” to use with the Edit Image and Generate Image features each month at no additional cost through January 2025 an Adobe spokesperson said. The price after that date point has yet to be determined. 

“Adobe has done workers a service by building technologies like the generative capabilities of Adobe Firefly and working to integrate them across a range of their applications and tools,” said Matt Arcaro, IDC research director for computer vision and AI. By building Firefly into familiar apps such as Acrobat, the level of friction involved in accessing a new technology is reduced, he said. 

Adobe has also added new features to the AI Assistant for Acrobat and Reader apps announced in February. 

The generative AI (genAI) assistant can now summarize information from multiple documents — including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and other file formats — at the same time. That lets users identify common trends and generate an overview summary with citations that point to the source of information, Adobe said. Users can then direct the AI assistant to format the content for a specific purpose, such as turning it into an email that can be sent to colleagues. 

The ability to query multiple documents adds value to Adobe’s “document chat” tool, said Arcaro. “This creates a significant speed up for gathering key insights, but also to put together a more comprehensive perspective across multiple similar or different documents,” he said.

The Acrobat AI assistant can also be used to summarize the transcription of a Microsoft Teams meeting or webinar, or upload a “VTT” transcript file generated in another meeting app. 

The Acrobat AI Assistant is available for free until June 28, after which it will cost an additional $4.99 each month for individual Acrobat Standard and Pro subscribers under Adobe’s “early access pricing.” This pricing is available up to Sept. 4. 

Adobe didn’t respond to a request for pricing details after this date.