Photoshop 2025: Top 7 New Features and Updates
478K views 10.3K likes 243 comments
Jump to a step in the video (8)
Click a time to play the video from there.
Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
Photoshop 2025 top features upgrade the Remove Tool, add new ways to generate images and backgrounds, and bring 3D objects into your composites with the Substance 3D Viewer.
Photoshop 2025 has arrived, and it’s packed with a range of exciting new tools and upgrades, especially for generative AI and 3D editing. Here’s a breakdown of the top new features to help you get the most out of this powerful update.
The video was recorded soon after Photoshop 26.0, the October 2024 release, launched. Four of the seven features below were already in that general release. The other three started in the Photoshop Beta, and their status has changed since, as noted under each one.
Key Takeaways
- The Remove Tool can erase wires, cables, and background people in one click, without touching your main subject.
- Turning off Generative AI in the Remove Tool saves generative credits and works instantly on small fixes like removing a stray object.
- Generate Similar steers Generative Fill toward a result you already like instead of starting a new prompt from scratch.
- Adobe Firefly Image Model 3 improved color accuracy, contrast, and prompt comprehension over the previous Firefly model.
- The Substance 3D Viewer, once the easiest way to drop a 3D object into a Photoshop composite, has been discontinued since October 2025.
- Reference Image support for Generative Fill, once a beta-only feature, has been in the general release since Photoshop 26.6.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Photoshop 2025 Top Features: Keyboard Shortcuts
- 1. Enhanced Remove Tool Options in Photoshop 2025
- 2. Generate Similar Feature
- 3. Generate Background
- 4. Adobe Firefly Image Model 3 in Photoshop 2025
- 5. Reference Image Tool in Photoshop 2025
- 6. Generative Workspace, a Photoshop Beta Feature
- 7. Substance 3D Viewer
- Previous Photoshop Updates
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to remove wires, cables, and distracting people with the Remove Tool’s Find Distractions menu
- How to steer Generate Similar and Generate Background toward the result you want
- How Adobe Firefly Image Model 3 changed Generative Fill, Generative Expand, and Generate Similar
- How Reference Image guides Generative Fill and Generate Image toward a specific look
- What happened to the Substance 3D Viewer workflow for compositing 3D objects
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2025 (version 26.0 or later) or the current version
Photoshop 2025 Top Features: Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Remove the selected distractions | Enter | Return |
| Free Transform | Ctrl T | Command T |
| Subtract from a Selection Brush selection | Alt drag | Option drag |
| Increase brush size | ] | ] |
| Toggle the before/after preview | P | P |
| Create a black (hide-all) layer mask | Alt click the Layer Mask icon | Option click the Layer Mask icon |
| Open the Generative Workspace | Ctrl Alt Shift G | Command Option Shift G |
| Undo | Ctrl Z | Command Z |
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
1. Enhanced Remove Tool Options in Photoshop 2025
The Remove Tool has been enhanced with two new options in the “Find Distractions” drop-down menu: Wires and Cables and People. These let you automatically remove distracting elements like power lines or people in the background with one click. The tool is smart enough to identify your main subject and avoid it, allowing for seamless removal of other individuals in the photo.
Additionally, you can toggle Generative AI on or off within the Remove Tool’s settings. Disabling it for smaller tasks (like removing an orange cone) saves generative credits and speeds up the process by removing the need to process on the cloud.
Generative Credits power the use of AI-based features like text-to-image creation in Adobe Firefly and Photoshop. Users get a set amount of credits each month, which limits how much they can use these AI tools. Once credits run out, additional AI tasks might require purchasing more or subscribing to higher plans. Credits help ensure fair usage and performance optimization. For more details, check out Adobe’s official Generative Credits FAQ.
2. Generate Similar Feature
With the new Generate Similar feature, users can refine generative outcomes by creating variations based on their preferred result. For example, say you’re creating a camping tent. If you like the style of one result but not its angle, Generate Similar gives you new suggestions in that same style.
3. Generate Background
The Generate Background feature allows you to remove and replace an image’s background using AI-generated content based on your specific prompts. Your first attempt might include unintended elements, such as a hat or an unrelated object. The new Selection Brush Tool fixes that fast: make a targeted selection around the problem area, and Photoshop regenerates only that part.
4. Adobe Firefly Image Model 3 in Photoshop 2025
The update to Adobe Firefly Image Model 3 is a major improvement for users leveraging Photoshop’s Generative Fill and other generative AI capabilities. The latest model produces more photorealistic outcomes, better contrast, and enhanced fidelity to complex prompts. Comparisons with the prior model reveal that Firefly 3 improves on color accuracy and detail, making generative outputs look more realistic within the context of an existing image.
5. Reference Image Tool in Photoshop 2025
The Reference Image Tool allows for specific, custom-tailored designs using a reference image. When designing items like clothing, you can upload a reference image (e.g., a red polka dot dress) and prompt Photoshop to generate similar styles. This update opens the door to more accurate designs that match desired textures, colors, and themes.
Note: This tool was in the Photoshop Beta when this video was recorded. Reference Image support for Generative Fill and Generate Image shipped in the general release with Photoshop 26.6, the April 2025 release.
6. Generative Workspace, a Photoshop Beta Feature
The Generative Workspace offers a streamlined environment for ideating and creating multiple image versions based on variable prompts. By adding variations (like swapping card suits in a playing card design), you can quickly generate multiple customized results in one go. This is ideal for brainstorming or generating assets for design projects, providing an efficient way to explore different aesthetics and themes.
Note: The in-app Generative Workspace shown here stayed a Photoshop Beta preview and never shipped under that name. Adobe’s shipped equivalent for generating and exploring AI variations is Firefly Boards, integrated with Photoshop starting in the April 2026 release.
7. Substance 3D Viewer
Returning after a hiatus, Substance 3D Viewer allows you to work with 3D objects within Photoshop’s 2D space. You can now place, scale, and rotate 3D models in your Photoshop projects and adjust lighting, shadows, and reflections to match your scene. With ray tracing enabled, shadows and reflections are more realistic, adding depth and detail to composites.
Warning: Adobe discontinued the Substance 3D Viewer and removed it from Creative Cloud on October 16, 2025. You cannot follow the steps in this section in current versions of Photoshop. This section is kept as a record of how the feature worked.
Photoshop 2025 represents a significant leap forward, combining ease of use with groundbreaking AI-driven features that give designers and photographers unparalleled control. Whether working on simple edits or complex 3D compositions, the new tools offer enhanced creative possibilities in every aspect of image design.
Previous Photoshop Updates
- Photoshop 2024
- Photoshop 2023
- Photoshop 2022
- Photoshop 2021
- Photoshop 2020
- Photoshop 2019
- Photoshop CC 2018
- Photoshop CC 2017
- Photoshop CC 2015.5
- Photoshop CC 2014
- Photoshop CC
- Photoshop CS6
Frequently Asked Questions
The Photoshop 2025 top features are two new Remove Tool options for wires, cables, and people, plus Generate Similar, Generate Background, and Adobe Firefly Image Model 3. Photoshop 26.0 shipped all of these in its general release. Two more, Reference Image and the Substance 3D Viewer, started out in the Photoshop Beta.
Open the Remove Tool and choose Wires and Cables or People from the Find Distractions menu. Photoshop highlights the distracting elements while leaving your main subject alone. Press Enter to remove them.
Yes. With Generative AI off, the Remove Tool works instantly and does not use your generative credits. Adobe recommends this mode for small fixes, since large removals still look better with generative AI turned on.
Generate Similar creates new variations of one Generative Fill result you already like. Generate Background replaces an image’s entire background with an AI-generated scene built from your prompt.
No. Reference Image support for Generative Fill and Generate Image left the Photoshop Beta and shipped in the general release with Photoshop 26.6, the April 2025 release.
No. Adobe discontinued the Substance 3D Viewer and removed it from Creative Cloud on October 16, 2025. The workflow for placing and lighting 3D objects inside Photoshop described in this article no longer works.
The in-app Generative Workspace shown in the Photoshop Beta never reached general release under that name. Adobe’s shipped equivalent for exploring AI variations is Firefly Boards, integrated with Photoshop starting in the April 2026 release.
You need Photoshop 2025, version 26.0 or later, or the current version. Four of the seven features here shipped in that first release. The rest arrived, or changed, in later updates.
Conclusion
Photoshop 2025 reshaped how you remove distractions, generate images, and bring 3D objects into a composite. Not every feature aged the same way: some became faster and more reliable, and one, the Substance 3D Viewer, is gone.
Start with the Remove Tool and Generate Similar, since both ship in every Photoshop 2025 install. Then try Reference Image once you want more control over a Generative Fill result.
Watch the full video above for every feature in action, and comment on the video if you have a question.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Next, learn how to get the most out of Generative Fill in Photoshop.
![Top 5 Photoshop 2025 NEW Features [July Release]](https://photoshoptrainingchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Top-5-Photoshop-2025-NEW-Features-July-Release-768x432.jpg)
