The AI image generation space has a legal problem. Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E trained on images scraped from the internet—many copyrighted, many from artists who never consented. Lawsuits are pending. The legal landscape is uncertain.

Adobe Firefly took a different approach: train only on licensed content, Adobe Stock images, and public domain works. The result is an AI image generator you can use commercially without checking over your shoulder.

But there’s a tradeoff. Let’s dig into what Firefly does well and where it compromises.

The Commercial Safety Advantage

This is Firefly’s killer feature, even if it’s invisible in the output.

Adobe trained Firefly on content they had rights to use. Every image in the training data was either Adobe Stock (where contributors agreed to AI training), openly licensed, or public domain.

For commercial users, this matters enormously. When you generate an image with Firefly and use it in advertising, on products, or in client work, you have clear provenance. Adobe even offers indemnification for Firefly-generated content in enterprise plans—they’ll cover legal costs if someone challenges your use.

No other major AI image generator offers this level of legal protection.

If you’re a brand, agency, or anyone creating content for commercial use, this alone might justify choosing Firefly despite other limitations.

What Firefly Does Well

Integration with Creative Cloud. Firefly isn’t just a standalone tool—it’s woven into Photoshop, Illustrator, and other Adobe apps. Generative Fill in Photoshop uses Firefly to extend images, remove objects, or add elements seamlessly. This integration makes AI a natural part of existing workflows.

Text effects. Firefly excels at applying textures and effects to text. Want letters made of flowers, chrome, or fire? Firefly handles these reliably and with commercial-quality results. This specific use case is more mature than general image generation.

Generative Fill in Photoshop. Select an area, type what you want, and Firefly fills it convincingly. Extend a landscape beyond its borders. Remove a person from a scene and fill with coherent background. Add objects that blend with existing lighting. This feature genuinely speeds up photo editing.

Style consistency. Firefly handles style references well. Upload a reference image, and generated content maintains similar aesthetics. For brand consistency across multiple assets, this matters.

Vectors in Illustrator. Firefly can generate vector graphics, not just raster images. For logos, icons, and scalable graphics, this is uniquely valuable. Other AI generators produce pixels only.

Where Firefly Falls Short

Overall quality lags competitors. Raw image generation quality isn’t as good as Midjourney or even DALL-E 3. Firefly images often look slightly generic, lacking the artistic punch of competitors trained on broader datasets.

This is the tradeoff for commercial safety. Training on a narrower, licensed dataset produces less diverse and less surprising outputs.

Prompt adherence is inconsistent. Complex prompts with multiple subjects and specific arrangements often produce unexpected results. Firefly seems to take creative liberties more than I’d like, especially with spatial relationships.

The web interface is clunky. Adobe’s web app for Firefly feels like an afterthought compared to the integrated experience in Creative Cloud apps. If you’re using Firefly standalone (without Photoshop), the experience is mediocre.

Credit system is confusing. Firefly uses “generative credits” that vary by action and plan. Understanding how many credits you have and how quickly you’re burning them requires attention. The pricing isn’t as straightforward as competitors’ subscription models.

Pricing Structure

Firefly is included with many Creative Cloud subscriptions:

• Creative Cloud All Apps: Includes Firefly with generous monthly credits
• Photography plan: Includes Firefly with limited credits
• Single app plans: Include Firefly with limited credits

Standalone Firefly Premium: $4.99/month for 100 credits/month

Enterprise plans: Custom pricing with indemnification and higher limits

For existing Creative Cloud subscribers, Firefly is essentially free—you’re already paying. The marginal cost is zero, which changes the value calculation significantly.

Firefly vs. Midjourney

Midjourney produces more striking, artistic images. The aesthetic quality is noticeably higher for creative work.

Firefly offers commercial safety and Adobe integration. For professional workflows with legal requirements, Firefly wins.

My recommendation: Use Midjourney for creative exploration and personal projects. Use Firefly for commercial client work where legal clarity matters.

Firefly vs. DALL-E 3

DALL-E 3 (integrated with ChatGPT) excels at following complex prompts accurately. If you need exactly what you describe, DALL-E 3 is more reliable.

Firefly offers better integration with professional editing tools. If you’re going to manipulate the output in Photoshop anyway, starting in the Adobe ecosystem makes sense.

For casual users, DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT is more accessible. For professional designers, Firefly’s Creative Cloud integration is more valuable.

Practical Workflows That Work

Photo extension: Have a great image that’s cropped too tight? Use Generative Fill to extend the canvas with coherent content. Firefly handles this well, matching lighting and style.

Product mockups: Generate background environments for product photography. Place your product shot into AI-generated settings without expensive photo shoots.

Rapid concepting: Generate multiple visual concepts quickly for client presentations. Not final quality, but good enough to align on direction before detailed production.

Texture and pattern creation: Generate seamless textures for 3D work or backgrounds. Firefly’s style consistency helps here.

Text-based graphics: Social media posts, headers, and marketing materials featuring stylized text. Firefly’s text effects are genuinely good.

Who Should Use Firefly

Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers should absolutely use Firefly. It’s included in your subscription, integrated with your tools, and adds capability at no extra cost.

Agencies and brands doing commercial work should consider Firefly for the legal protection, even if the output quality means more editing.

Professional photographers will find Generative Fill in Photoshop indispensable. It’s not about generating entire images—it’s about enhancing real photography.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

Artists seeking distinctive aesthetics will find Midjourney or Stable Diffusion more capable of producing unique, striking imagery.

Casual users without Creative Cloud subscriptions get better value from DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT Plus) or free Stable Diffusion options.

Anyone prioritizing raw quality over commercial safety should explore alternatives.

The Verdict

Adobe Firefly is the sensible choice, not the exciting choice. It prioritizes commercial viability and workflow integration over pushing the boundaries of what AI can generate.

For professional users already in the Adobe ecosystem, Firefly is a no-brainer addition. The integration alone makes it valuable, and the legal clarity is a genuine differentiator.

For everyone else, the calculation is more complex. Better image quality exists elsewhere, but with more legal uncertainty.

Rating: 7/10. The safest commercial choice with excellent tool integration, held back by output quality that trails the competition. Adobe is clearly iterating quickly, so this rating may improve.

Use Firefly for what it’s best at: enhancing real photos, commercial-safe generation, and workflows that live in Creative Cloud. Don’t expect it to match Midjourney for pure creative output.

Sometimes “good enough and legally safe” beats “amazing but uncertain.” For commercial work, Firefly threads that needle.