15:36
Photoshop
AI has realistically (not hypothetically) transformed the presenter's day-to-day Photoshop workflow across selections, removal, retouching, colorizing, denoising, and reflections — collapsing tasks that used to take hours or days into seconds — while traditional manual methods remain necessary as a fallback and for final finesse, much like Google hasn't made libraries useless.
Cloud-based Select Subject (via Quick Selection, Object Selection, or Magic Wand, set to Cloud in Photoshop beta) turns a day of pen-tool spoke-by-spoke selection (e.g. a bicycle) into a near-instant, imperfect-but-usable mask.
Sky selection via the Object Selection tool (with Object Finder on) or the Select > Sky menu command gives a quick, fairly good sky mask for adjustments like a darkening Curves layer.
When Select Sky's automatic mask leaves dark halos around detail like trees, the traditional Channels technique (isolating and contrast-boosting the blue channel) still produces the cleanest sky mask — AI hasn't fully replaced this method.
Object removal has advanced hugely: the Remove tool (Mode: Auto, Sample All Layers) now replaces the old workaround of Filter > Vanishing Point plus manual Clone Stamp for removing things like a window from a wall.
The Remove tool's Find Distractions feature auto-detects and removes whole categories of clutter — distracting people, or wires and cables — in one pass.
The third-party plugin Retouch4Me ("Retouch For Me: Heal") automates blemish removal that used to require a manual Healing Brush pass with repeated alt-click sampling.
Retouch4Me's "Dodge & Burn" plugin automates high-end dodging/burning (normally 15 minutes to 4 hours manually) via a Stamp Visible layer (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E) blended in Soft Light mode.
Photoshop beta's Select People option (inside Quick Selection) can isolate specific facial parts — mouth, eyes, skin, hair — for targeted edits, e.g. adding lip color via a Curves adjustment layer.
Generative Expand replaces Content-Aware Fill for extending canvas (e.g. cropping a photo to square for Instagram), giving multiple convincing, ready-to-use results where Content-Aware Fill looked inaccurate.
Neural Filters' Colorize filter gives a fast AI starting point for colorizing black-and-white photos, though color leaks (e.g. onto lips) still need manual fixing with a color-blend-mode brush layer.
Camera Raw's new AI Denoise feature, enabled via a Technology Previews toggle, removes noise from RAW photos far more effectively than the old sliders, which used to soften and blur the image.
Generative Fill (via the contextual taskbar) can invent a photorealistic reflection — e.g. mountains reflected in a plain water body — replacing the video's discontinued in-app 3D reflection feature.
Camera Raw's Remove Reflections tool (requires RAW format, works even from a phone) can isolate and strip window/glass reflections, reducing the need for physical polarizing filters when shooting from a car or airplane window.
The video includes a sponsored segment for Epidemic Sound, covering create-versions-by-length, Spotify-link-based track suggestions, clip-based sound matching, isolatable stems, and a 30-day free trial plus 50%-off promo code.
Select Subject (Cloud) — A cloud-processed AI subject-selection mode accessible from the Quick Selection, Object Selection, or Magic Wand tools in Photoshop beta. Apply: Pick one of the three selection tools, click the dropdown arrow next to Select Subject, confirm Cloud is chosen, and click Select Subject to get an instant, usable mask (set Cloud as default under Photoshop beta Preferences > Image Processing, then restart).
Object Finder / Object Selection tool — An AI feature that automatically detects distinct objects (like the sky) in an image as you hover, for use with the Object Selection tool. Apply: Enable Object Finder via the gear icon at the top of the Object Selection tool options, then click on a detected object (e.g. the sky) to select it instantly.
Select > Sky — A menu command that automatically generates a sky selection from the image. Apply: Go to Select > Sky to get an automatic sky selection, then build an adjustment layer (e.g. Curves) on top to darken or modify the sky.
Channels-based sky selection — A traditional, non-AI technique that isolates the blue color channel and boosts contrast to build a precise luminance-based sky mask. Apply: Open the Channels panel, duplicate the blue channel, apply Levels/Curves to push darks darker and brights brighter, then Ctrl/Cmd-click the channel thumbnail to load it as a selection back in the Layers/RGB view for a cleaner mask than Select Sky provides around fine detail like trees.
Vanishing Point + Clone Stamp — A traditional compound technique for removing objects while preserving perspective, by defining a perspective plane before cloning. Apply: Create a new layer, go to Filter > Vanishing Point, draw and extend a perspective plane matching the surface (e.g. a wall), then use the Clone Stamp tool inside that plane (alt/option-click to sample) to paint out the object (e.g. a window) with correct perspective.
Remove tool (Mode: Auto) — An AI-powered generative removal tool in Photoshop that fills over a painted area convincingly. Apply: Select the Remove tool, set Mode to Auto and check Sample All Layers, then loop/paint over the object (e.g. a window) to remove it in one pass, replacing the manual Vanishing Point + Clone Stamp workflow.
Remove Tool: Find Distractions (People) — An AI feature inside the Remove tool that automatically detects and can erase all people in a photo. Apply: Go to Find Distractions > People, hit Enter/Return, and let it detect and remove distracting people from the image automatically.
Remove Tool: Find Distractions (Wires and Cables) — An AI feature inside the Remove tool that automatically detects and removes wires, cables, and similar clutter (e.g. spider-web-like wiring). Apply: Go to Find Distractions > Wires and Cables and let the tool automatically detect and clear out wires/cables from the shot.
Healing Brush tool — A traditional manual retouching tool used to sample and paint over blemishes. Apply: Create a new layer, select the Healing Brush at high accuracy, zoom in, alt/option-click to sample nearby skin, then paint over each blemish individually, repeating sample-and-paint as needed.
Retouch4Me "Retouch For Me: Heal" — A third-party AI Photoshop plugin/filter that automatically detects and removes skin blemishes. Apply: Duplicate the background layer (Ctrl/Cmd+J), go to Filter > Retouch For Me > Retouch For Me Heal, adjust the sensitivity slider (e.g. to 100) to control how much is removed, Make Mask, then Apply.
Retouch4Me "Retouch For Me: Dodge & Burn" — A third-party AI Photoshop plugin/filter that automates high-end dodging and burning. Apply: Create a Stamp Visible layer (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E), go to Filter > Retouch For Me > Retouch For Me Dodge Burn, set the intensity (e.g. around 132), enable Soft Light preview, hit Apply, then set the resulting layer's blend mode to Soft Light.
Stamp Visible layer (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E) — A keyboard shortcut that creates a new layer merging everything currently visible in the canvas. Apply: Press Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E before running a filter (like Retouch For Me Dodge Burn) that needs to see the flattened composite of all layers so far.
Select People (mouth/eyes/skin/hair) — A Photoshop beta option inside the Quick Selection tool that detects people in a photo and lets you select specific facial parts. Apply: Pick the Quick Selection tool, click Select People at the top, choose a part (e.g. mouth, eyes, or skin/hair) and Apply to isolate just that feature for a targeted edit like a Curves-based lip color, then refine with mask feathering (e.g. 16-18).
Content-Aware Fill — A traditional Photoshop feature that fills a selected area by sampling and extrapolating from the surrounding existing image. Apply: Select the empty area (e.g. after extending canvas for a square crop), go to Edit > Content-Aware Fill; the video notes results are often not very accurate compared to Generative Expand.
Generative Expand — An AI generative-fill feature for extending an image's canvas with newly synthesized, contextually consistent content. Apply: Use the Crop tool (C) to expand the canvas, choose Generative Expand in the fill/context options, optionally type a prompt or leave blank, and click Generate to get multiple usable extended-image options.
Neural Filters: Colorize — An AI filter in Photoshop's Neural Filters panel that automatically adds color to a black-and-white photo. Apply: Duplicate the background layer (Ctrl/Cmd+G... via Filter > Neural Filters), scroll to and enable the Colorize filter, output as Current Layer, then manually fix leaking colors (e.g. lips) with a new layer set to Color blend mode, sampling and painting over problem areas.
Denoise (Camera Raw AI) — An AI noise-reduction feature in Camera Raw for RAW photos, offering far cleaner results than the traditional noise sliders. Apply: Enable it via Camera Raw Preferences > Technology Previews > check new AI features, restart, then in the Details module check the Denoise checkbox and increase the amount as needed, followed by sharpening/radius adjustments to restore fine detail.
Generative Fill (contextual taskbar) for reflections — An AI generative-fill workflow used to synthesize a realistic reflection (e.g. mountains in water) that didn't exist in the original photo. Apply: Select the area to change (e.g. the water body), right-click outside the canvas to show the contextual taskbar, choose Generate Fill, type a descriptive prompt (e.g. reflection, water, lake), and Generate to pick from multiple generated reflection options.
Remove Reflections (Camera Raw AI) — An AI tool in Camera Raw that detects and removes glass/window reflections from RAW photos, including phone RAW captures. Apply: Shoot in RAW format (even on a phone), enable Technology Previews, go to the Remove section, open Reflections, and click Apply; use the before/after slider to compare, then boost shadows afterward to refine the result.
Cloud-based Select Subject must be explicitly enabled as the default in Photoshop beta (Edit > Preferences > Image Processing > Cloud, then restart), or the weaker on-device model is used instead.
AI mask quality is inconsistent case-by-case rather than uniformly reliable: the video explicitly abandons Select Sky's automatic mask for the manual Channels method when it leaves visible dark halos around trees.
Once-essential compound manual workflows, like Vanishing Point perspective planes plus hand-aligned Clone Stamping, are now explicitly demoted to "a tedious job... something you can fall back on" rather than the default approach.
Several of the featured AI capabilities — Denoise, Remove Reflections, cloud Select Subject, and (implicitly) Select People — are gated behind manually-enabled Technology/Beta Preview toggles, not yet in Photoshop's main release.
AI-driven workflow gains partly come from adopting outside plugin ecosystems (Retouch4Me), not just Adobe-native tools; these are paid, purchase-once plugins accessed via Filter, offered with a free trial and discount code.
The video repeatedly and explicitly frames AI output as a "starting point" requiring manual finesse, not a finished result — applied consistently across sky selection, retouching, and colorizing, rather than only asserted once.
A previously available in-app "3D reflection" feature has been discontinued in Photoshop, which the video cites as part of the reason it now leans on Generative Fill to fake reflections instead.
Remove Reflections works on RAW photos shot with a phone, not just a dedicated camera, extending a capability that used to require physical filters and dedicated camera gear to casual mobile shooting.
«What is the first thing you do when you have a simple question? Google, right?»
— 00:00
«Does that make libraries useless? Absolutely not.»
— 00:10
«This would literally take a day.»
— 00:31
«Oh my gosh, that was quick. I didn't speed anything up.»
— 01:11
«But how many seconds did it take?»
— 01:37
«The point is we should never forget the traditional methods. We should never stop learning those fundamental concepts because at the end of the day when nothing works when all of the fancy AI high-tech features stop working. It is those foundational methods that's really going to save your rear.»
— 05:17
«Does that mean the manual methods are useless? Absolutely not. AI just gives you a fantastic starting point, but if you want to finesse the results, you would have to go at it manually.»
— 09:04
«So posting on social media without cropping has become so much easier with generative expand.»
— 10:32
«This is crazy. And if you increase D noiseise, there you go. So this is the before and this is the after. Crazy crazy difference.»
— 12:55
«Quite the Sherlock Holmes stuff that you can use.»
— 14:41
Reception
Strongly positive reception with viewers praising the tutorial quality and instructor expertise, tempered by scattered concerns about AI ethics and automation replacing traditional skills.
A practical, tool-by-tool feature roundup that grounds each claim in an on-screen before/after demo and consistently pairs AI shortcuts with an explicit caveat that manual/traditional methods still matter for edge cases and fine control; its value is high as a snapshot of Photoshop's 2025 AI/beta toolset but several named features are beta-gated and will likely change or graduate, dating the specific menu paths over time.
15:36