Have you ever wanted to seamlessly modify or enhance a specific area of an image? That‘s exactly what inpainting aims to do – whether filling unwanted holes and gaps or replacing backgrounds without messy cut-and-paste jobs.
Recently, AI has supercharged inpainting capabilities to save you hours of tedious editing. As an online privacy professional, I‘ve explored two leading options now available: Midjourney Inpainting and Adobe Photoshop‘s Generative Fill.
In this in-depth guide, you‘ll discover:
- How AI is transforming digital image editing
- A complete overview of Midjourney vs. Photoshop inpainting powers
- Key differences in interface, output quality and use cases
- Head-to-head experiment comparing five inpainting test prompts
- Recommendations so you can decide the best tool for YOUR needs
Let‘s dive in to unravel the magic, pitfalls and possibilities from these two innovative AI editing tools!
The Rise of AI-Powered Image Generation
First, what‘s fueling this rapid advancement in computerized image modification? Artificial intelligence breakthroughs have enabled two key innovations:
Generative AI models like DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion synthesize images from text descriptions alone. They build an understanding of visual concepts from digesting millions of image-text pairs.
Inpainting AI takes image-to-image foundations like image categorization from CLIP to identify context and patterns within an existing image. It then generates plausible synthetic content to blend seamlessly into selected areas.
As summarized by Nvidia, "generative AI creates novel content, while inpainting AI edits existing content."
According to Statista, 61% of Americans interact with AI-generated content daily. As these AI capabilities improve, that adoption will only accelerate given the convenience and creativity unlocked.
It can feel overwhelming to navigate the rapid Clip Art flow of companies incorporating some form of AI image tech. That‘s why I focused my evaluation on two leading solutions:
Introducing Midjourney Inpainting and Photoshop Generative Fill
Midjourney offers a Discord-based AI assistant that creates magic with just a few words. Their inpainting feature enables editing regions of Midjourney renders via text prompts.
Adobe Photoshop needs no introduction as the leading photo editing software for decades. With the Project Firefly acquisition, Adobe added state-of-the-art AI inpainting called Generative Fill.
Both instantly produce realistic edits beyond what‘s possible manually. But WHICH advanced AI assistant should YOU use? Let‘s investigate some key differences.
Interface Experience
Midjourney functions as a Discord chatbot you interact with using text prompts plus some GUI controls. Photoshop Generative Fill immerses into the familiar Photoshop interface, benefiting from 30 years of UX refinements.
I love Midjourney‘s quick, no hassle approach to iteration. But for surgical editing control, Adobe lets you leverage Photoshop‘s selection and masking powers before sending regions to the AI.
Output Aesthetic
Midjourney renders in an appealing stylized, painterly aesthetic. The inpainting blends seamlessly into this arty look. Photoshop Generative Fill composites edits photorealistically derived from analyzing surrounding image patterns.
When I want to get creative, Midjourney never fails to deliver intriguing, colorful options. Yet for photo retouching or subtle tweaks, Photoshop consolidation remains true-to-life.
Responsiveness to Text Prompts
Since Midjourney directly generates from text prompts, it has an uncanny knack for clever interpretations. Photoshop Generative Fill lacks this direct link back to language models, following prompts more literally to keep edits consistent with image style and context.
I find Photoshop does best when you guide it along with some initial selection work rather than fully automated generation.
Pricing
Midjourney requires a $10+ monthly subscription for full access. Photoshop Generative Fill comes bundled free in Creative Cloud plans starting at $21/month. For casual users or trying before buying, Midjourney currently offers a discounted yearly subscription.
Now let‘s examine output quality directly by throwing some challenge inpainting prompts at both tools!
Midjourney vs. Photoshop: Inpainting Experiment
To stretch the creative muscles AND photorealism prowess of Midjourney and Photoshop Generative Fill, I prompted both to tackle five inpainting requests of increasing complexity:
Prompt 1
A lone robot walking across the dusty Martian landscape and sunset
Inpainting Job: Add Earth visible in the sky
Midjourney nicely integrated our home planet rising above the horizon. While not perfectly sized or positioned, the stylistic rendering meshes well.
Photoshop‘s interpretation appeared smaller and less prominent given distance cues in the image. But I appreciated the realism – matching color, haziness and positioning aligned with a true Mars vista.
Prompt 2
A busy downtown city plaza with people walking among modern skyscrapers
Inpainting Job: Replace all buildings with medieval castles
What an epic overhaul prompted! Midjourney threw down various majestic fortress interpretations worthy of Game of Thrones. Integration with terrain and people could be tighter, but the wow factor shone through.
Photoshop struggled more to conceptualize "medieval castles" with odd mashups of modern buildings with a few tacked on turrets or flags. It didn‘t capture the essence of the prompt fully.
Prompt 3
A lone astronaut stranded on an alien planet, sitting pensively near equipment
Inpainting Job: Make the planet surface icy, add a second astronaut in the scene
Midjourney delivered the icy alien terrain beautifully with nice depth and texture. Two space explorers now browse the exotic locale! Minor disproportion between characters mars the achievement a bit.
Adobe inserted a properly scaled secondary astronaut alongside the first. However, it neglected transforming planetary ground appropriately icy. The additional figure looks artificially overlaid.
Prompt 4
Grand marble hall with detailed ornate pillars and arching dome ceiling
Inpainting Job: Fill room with steampunk inventions and gears
Both tools impressed here in applying creative steampunk additions complementary to the neoclassical architecture. Midjourney wowed with hyper detailed machinations and their whimsical interaction anchoring into the marble.
Photoshop opted for more minimalist metallic embellishments with solid lighting continuity. The modifications didn‘t try to steal the show, retaining primacy of the dramatic hall design itself.
Prompt 5
Five colorful hot air balloons floating through a vibrant blue sky
Inpainting Job: Give balloons smiley faces and make 2 of the balloons cats instead
I couldn‘t resist prompting an endearing edit! Midjourney happily anthropomorphized two playful feline balloons plus goofy grins across the inanimate balloons. Its lively style suits these quirky transforms well.
Adobe struggles to conceptualize such fanciful interpretations. It painted generic balloon-like shapes instead of cats, with simple circular emoji standing in for the requested smiles. It stays grounded in realism for better or worse.
Key Takeaways from Experimenting
Over five CREATIVE requests, a few tendencies emerged:
- **Midjourney** boldly responds with colorful, bravura interpretations
- **Photoshop** cautiously keeps images true to established context
- **Midjourney** makess striking transformations by freely interpreting prompts
- **Photoshop** focuses on clean execution over hitting each prompt aspect
Both prove worthy adversaries! Midjourney unearths beauty in unexpected ways while Adobe Photoshop reaffirms why it leads precise editing workflows.
Should You Use Midjourney or Photoshop Generative Fill?
So when should you wield Midjourney‘s imagination vs. Photoshop‘s reliability for AI-assisted image modifications?
For freewheeling creative exploration, Midjourney all the way! Its stylized painterly look excels at dramatic transformations. Lean on Midjourney to spark innovative design iterations informed by intuitive text prompts.
For production workflows demanding realism, stick with Adobe Photoshop. Its inpainting tightly integrates with professional compositing, selections and masking. Rely on Generative Fill to convincingly composite 3D elements or touch up photo imperfections.
Both save massive amounts of time that used to demand painstaking manual effort. Of course perfect results aren‘t guaranteed – you still guide these AI tools with mindful inputs and selections. But unlocking such radical creative potential makes the trip well worth it!
I hope this transparent hands-on evaluation better positions you to enhance visual projects with AI. Please ping me if you have any other questions!
