I just tried Adobe Firefly’s new Structure Reference feature— here’s how it looks

Exactly one year after its launch, Adobe Firefly has seen impressive growth, generating over 6.5 billion images. To celebrate, Adobe has released a major update to Firefly’s Text to Image module: “Structure Reference”.

That’s the second major announcement Adobe made this month regarding Firefly. A week ago, they announced Firefly AI would be integrated into Substance 3D, to which Shutterstock responded with their own 3D integration in collaboration with Nvidia.

What’s Structure Reference?

This innovative tool lets you easily apply the layout, composition, and structure of an existing image to your new image creations. Simply upload your own reference image or choose one from Firefly’s gallery, and then generate entirely new images that maintain the reference’s structural elements and spatial relationships – all while incorporating your unique text prompts.

Structure Reference eliminates the need for overly descriptive text prompts, granting users greater creative control and the ability to rapidly explore visual ideas while leveraging existing imagery.

I am sure this will also make a difference when it gets integrated into Photoshop AI.

How well does Structure Reference work?

For my first test, I downloaded a beautiful drawing of an eye from Unsplash (by DHANYA A V), uploaded it to Firefly, and used the simple prompt “blue eye”. I was impressed with how well it captured the structure while applying the new color.

Next, I wanted to see if Firefly could maintain the structure while generating entirely different content. I’ve found that Firefly sometimes struggles with the level of realism achieved by tools like Midjourney.

I generated a QR code linking to photutorial.com and used it as a reference structure in Firefly, aiming to create stylized QR codes that would still scan. Here are a few results:

While the chessboard looked interesting, the cityscape result was less impressive, resembling a normal photograph with a QR code overlay.

Turning my old drawings into concepts

I decided to try something more aligned with Firefly’s strengths. Years ago, before discovering Photoshop, I spent lots of time sketching. Today, I scanned a few of my old drawings and used Adobe Firefly’s latest feature to add color and style:

My thoughts

“If you paid attention to the images I shared, you’d notice they’re all drawings or illustrations. That’s because Firefly still has room for improvement, and I had to cherry-pick examples. It’s not (yet) capable of generating truly photorealistic images. In my experience, Midjourney is much better at creating realistic photographs.

Nonetheless, Structure Reference is a significant step forward for Firefly. Its focus on replicating compositions makes scene recreation much more reliable, and it’s incredibly fun to experiment with.

Bonus: For a bit of fun, I used a picture of a cat and gave Firefly the prompt: “portrait of a rocker with a gray suit smoking e-cigarette; isolated on black background, photo.” The result was surprisingly entertaining!