- Google’s new Mixboard offers AI-fueled visualization and image remixing
- Users can create and edit idea boards using text prompts
- Mixboard is available as an experimental beta in the U.S.
Google’s popular new Gemini 2.5 Flash Image model, better known as Nano Banana, has a new home in Adobe Photoshop. Those with access to Photoshop’s beta app can produce images with Nano Banana, best known for making viral 3D figurines from photographs, directly within the Generative Fill tool, alongside Adobe’s own Firefly model.
Nano Banana is joining the platform along with a new contextual model from Black Forest Labs, the developers of the AI image-maker used by Grok on X, called FLUX.1 Kontext [pro].
It’s a notable expansion for Adobe’s AI strategy, which has largely relied on Adobe-built models until now. But now, Photoshop users can generate a dreamy, stylized background using Nano Banana, refine it with realistic shadows via FLUX.1, and polish the whole thing using Firefly, all within the Generative Fill feature. Adobe seems to want Photoshop to serve as a hub for multiple AI models to compete for your creative attention.
Adobe still encourages users to consider the Firefly model as the go-to for commercial-safe results. Firefly is built for higher-end images in terms of quality, consistency, and reliance on a database that Adobe has permission to use for training its models.
Nano Banana and FLUX have their own strengths, of course. Google’s contribution is known for its stylistic flourishes and eye-catching visuals, which are based on text, while Black Forest Labs pitches its model as ideal for more realistic and coherent images.
Now that they’re swappable inside the same prompt window, users will be able to test those strengths out very quickly. For instance, if you have an idea for a fantasy story illustration, Nano Banana could add some magical effects, while FLUX realistically lights a cave setting, and Firefly cleans it all up.
AI image imagination
Adobe opening up to third-party providers will likely help the company as it battles to keep Photoshop atop the list of high-end visual platforms. Making it easy to switch among the models will streamline a lot of projects, both professional and personal. Speeding up the sometimes tedious process of editing images is going to appeal to plenty of creators.
For instance, a designer making social content can generate stylized backgrounds in seconds and tweak them without toggling between tabs. An inventor could run the entire product imagery and marketing launch campaign entirely within Photoshop, and even someone making a funny greeting card image will find the process a lot easier.
You still need taste and direction. However, the burden of drafting and editing might be significantly lighter. If you want to try mixing Photoshop and Nano Banana, you’ll need to opt into the Photoshop beta via Creative Cloud. Adobe says more improvements are coming as they optimize the back-end systems and introduce finer controls over each model’s output.
