In this guide, I’ll take a closer look at the AI technologies driving the future of photography and give you the top AI tools that every photographer should know about.
2023 will be remembered as the year that popularised AI tools for the masses. ChatGPT took the world by surprise overnight, earning over 100 million users in just two months.
However, a few months before this chatbot became popular, OpenAI (the same company behind ChatGPT) developed Dall-e, an image generator that again took everyone by surprise due to its incredible quality. I talked extensively about this and other similar tools and how you can use them to make money (if you haven’t yet done so, check out my guide).
The idea behind a text-to-image AI tool is pretty simple: you write what you need, and the AI generates a series of images. The tricky part is actually to get precisely what you had in mind. But with a bit of practice, you can get great results.
AI is here to stay, so it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with it. After all, early adopters of new technologies reap the most significant benefits.
In this article, I want to expand on other tools that every photographer should consider using or at least know that they exist. Whether you want to use AI to generate art from scratch or integrate it with your post-production skills, I’m sure you’ll find something useful.
This is not a comprehensive list since new tools pop up daily, but I’ll try to keep it updated.
Fundamental AI Technologies in Photography
I organised the tools by category so that they are easier to browse. These include Image Generation, Image Editing, and Other Tools.
Image Generation
This technology generates new images using text prompt inputs (text-to-image). Sophisticated algorithms analyse millions of existing images to create new ones from scratch. These tools can now produce photorealistic portraits, complex landscapes, 3D renders, and even abstract art.
They are incredibly powerful now, but they still have some limitations. These are some of the main ones:
- The “Plastic” Look: Early models struggled with blurriness; current models often suffer from the opposite problem. Images can look too perfect, with skin that appears glossy, plastic, or airbrushed. Getting a gritty, natural texture often requires specific negative prompting (telling the AI what not to include).
- Anatomy and Logic: The infamous “six fingers” issue has largely been fixed, but complex anatomy still trips up the models. You will still see hands fusing with objects, limbs disappearing in complex poses, or background details that defy physics (like stairs leading nowhere).
- Control vs. Randomness: While you can now use natural language to describe what you want (e.g., “a cat sitting on a chair”), getting the AI to place specific items in exact locations remains frustrating. You often have to regenerate an image dozens of times to get the composition right.
- Dataset Reflection: These tools are trained on massive datasets and generally output what is statistically most common in that data. If the majority of source images for a specific profession or role feature a certain demographic, the AI will naturally mirror that reality. It works on probability, often requiring specific prompts if you want a result that deviates from the statistical norm.
- Cost of Quality: Speed is no longer the main bottleneck since many tools generate images in seconds. The new barrier is cost. The best models that produce high-resolution, commercially usable images are usually locked behind paid subscriptions, while free tools often have daily limits or lower quality outputs.
Image Editing
These tools help you refine images and videos, often blurring the line between editing and creating. The big shift here is the integration of “Generative Fill” (inpainting and outpainting) directly into standard workflow software like Photoshop.
While these tools used to require heavy technical skill, the barrier to entry has dropped significantly. Here is how the landscape looks now:
- Speed vs. Skill: In the past, removing a person from a background required precise cloning and masking skills. Now, you simply circle the object and the AI removes it, automatically filling the background. You don’t need to be a Photoshop expert to get professional results anymore, though knowing the basics helps you spot errors.
- The “Uncanny Valley” in Editing: While AI is great at removing objects or expanding a canvas (outpainting), adding new elements to a real photo can still look fake. The lighting, shadows, or noise levels often don’t match the original photograph perfectly, requiring a trained eye to spot and fix the discrepancies.
- Hardware Demands: While the software does the heavy lifting, these processes are resource-intensive. You need a powerful computer with a good graphics card to run local AI editing tools smoothly, or a fast internet connection for cloud-based processing.
- The Cost Factor: The most powerful AI editing features are rarely free. They are usually locked behind monthly subscriptions (like Adobe Creative Cloud) or credit-based systems.
Top Image Generation Tools
Midjourney
It’s one of the most popular text-to-image tools and also one of the best. It has a distinct, high-contrast, cinematic style that often looks better than reality, but also looks quite artificial.
Pros: Incredible texture, lighting, and composition.
Cons: Expensive (monthly subscription required); still often relies on a Discord interface, though the web platform is expanding; difficult to control precise object placement.
DALL-E 3 (via ChatGPT)
It’s famous for its ease of use and conversational editing. Because it is built into ChatGPT, you don’t need to be a “prompt engineer.” You can simply talk to it. If the image is wrong, you can tell the chat.
Pros: Conversational interface; understands complex sentence structures; decent text rendering.
Cons: Heavy censorship (refuses many prompts); distinct “smooth” aesthetic that is easy to spot; quality is lower than Midjourney.
FLUX.1 (by Black Forest Labs)
This tool is great for Photorealism and prompt adherence. Released by the original creators of Stable Diffusion, FLUX has rapidly become the favourite for users who need images that look like actual photographs rather than “AI art.” It follows complex instructions better than almost any other model.
Pros: Open weights (can be run locally on powerful PCs); distinct lack of the “plastic” AI look; exceptional skin texture.
Cons: Requires high-end hardware to run locally, or a subscription to use the pro version online.
Rundiffusion
Rundiffusion provides an account on a virtual server where you can run Stable Diffusion. Instead of spending hours installing all the libraries, not to mention that most computers cannot run them, you can “rent” a computer remotely and use it for as long as you need. Try Rundiffusion now (use code fabionodari15 to get a discount).
Pro: Dozens of open-source models are available, and it takes little time to start a new instance
Cons: It’s a Pro tool and, therefore, difficult to use for non-tech-savvy people.
Adobe Firefly (Image Model 3/4)
This is great for commercial safety and workflow integration. Firefly is integrated directly into Photoshop. It is trained exclusively on Adobe Stock images, meaning it is “commercially safe” and free from the copyright grey areas of other models.
Try Rundiffusion now (use code fabionodari15 to get a discount)
Pros: “Generative Fill” is a game-changer for editing.
Cons: Strict censorship (cannot generate public figures or huge portions of concepts); generally less creative/imaginative than Midjourney.
Nano Banana
Nano Banana is developed by Google DeepMind and is now part of the broader Gemini suite. Similar to Dall‑E, you can simply type what you want the AI to do, and the model will instantly generate or edit an image based on your description.
Pros: Fast turnaround (few seconds per image), good handling of complex prompts, including the ability to preserve scene composition, lighting, and object consistency over multiple edits.
Cons: Strict safety filters and content‑policy enforcement mean even some innocent or creative prompts may get blocked or rejected; this can be quite frustrating.
Top Image Editing Tools
Topaz Photo AI
Topaz Labs offers some of the best post-processing and video editing tools. They are famous for the great noise reduction algorithm, and this particular tool does a bit of everything: sharpening, removing noise, and increasing the photo’s resolution using AI. You can read my detailed review here.
Luminar Neo
I’ve been using Luminar for many years, and I can say that it’s a fantastic product. Luminar Neo is a software that uses AI to significantly speed up post-production. It is perfect for replacing the sky, removing unwanted elements from the image, and inpainting.
Try Luminar (use the code Fabio10 to get a 10$ discount) – You can have a free trial using this link
ON1 Photo RAW
A subscription-free Lightroom alternative. If you want the power of Lightroom (organising, raw editing) combined with the layers of Photoshop, but you refuse to pay a monthly fee, this is the answer. The 2025 update went “all in” on AI, adding features that directly compete with Adobe’s generative tools.
Photoshop
Although lagging behind the competition for a while, Adobe has added powerful new AI features to Photoshop. One of the latest is the ability to generate and/or remove elements in the photo, and recently it was integrated the Nano Banana model, along with Adobe Firefly.
Other Useful AI Tools
Topaz Video AI
Topaz Video AI is a powerful tool that leverages artificial intelligence to enhance video quality. It offers advanced features such as AI-powered upscaling, motion interpolation, and noise reduction. This powerful software also allows you to achieve smooth slow-motion effects.
PhotoTag AI
Keyword Camera is a neat tool that lets you upload batches of photos and automatically generate keywords, titles, and descriptions for each photo. Then, you can export the info to stock photo sites. This will allow you to save a ton of time to create more content.
Winxvideo AI
Winxvideo AI is a premium video editing tool. Its main use, at least for me, is to upscale HD footage to 4K. It uses AI for better results. It also helped me recover some shaky footage. The main downside is that it uses the local GPU, so if your computer is outdated, it might take a long time to process the files.
Retouch4me
Retouch4me is a premium tool for portrait photography. It uses AI for great skin smoothing and blemish removal. You can use your GPU power to leverage the AI or edit your images using the Cloud computing power. In the second case, you’d have to buy some credits. You can buy all the add-ons or only the ones you need.
Flexclip
FlexClip offers a wide range of AI-driven functionalities, including automated video editing, intelligent background removal, and AI text-to-image, significantly reducing the time and effort required to produce professional-quality content. FlexClip’s intuitive interface allows the quick creation of stunning slideshows, promotional videos, and social media content without extensive technical expertise. You can try Flexclip here
Another excellent tool I found is Replicate. It allows you to upload an image and suggests a text prompt to create similar images. It’s a great tool to get ideas for text-to-image prompts. Give it a try.
Lexica is a search engine for images and hints generated by artificial intelligence. Since every image has a prompt and seed, you can use Lexica to copy and remix existing images.
Final thoughts
Is AI taking over the world? Will photographers be out of jobs soon? Is it over for artists? Well, I think none of these things will happen anytime soon. There is no need to panic, but one thing is for sure: we are right in the middle of a technological revolution similar to the creation of the Internet. The more AI becomes efficient, the more it becomes part of our lives.
AI is just a tool (a very advanced one indeed), but like any other tool, it can help us do a better job only IF it’s used correctly. Rather than being afraid of it, let’s give it a try. It’s not going anywhere; the sooner you start using it, the better it is, since it will give you an advantage over later adopters. It’s also essential to set the right expectations. All these AI tools are far from perfect.
Regardless, I’m pretty excited about all the new opportunities AI will create for us photographers. I am looking forward to seeing what’s coming next.
If you enjoyed this article, please check out my guide to selling microstock images.
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