Adobe just dropped a massive January 2026 update for Photoshop, and it’s packed with game-changing features that creative professionals have been asking for. From powerful new adjustment layers to upgraded AI tools and smarter text handling, this update is all about giving you more control, precision, and creative freedom. Whether you’re a photographer, designer, or digital artist, these innovations will help you work faster and produce higher-quality results.

Let me break down what Adobe’s bringing to the table this month. First up, we’re getting three highly requested adjustment layers that are now generally available: Clarity, Dehaze, and Grain. These are non-destructive, maskable, layer-based adjustments that give you serious control over your images. Want to add dimension and texture? Use Grain. Need to cut through atmospheric haze or balance lighting? Dehaze has you covered. Looking to enhance subject structure and make things crisp? That’s where Clarity shines. The best part is you can mask and blend each adjustment seamlessly, giving you total creative control without destroying your original image data.

Next, there’s the new Dynamic Text feature in beta. This is a huge time-saver if you’ve ever struggled with text on paths. Now you can transform any text layer into circular, arched, or bowed shapes with just one click. Photoshop automatically fits and resizes your text, so you can create, move, and refine text along paths without jumping through hoops or using tedious workarounds. Perfect for logos, badges, and any design where you need curved text.

Adobe also massively upgraded the Firefly-powered tools: Generative Fill, Generative Expand, and the Remove Tool. These now output at 2K resolution with sharper details and way fewer artifacts. The results better match your prompts, create more realistic lighting and depth, reduce visible seams, and just look more polished overall. If you’ve been using these tools, you’ll immediately notice the quality jump.

Finally, Reference Image for Generative Fill got a major upgrade. Now when you use a reference object, Photoshop preserves its identity while generating and compositing it into your scene. The results are geometry-aware, meaning the generated object matches the correct scale, rotation, lighting, color, and perspective of your scene. This is huge for compositing work where you need objects to look like they actually belong in the environment.

Why This Update Matters

This update shows Adobe is listening to creative professionals who need speed, precision, and quality in their workflows. The new adjustment layers address years of requests from photographers and retouchers. The AI improvements make generative tools actually usable for professional work instead of just experimentation. And Dynamic Text solves a pain point that’s existed in Photoshop forever.

All these updates are available now in Photoshop desktop, with the Firefly-powered tools also coming to Photoshop on the web. If you’re a Creative Cloud subscriber, you can grab this update right now through the Creative Cloud app.