Every year, Adobe MAX becomes the epicenter of creative innovation, where developers unveil lab projects that may soon become part of our daily tools. Known as "Sneaks", these prototypes offer a glimpse into the future—concepts that wow today and often evolve into standard Creative Cloud features tomorrow.
In the 2025 edition, Adobe once again showed why it sets the pace for digital creativity. Hosted with humor by Jessica Williams, the company unveiled a collection of projects designed to simplify workflows, reduce clicks, and make AI understand visual context, lighting, and volume like a seasoned editor.
This year’s theme was clear: "fewer tools, more intention."
Project Surface Swap: Change Materials Without Losing Realism
One of the most eye-catching prototypes was Project Surface Swap, a feature designed to change materials in an image without altering its original perspective or lighting.
Imagine you have a photo of a couch and want to see how it would look upholstered in leather or fabric. This tool lets you do that in seconds while preserving visual coherence—shadows, reflections, and all.
For professionals in interior design, e-commerce, or product photography, this could revolutionize catalog customization, saying goodbye to tedious manual texture replacements.
Project Light Touch: Control Lighting Like a Studio
Another highlight was Project Light Touch, which enables you to relight entire scenes after the shot.
While tools already exist to adjust brightness and contrast, Adobe takes it further: you can turn a daytime scene into night, spotlight an object, or add drama with deeper shadows—all via sliders or even a text prompt.
In other words, it’s like moving your studio lights after the photo is taken. A game changer for photographers, filmmakers, and content creators who want full control over their visual narrative.
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Project Turn Style: Turn 2D Drawings into 3D Objects
What if you could rotate a flat illustration like a 3D object? With Project Turn Style, that’s no longer a fantasy.
This tool allows you to reposition and rotate 2D elements without breaking textures, simulating realistic depth. It’s perfect for illustrators, comic artists, game designers, and animators who want more dynamic compositions without switching to full 3D modeling.
The boundary between 2D and 3D is blurring, opening a new, intuitive creative workflow.
Project Frame Forward: Edit a Whole Video from One Frame
Video editing also had its moment. Project Frame Forward introduces a radical approach: edit a single frame, and AI propagates the change across the whole clip.
Want to change a shirt’s color, remove an object, or adjust a facial expression? Just modify one frame, describe your intention, and the system will apply the change consistently throughout the video.
No more frame-by-frame editing. For Premiere Pro and After Effects users, this could save hours of post-production.
Project Motion Map: Animate Without Keyframes
In the animation space, Adobe unveiled Project Motion Map, a tool that brings static vector graphics to life—no keyframes needed.
AI analyzes your design and creates smooth, expressive motion based on rhythm and creative intent. You simply describe how you want the object to move—more energy, more fluidity—and the system handles the transitions.
This simplifies the animation process and makes it more accessible to all designers, not just seasoned animators.
Project Sound Stager: Intelligent Soundscapes
Sound also received an AI upgrade with Project Sound Stager.
This project automatically generates soundscapes that match visual content, adapting pace, tone, and emotional ambiance. For instance, editing a rainy or urban scene? The AI suggests and aligns sound effects that fit seamlessly.
It even includes a sound copilot—a virtual assistant that helps you fine-tune volume, frequencies, and transitions naturally, like collaborating with a professional sound designer.
Project Clean Take: Perfect Voice Recordings in Seconds
Project Clean Take wowed attendees with its ability to clean up and enhance voice recordings instantly.
It can remove background noise, correct mispronunciations, isolate voices, or even reconstruct phrases—no need for a retake. This is ideal for content creators, podcasters, and production teams aiming for fast, high-quality audio.
In a world where every second of editing counts, this tool can revolutionize any voice-based project.
AI With Purpose: Fewer Clicks, More Creativity
The unifying theme across all these Sneaks was simple: AI should serve creativity, not replace it.
Adobe wants tools that understand context, intent, and aesthetics—not just automate tasks. The goal is to let creators focus more on storytelling and less on technical commands.
In the words of the organizers, the mission is to help users "think ideas, not commands."
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From Lab to Everyday Tool
Though Sneaks are experimental, history shows many become part of Creative Cloud. Today’s standard features—like Photoshop’s Generative Fill or Premiere’s Auto Reframe—started as Sneaks at past Adobe MAX events.
That’s why it’s likely we’ll soon see tools like Surface Swap, Frame Forward, or Light Touch in everyday workflows.
As Adobe puts it:
"What starts as an experiment could become your next creative superpower."
Conclusion: The Creative Future Is Already Here
Adobe MAX 2025 makes one thing clear: AI isn’t here to replace you—it’s here to empower you.
These innovations signal a future where tools don’t just follow instructions—they understand your goals and help you reach them faster. At TecnetOne, we believe this shift will not only transform the creative industry, but also how everyone approaches digital work: less technical overhead, more time to create.
Get ready—the future of editing is closer than you think.
