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Figma Unveils AI Design Tools: How Its Platform Push Challenges Adobe

Figma’s AI tools have grown from a limited 2024 beta into a broader platform for prototyping, code, websites, vector work, marketing assets, and AI-native media. Here is where Figma genuinely challenges Adobe—and where Adobe remains stronger.

By ThatPainter Team Updated 12 min read
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Figma’s AI announcement was bigger than a collection of convenience features. On June 26, 2024, the company began moving from collaborative interface design toward a broader product-development platform—one that could help teams search existing work, generate interface directions, automate repetitive edits, connect prototypes, and eventually move from prompts to code.

That challenged Adobe’s influence over creative work, but not in the simplistic sense that Figma replaced Photoshop or Illustrator. Figma competed for the workflow around digital products; Adobe defended a much broader professional-production ecosystem.

Figma’s June 26, 2024 AI announcement challenged Adobe at the workflow level, not by attempting to reproduce every Creative Cloud application. Figma put generative assistance inside a browser-based, collaborative product-design environment, while Adobe continued embedding Firefly across mature tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator.

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The launch introduced visual search, AI-assisted copy and image work, automatic prototype wiring, layer renaming, and prompt-generated interface drafts. Those capabilities were initially a limited beta, and one of the most ambitious features had to be withdrawn and redesigned after Figma found that it could generate mockups too close to existing applications.

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By 2025 and 2026, Figma had expanded the idea into a broader platform spanning prompt-to-code prototypes, websites, vector illustration, marketing production, motion, AI-native media, and code that can move back onto the editable design canvas. That makes Figma a more serious competitor for collaborative product development and experimentation. It does not, however, mean that Figma has displaced Adobe in professional image editing, illustration, video, audio, or established creative-production workflows.

What Figma unveiled in June 2024

At Config 2024, Figma grouped its first wave of AI features into three broad areas. The tools were designed to remove repetitive steps and make it easier for people who are not professional designers to communicate an idea.

  • Visual Search: Users could search designs they were authorized to access by providing a screenshot, selected frame, image, or sketch. The results could be similar designs or exact matches found across an organization’s files.
  • Efficiency actions: Figma demonstrated AI-assisted image and copy generation, text rewriting and translation, automatic prototype connections, and one-click layer renaming. Contemporary descriptions also included background removal and contextual naming based on what a layer contained.
  • Make Designs: A natural-language description could produce an initial interface layout and component options for exploration. The intended use was rapid ideation rather than delivery of a finished product.

In practical terms, a product team could start with a rough request such as a mobile checkout flow or a responsive dashboard, generate a direction, clean up the structure, and connect screens into a clickable prototype without manually performing every preliminary step.

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Make Designs was not a finished-design generator

The most important qualification was also the easiest to lose in the launch headlines: the initial Make Designs feature was a limited beta. Figma later acknowledged that its underlying design system could produce mockups too close to existing applications. The company disabled the feature, reworked it, and reintroduced it in September 2024 as First Draft.

First Draft used four libraries, ranging from low-fidelity wireframes to higher-fidelity website and application patterns. Figma later folded First Draft into its design agent. The newer positioning emphasizes reprompting, iterative refinement, bulk edits, and feedback on flows and designs rather than a single prompt producing an authoritative final interface.

This episode illustrates both the opportunity and the risk of generative interface design. AI can provide useful starting points quickly, but the output still needs review for originality, accessibility, responsive behavior, content accuracy, component consistency, and whether the interaction actually solves the user’s problem.

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Why the launch looked like a challenge to Adobe

Figma’s advantage was not a claim that it could instantly replace Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, or the rest of Adobe’s production stack. Its strategic advantage was the place where the work happened: a shared, browser-based environment connecting designers, developers, product managers, marketers, and clients.

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1. Figma was broadening the workflow

Traditional interface design is only one stage of product development. Teams also need to explore ideas, create prototypes, hand designs to developers, test flows, produce launch assets, and increasingly generate working code. By putting AI into those transitions, Figma was trying to become the system where a product moves from a rough idea to something that can be reviewed and tested.

2. Collaboration was part of the product, not an add-on

Figma’s multiplayer model gives different roles access to the same working file and design system. That matters when AI-generated work needs to be reviewed rather than accepted by one designer in isolation. A developer can inspect the structure, a product manager can comment on the flow, and a designer can revise the source artifact without passing files through several applications.

Figma’s 2026 proxy statement reported that non-designers represented roughly two-thirds of its monthly active users during the three months ended December 31, 2025. That is a company-reported usage figure, not independent evidence that Figma has captured the entire market, but it supports the company’s argument that the platform is reaching beyond traditional design specialists.

3. Natural-language prompts were moving closer to product creation

A prompt-generated image is useful, but a prompt that produces an editable flow, a working prototype, or code connected to an existing design can affect more of the development process. Figma’s later work on Make, code layers, design agents, and MCP-server workflows reflects that direction.

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4. Experimentation involved fewer tool changes

Figma’s AI features were placed alongside files, components, prototypes, comments, and developer handoff. That does not eliminate the need for specialized applications, but it can reduce the friction of testing several directions before a team commits to detailed production work.

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How the strategy expanded after the original beta

At Config 2025, Figma announced four major products that made the platform ambition explicit:

Product Role in the broader strategy
Figma Make A prompt-to-code environment for turning descriptions or existing designs into working prototypes and applications.
Figma Sites A way to build and publish dynamic websites rather than stopping at a static design file.
Figma Draw Richer vector editing and illustration capabilities, bringing Figma closer to some tasks traditionally associated with Illustrator.
Figma Buzz On-brand marketing-asset production at scale, extending the platform toward content operations.

Figma also announced expanded image generation and editing, auto-suggestion features, FigJam improvements, and responsive-layout capabilities. Its product materials describe Figma Make as able to generate responsive, interactive sites from natural-language instructions, connect simulated data, add animations and logic, and publish results.

The direction continued in the company’s 2026 product materials. Figma’s release notes listed GPT-5.6 as an available Figma Make model on all plans in July 2026 and described a way to bring coded screens back onto the Figma canvas while preserving variables and auto layout. The company’s product-news archive also listed a design agent with custom tools and greater context, code layers on the design canvas, Figma Motion, Weave integration, and expanded MCP-server workflows.

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Figma’s 2026 proxy statement said the company expanded from four to eight products in 2025, delivered more than 200 features and improvements, embedded AI throughout the platform, acquired Weavy, now Figma Weave, to broaden AI-native media generation, and acquired Payload CMS. The filing described Figma Make as capable of turning prompts or existing designs into prototypes and full web apps.

These are Figma’s own corporate and product claims. They show the scope of the strategy, but they are not independent proof that every feature is mature, widely adopted, or suitable for production without review.

Figma versus Adobe: where the competition is real

Need Figma’s position Adobe’s position
Interface and product design Strong collaborative canvas, components, prototypes, developer handoff, and AI-assisted exploration. Relevant tools and integrations, but not the center of Adobe’s entire creative-production portfolio.
Prompt-to-prototype and prompt-to-code Figma Make connects natural-language instructions, existing designs, simulated data, interactions, and code-oriented artifacts. Adobe’s strength is broader creative generation and editing across its established applications, rather than one identical Figma workflow.
Raster image editing and digital painting Useful for placing, adapting, and using imagery in product or marketing layouts. Photoshop remains the more established environment for detailed raster editing, compositing, image manipulation, and painting-oriented work.
Vector illustration Figma Draw and newer AI features expand the offering. Illustrator has a mature professional vector workflow, with Firefly features producing editable, scalable output.
Video, audio, and production Figma’s expansion includes motion and media-related tools, but this is a newer platform direction. Adobe has a deeper installed ecosystem for established video, audio, layout, and content-production workflows.
Cross-functional collaboration Browser-based multiplayer collaboration is central to the product and connects design with product and development work. Creative Cloud offers collaboration and cloud services, while Adobe’s principal advantage is the breadth and maturity of its professional applications.

The overlap is therefore substantial but incomplete. Figma is competing for the workflow around products, websites, interfaces, prototypes, and campaign systems. Adobe remains structurally stronger when the job depends on a full professional production stack.

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Adobe’s counterattack is broader than a Figma imitation

Adobe’s response has been to place Firefly inside applications that professionals already use. In Illustrator, Adobe lists Firefly-powered features including Concept to Vector, Generative Expand, Generative Shape Fill, Text to Pattern, Text to Vector Graphic, and Turntable. The resulting vector artwork is described as editable and scalable, which is important for logos, illustrations, packaging, brand systems, and other work that cannot remain a flattened AI image.

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Photoshop’s documented AI features include Generative Fill, Generate Image, Generative Expand, Generate Background, Generate Similar, Harmonize, Generative Upscale, and model selection. Adobe’s June 2026 help materials also describe reference-image workflows and the ability to use Adobe and partner AI models.

Firefly has expanded beyond still-image generation into image editing, video, audio, vector generation, partner models, and storyboard-oriented workflows. Adobe is therefore defending an established creative-production ecosystem while adding generative capabilities to it. Its strategy is not simply to recreate Figma’s interface generator; it is to make Adobe’s existing applications more capable and more connected.

What this means for painters and visual creatives

For a painter, illustrator, or other visual creator, the Figma-versus-Adobe question depends on what happens before and after the artwork itself.

  • Choose Figma’s workflow when: the main task is designing an app, website, dashboard, portfolio structure, customer journey, or responsive interface with other people reviewing the work.
  • Choose Adobe’s workflow when: the work depends on detailed raster painting, image compositing, advanced vector illustration, print production, video, audio, or an established Creative Cloud pipeline.
  • Use both when: an illustration or painted asset is created and refined in Photoshop or Illustrator, then placed into a Figma prototype, website concept, campaign system, or product interface for collaborative review.

Figma Draw may make the boundary more competitive for lighter vector work, and Buzz may be useful for adapting approved brand assets into many marketing formats. Neither development automatically makes Figma a replacement for every Adobe tool used by a professional painter or illustrator.

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What Figma’s AI can and cannot responsibly do

Good uses

  • Generate several rough interface directions before investing in detailed design.
  • Turn a plain-language product idea into a prototype that stakeholders can react to.
  • Rename layers, rewrite or translate interface copy, remove image backgrounds, and perform other repetitive cleanup.
  • Find related work in authorized organizational files using visual or textual references.
  • Explore responsive layouts, simulated data, simple animations, and interaction logic.

Tasks that still require human judgment

  • Checking whether generated layouts are original enough and do not resemble a protected or recognizable existing product.
  • Testing accessibility, keyboard behavior, hierarchy, contrast, localization, and content clarity.
  • Validating responsive behavior across real content and device sizes.
  • Reviewing generated code for security, maintainability, performance, and integration with production systems.
  • Confirming that images, icons, type, and brand elements are licensed and appropriate for the intended use.
  • Deciding whether the result solves a real user problem rather than merely looking convincing in a demo.

Figma Make can produce working prototypes and, according to Figma’s corporate description, full web apps. That should not be read as a promise that a prompt produces production-ready software automatically. Generated code and generated design still need the same engineering, design, legal, and quality review as manually created work.

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How to evaluate Figma and Adobe for a real project

  1. List the handoffs that cause the most friction. If the problem is moving from a brief to a clickable product flow, Figma may offer the more direct experiment. If the problem is retouching, painting, compositing, or preparing final artwork, Adobe may remain the better starting point.
  2. Test the same brief in both ecosystems. Use a realistic task, not a polished promotional prompt. Include brand rules, existing assets, unusual content lengths, mobile and desktop requirements, and at least one accessibility constraint.
  3. Inspect the editable result. A visually attractive output is not enough. Check layers, components, variables, auto layout, vector editability, naming, and whether another team member can continue the work.
  4. Measure revision rather than first-draft speed. AI is most useful when the third or fourth revision is faster and clearer, not merely when the first demo appears quickly.
  5. Check the handoff to production. Confirm how developers receive the design, how assets are exported, where code lives, and which parts must be rebuilt manually.
  6. Review plan limits before committing. Figma’s product lineup, AI credits, model availability, seat structure, beta status, and pricing can change. Check the current Figma plans and product documentation at the time of purchase rather than relying on the launch-period free beta.

So, is Figma really challenging Adobe’s dominance?

Yes, if dominance means controlling the workflow in which teams turn ideas into digital products, prototypes, websites, and reusable campaign assets. Figma’s AI features make its collaborative canvas more useful to developers, marketers, and non-designers, while Make, Sites, Draw, Buzz, Motion, Weave, and code-layer work push the platform into areas beyond interface mockups.

No, if the claim means that Figma has replaced Adobe as the default professional environment for every kind of visual production. Adobe still has the deeper stack for raster editing, digital painting, vector illustration, video, audio, layout, and established production operations. Firefly gives that stack its own AI-based route to faster generation and editing.

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The more accurate conclusion is that Figma expanded the battlefield. It is trying to become the collaborative place where designers, developers, marketers, AI agents, and code-generated artifacts meet. Adobe is extending an installed creative-production ecosystem with generative AI. The result is an expanding overlap between product design and creative production, not a simple winner-takes-all replacement.

Source note: This analysis draws on Figma’s Config 2024 and 2025 materials, product and release documentation, and its 2026 proxy statement, together with Adobe’s Illustrator, Photoshop, Firefly, and help materials. Company-reported user and revenue figures are identified as such. Feature availability, model access, pricing, AI-credit allocations, and beta status are volatile and should be checked against the relevant official product pages before publication or purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. The June 2024 features were introduced as a limited beta, with usage limits and pricing subject to change. Make Designs was later disabled, redesigned, and relaunched as First Draft after Figma found that some generated mockups were too close to existing applications.

Was Figma’s 2024 AI launch a finished product?

Not across professional workflows. Figma is strongest for collaborative interface design, prototyping, websites, and design-to-code exploration. Photoshop and Illustrator remain better established for detailed raster editing, digital painting, advanced vector illustration, and production work.

Can Figma AI replace Photoshop or Illustrator?

It can generate working prototypes and, according to Figma’s corporate materials, full web apps. However, generated code and designs still require human review for security, accessibility, performance, maintainability, originality, and real-world requirements.

Does Figma Make generate production-ready software?

Adobe is generally the more natural primary environment when the work centers on raster painting, image compositing, advanced vector illustration, print, or professional asset production. Figma becomes more useful when the artwork is being placed into an interface, website, prototype, or collaborative marketing workflow.

Which tool is better for a painter or illustrator?

The Bottom Line

Bottom line: Figma’s AI push is a credible challenge to Adobe’s control over parts of the digital-creation workflow, especially collaborative product design, prototyping, websites, and design-to-code experimentation. It is not a wholesale replacement for Adobe’s mature tools for painting, image editing, illustration, video, audio, and professional production.

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