Hot take incoming: every designer should still learn proper image editing even though AI can generate pretty much anything now
heres why i think image editing skills still matter in 2026:
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AI cant fix bad product photography. i work in FMCG packaging and 80% of my job is taking mediocre product shots and making them look premium. color correction, background removal, retouching imperfections, compositing multiple angles. AI generation cant replace this because youre working with REAL products that need to look exactly right
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client revisions. “can you move that slightly left and make the background warmer?” try doing that with a midjourney prompt. image editing gives you pixel-level control that generation tools just dont
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understanding image editing makes you better at everything else. knowing how layers, masks, blending modes, and color spaces work informs your design decisions even when youre not in photoshop
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AI generated images still need post-production. the irony is that AI creates MORE editing work not less. you generate something close to what you want then spend an hour fixing the weirdness
reasons why image editing is important go way beyond just “because AI bad.” its foundational. like saying “why learn math when calculators exist”
am i wrong? anyone here successfully replaced their editing workflow entirely with AI generation?