Google Photos is getting an AI upgrade. On Wednesday, the tech giant announced that a handful of advanced editing features previously limited to Pixel devices and paying subscribers — including the AI-powered Magic Editor — at the moment are available totally free to all Google Photos users. This extension also includes Google's Magic Eraser, which removes unwanted elements from photos; Photo Unblur, which uses machine learning to sharpen blurry photos; Portrait Light, which permits you to change the sunshine source in photos after the actual fact, and others.
The editing tools have historically been a selling point for Google's high-end devices, the Pixel phones, and in addition a draw for Google's cloud storage subscription product Google One. However, as an increasing number of AI-powered editing tools flood the market, Google has decided to make its AI photo editing features available to more people totally free.
Photo credit: Google
However, there are some limitations with this extension.
For starters, the tools won't be rolling out until May fifteenth and it can be weeks before they're available to all Google Photos users.
Additionally, there are some hardware device requirements to make use of it. For example, on ChromeOS, the device should be a Chromebook Plus with ChromeOS version 118+ or have not less than 3GB of RAM. On mobile devices, the device should be running Android 8.0 or later or iOS 15 or later.
The company notes that Pixel tablets at the moment are also supported.
Magic Editor is probably the most notable feature of the group. Introduced last 12 months with the launch of the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, this editing tool uses generative AI to perform more complicated photo edits – like filling gaps in a photograph, repositioning the topic, and other edits within the foreground or background of a photograph. With Magic Editor you’ll be able to change a gray sky to blue, remove people from the background of a photograph, recenter the photo subject while filling gaps, remove other clutter, and more.
Previously, most of these edits required Magic Eraser and other skilled editing tools like Photoshop to attain the identical effect. And these changes could be more prone to occur manually somewhat than automated by AI.
Photo credit: Google
With the expansion, Magic Editor shall be available on all Pixel devices, while iOS and Android users (whose phones meet the necessities) will receive 10 Magic Editor saves per 30 days. To transcend that, you'll have to purchase a premium Google One plan – so 2TB of storage and more.
The other tools can be found to all Google Photos users and no Google One subscription is required. The full range of features that shall be available include Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Sky Suggestions, Color Pop, HDR effect for photos and videos, Portrait Blur, Portrait Light (plus the features so as to add light/light balance within the tool) and Cinematic Photos , styles in collage editor and video effects.
Other features just like the AI-powered Best Take feature – which stitches together similar photos to create a single best shot that may have everyone smiling – will proceed to be available only on the Pixel 8 and eight Pro.
