Anyone can do very basic image editing these days. But why is that? The reason for that is: AI. Or specifically, AI features intended for the editing and manipulation of digital images. Best of all, some of these features are available in smartphones.
As a result, more people have access to quick and easy ways to edit images. This is important for many Internet users, who want to post their photos on social media as soon as possible. With that said, here are the most practical AI photo editing features for casual photographers.
Eraser tool
Got a photobomber in the background or some object in the way? Then an eraser tool is what you need. In most of the recent AI-powered smartphones, the term we see most often is "AI Eraser". As the term implies, this tool can be used to erase things from a photo. Typically, you do this by selecting the feature in your camera app. Then, you circle the area or subject you want to remove and voila!
The eraser tool isn't perfect, but it does the job
Mind you, this feature isn't perfect. Depending on what's being selected, you may end up with more area removed. The AI could also cause the selected area to be 'replaced' to look distinctly unnatural, which is more likely if the background isn't a simple flat colour. If that happens, it's best to undo the process and try again.
Object generator
The AI photo editor on some phones can also generate objects for you. Just sketch a general outline or shape of the object you want to add and the generative AI should be able to create it for you. For instance, you can sketch a rickshaw on a photo and the AI would generate a proper one. This feature is great for people who want to quickly touch up their photos. Of course, there are some limitations.
Simple but coherent shapes can be easily generated
First, the AI might not recognise what you've sketched or drawn. In that sense, you have to at least be able to make your sketches 'recognisable'. Secondly, some phones have a hard limit to how many times you can use this feature per day. Allegedly, this is because the phone needs to connect to a server running the image generation program. It's like a daily limit to a free service. In addition, your phone needs to have uninterrupted Internet access to generate the object.
Object manipulation
Normally, there isn't much you can do to edit a flat image. Anything you do is applied to the full image. But with AI-powered camera apps, you might be able to do more. For example, Samsung phones with Galaxy AI. Using Generative Edit, you can highlight a specific object or subject (like a cat) for editing. Then, you can move or resize the subject without affecting the rest of the image.
If you pay close attention, you'll notice it's the cat that's gotten bigger
Background fill
That's not all, users can also 'edit' small parts of a flat image without affecting the whole. This one is somewhat related to the AI eraser tool feature, but let's say you crop something out of an image or rotate it. With the same algorithm used by the AI eraser, the camera app will do its best to fill in the blank areas.
This works best if the areas being filled in are of a single colour or texture. However, the results can look weird if the area near it is uneven or has multiple colours.
Background fill is useful if you have to rotate an image
Image unblurring
Another highly useful feature for many is AI unblurring. As the name suggests, some phones can now 'fix' blurry shots. Using an AI algorithm, the app could study how the photo should look like and restore it. This feature could prove handy for those who have shaky hands or often take photos too quickly for the optical image stabiliser to work.
However, this feature doesn't always work either. The image could sometimes be too complicated for the AI to unblur, resulting in images that are barely better than the original. In some instances, it could even be worse.
Enhance zoom
There are also AI features that enhance the photo in other ways. For instance, the latest version of Gemini AI has a Zoom Enhance feature that 'upscales' images. Mind you, this is a software technique graphics cards have been able to do for years. It does essentially the same thing GPUs do for games - upscales a lower-resolution image into a higher resolution without losing image sharpness.
In this case, the smartphone's AI algorithm lets you enhance zoomed images. It functions by studying existing details to sharpen the image. From experience, this seems to work best when the zoom scale isn't too high, so there's enough detail to feed the AI.
Well, that's all we have for now. The above are just some AI image editing features now available on smartphones and are the ones we found most useful. However, you might have others that you prefer. In that case, please share your list of favourite AI image editing features (for smartphones or otherwise) in the comments on our Facebook page. And as usual, stay tuned to TechNave for more articles like this.
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