Last year, Google introduced the Magic Eraser. You can use it to remove unwanted objects from your photos from dustbins to photobombers. This year, with Pixel 8, Google announced an upgraded version of Magic Eraser called Magic Editor. Now you can not only remove objects, but also change the position of the objects, resize them, and do much more. In this article, we will delve into what we can do with the new Magic Editor feature and how to use it on Google Photos for Pixel 8 series users.
Table of Contents
Before We Begin
Magic Editor works on any photo even if it is not taken on a Pixel camera. However, there are a couple of things you need to know before proceeding.
- You need the internet for the Magic Editor feature to work.
- You can only use Magic Editor on photos that are already backed up to Google Photos. Even if you have an internet connection, you cannot use Magic Editor on photos that are not backed up.
- Remember your photos will be uploaded to Google servers as the magic happens in the cloud and not on your device unlike other AI features like Magic Eraser, Best Take, and Audio Magic Eraser.
- As mentioned, at the time of writing this article, Magic Editor is only available on Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Unless Google changes that with an update brining it to more Android phones like the ones from Samsung.
How to Use Magic Editor on Google Photos
1. Open the Google Photos app on your Google Pixel 8 or 8 Pro. Then open the photo that you want to edit or where you want to remove/change an object. Now tap on the Edit button at the bottom of the photo.
2. Here you should see the Magic Editor icon at the bottom left corner, tap on it.
3. Now on the Magic Editor screen, you will see Sky, Golden Hour, and Stylized settings when you tap on the Magic Wand icon at the bottom.
4. Selecting the Sky option will replace the sky with a more cloudy or vibrant one. It gives you four results to choose from. Not satisfied with any? Scroll to the end and tap on the Get a new set of results option.
5. Golden hour option is similar to Sky. It changes the sky to orange or you can say the perfect golden hour mood.
7. Finally, selecting the Stylized option will give you 4 stylistic changeovers to your photo. There are no specific style preferences here that we can list. It can edit the photo to look like a cartoon, retro vibes, futuristic, painting, cinematic, etc. It all depends on the photo and how Google processes it. During our tests, the changes were drastic and not completely perfect but worth checking out.
8. Coming to the object editing part, you can select any object by long pressing, drawing a circle around it, or brushing the object to select it.
9. It does a good job at selecting an object, but if the object is not completely selected, just make sure the Plus option is enabled at the bottom and select the missing part to improve the selection.
10. If more area than the object is selected, then select the Minus option from the bottom and remove the additional selected area manually.
11. Once selected, tap on the Erase option at the bottom to magically erase the selected object from the image just like the Magic Eraser. The feature uses AI to create the background behind the object. It may not remove shadows automatically, so make sure to select shadows of the objects you want to remove too. Finally, it gives you 4 results to select the best one.
12. You can also move the object to a different position. Long-press the selected object, now you can drag and place the object anywhere you prefer in the photo. Once done, tap on Next at the bottom right corner. Again, 4 results will be generated to reflect the change in the selected object’s position with the recreated background.
13. You can use two fingers to resize the object with the pinch gesture. However, you can only resize the object, but cannot rotate as of now. Once done, tap on Next at the bottom right corner.
Whether you are changing the sky, adding style, removing, replacing, or resizing objects, you will get 4 results to choose from. Tap on the checkmark icon at the bottom right corner to choose the result.
14. Once done, you can further edit the image or simply tap on the Save copy button at the bottom right to save the image. Since the image is saved as a copy, you can still access your original.
Some Examples of Before and After Shots
In this image, we have erased the entire ground area including concrete. Still, Google Photos is able to recreate the ground part from scratch easily. However, we didn’t make any changes to the sky.
In the below example, we have moved and resized the car so it looks bigger as it is closer. While moving the car, Google Photos also improved its image quality. Though it isn’t completely perfect, the improvement made the image much better.
This is an example from the Google IO event held this year. Here, they changed the position of the bench. Magic Editor extends the bench and the balloons towards the right. Also, they changed the sky to make it more vibrant and contrasting.
Pixel 8, It’s Magic!
Google Pixel phones are known for their smart features and AI capabilities and they haven’t disappointed this year with features like Audio Magic Eraser, Best Take, and especially Magic Editor. A few more features like Video Boost are expected to come in the December Pixel drop update.
