There is no Google application that I love more than Google Photos, it seems to me to be a total success in all its functions. As a gallery, as a backup system, It’s perfect for taking all my photos anywhere and even edit them before sharing them. And with all the potential of Google’s AI: what it achieves in the Google Pixel 8 Pro is surprising.
I’m currently reviewing the Pixel 8, the smallest of the newest family of phones. Although I also own the Pixel 8 Pro, the two offer very similar service without being too differentiated on the hardware level. Not much in software either; Beyond that Pro includes Gemini AI locally. Of course, the Magic Editor works in both, a photography tool that lives up to its name.
The magic editor doesn’t disappoint: it makes real magic
Google Photos Magic Editor on the Pixel 8 Pro
Both the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro integrate the Magic Editor into Google Photos’ editing options with no real difference in their speed, efficiency, and number of tools included. It’s almost like having a private ChatGPT
With the magic editor mentioned above, you can retouch photos, then apply bokeh, allow you to crop any element of the image, resize it and even completely compose the background, like ChatGPT. In my opinion all it takes is a text box to tell the magic editor what the background of the cutout should be, Google would complete the tool. Despite this lack, it’s one of the features I like most on the Google Pixel 8 Pro (and the Pixel 8 or Samsung Galaxy S24, which also have it).
Once an image from the gallery is opened, the little magic editor icon appears at the bottom right so when you click you can access the tool’s options. There aren’t many of them and they seem really simple, the power is in the treatment: It can work automatically (magic wand), with random operation, or it can be forced into manual mode.
By circling the element of the image you want to edit, the magic editor will cut it out from the background with almost complete perfection, even in areas where the outline and background are blurred. Once the area is highlighted, can be moved to any part of the image, enlarge it
Select, crop and resize with background creation
Once I mastered the mechanics of surrounding, cropping, resizing and repositioning, I was able to take group photos again to remove other people by putting myself in the center and without the seams being visible, For example. All on the phone and without the small touch screen being clunky when editing: one of the advantages is the extreme simplicity of the magic editor. What would require a lot of work on the computer with Photoshop, I can do on my mobile in less than a minute.
AI perfectly integrated into a photo application
The magic editor adjusted the resizing very well, gridding the background and the rest of the image.
The Magic Eraser that Google introduced in the Pixel 6 was good and really did some magic. With this twist, and the seasoning of even more AI, magic editor reaches witchcraft levels: You can completely edit a photo without noticing extreme edits thanks to artificial intelligence. It’s impressive.
If I didn’t have it on the Google Pixel 8 Pro, I would buy it: the magic editor seems brutal to me to improve those images which, because of the precise moment, the scene or bad luck, did not have completed as they should. Even opens the door to artistic creation, you just need to imagine and plan the post-production before taking the photo. Pretend to rob a building? I prepare the image to appear in front of said building and, with the magic editor, I crop and resize until I achieve the desired result. The result is true magic.
The Magic Editor is one of those tools that can sell a phone. Or several, that Google put it in the two Pixel 8s and, in addition, gave it to the three Samsung Galaxy S24s. In all cases the results are identical, only execution time varies depending on whether or not the mobile has access to Gemini Nano locally. And it’s definitely worth a try.
Cover image | DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT edited
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