How Google's upcoming Magic Editor will help users edit photos like a pro

Google has given us a sneak peek at Magic Editor, which it has described as "a new experimental editing experience that uses generative AI to help you reimagine your photos and make editing even easier".

Google made the Magic Editor announcement at its annual developers conference, I/O, in Mountain View, California, on Wednesday.

So what does it do? Magic Editor, which will debut later this year, will help you reposition your subject in a photo to get a better frame and more, even if you are not someone with "pro-level editing skills".

"Using a combination of AI techniques, including generative AI, it will help you make edits to specific parts of an image — like the subject, sky or background — so you have even more control over the final look and feel of your photo," Google said in a blog.

Magic Editor will help improve the composition of a photo and allow you to "reposition the subject of your shot to the best spot".

"For example, if you’re trying to get the perfect photo from your time at a popular waterfall, you could remove the bag strap you forgot to take off. You could also make the sky brighter and less cloudy, so it matches how you remember that day. And for a finishing touch, relocate and change the scale of your subject so they’re perfectly lined up under the waterfall," its blog said.

Google plans to give select Pixel phones early access to the "experimental technology" of Magic Editor, cautioning that there will be times when it might not quite work correctly.

• Tale of the tape: Google versus Facebook