Google Photos Adds Magic Eraser, HDR Video Effect (for Some)

pcmag.com:

Starting today, Google One members on Android and iOS and all Pixel owners can tap into AI-powered Google Photos editing tools to remove photobombers, enhance content, and create art with photo features like Magic Eraser, HDR video effect, and collage styles.

Google's Magic Eraser detects and removes distractions from photos, be it a tree sticking out of someone's head or an unwanted visitor in the background. For those obstructions the app doesn't automatically spot, users can circle or brush over items to make them (magically) disappear.

Most digital photographers (smartphone users included) have experimented with HDR (high dynamic range), a technique combining multiple exposures of the same subject at different levels to create one balanced image. The feature, also a popular TV setting, now works for Google Photos clips, for "dramatic, balanced videos" with enhanced brightness and contrast.

Introduced in September(Opens in a new window), the collage editor helps create shareable, scrapbook-esque selections, featuring graphic art styles "to make them pop." Pick your photo, select a design, and rearrange the layout; you can even edit snaps directly from the collage. And, with this round of updates, Google Photos users now can apply styles to a single image, rather than the whole lot.

Limited-time launch styles included exclusive work from Shantell Martin and Lisa Congdon; there's no word on who designed the latest round of Google's graphics.

Starting today, Google One members can get free shipping on orders—custom photo books, canvas prints, etc.—from Google's print store in the US, Canada, EU, and UK. Non-members, meanwhile, can sign up for a free trial beginning in early March. Google One is the company's paid,