The likes of Adobe Photoshop and Affinity Photo have been the best photo editors for a long time now. There have, however, been rumblings of change. A number of creators I know have moved away from Adobe products in favor of more affordable solutions, while others have begun embracing editing tools that are built around AI technology.
You may have heard of Topaz Labs Photo AI and Photoroom. They are relatively new kids on the block but with their focus on generative tools and mobile functionality, they’re seeing a huge rise in popularity. I know that Adobe is doing everything it can to reposition itself within the market but it better move fast to keep up with these upstarts.
Another option is Picsart, which I’ve been using recently. This mobile and web app accelerates creative projects and processes so you can edit photos and videos as well as generate new ones. It’s quick, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive compared to an Adobe subscription.
Homescreen heroes
This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
I began my Picsart journey by putting all the photo editing tools through their paces. What better place to start than the background removal tool? I, and countless creatives, have had decades of painstakingly cutting objects out using manual selection tools. It looks like those years of hard labor might now be over.
I loaded in a picture of a child with wispy hair. I did, after all, want to give Picsart a proper test. The child was also holding a couple of objects, which some background removal tools might find tricky to differentiate. After pressing the button and waiting a couple of seconds, I was amazed that Picsart had done a near-perfect job, even around the hair. Unbelievable.
Through an easy-to-use interface, I was then able to insert a plain colored background or a picture from their presets library. All fairly straightforward but then I opened up the AI background tool and this is where things jumped to an eerily scary level. Picsart inserted the child into a range of different scenes, all perfectly. One option even included her standing on a chair. Anyone would struggle to know she wasn’t originally photographed in that location.
Suitably impressed, I then headed into the AI enhancement tools. This is where images can be sharpened and defects removed. I gave Picsart a pretty decent image already and yet it still provided a higher level of clarity and even smoothed out blemishes on the person’s skin. I particularly liked the ability to adjust the intensity of the enhancement.
Other than testing a range of other basic tools within Picsart, I was also very keen to check out its integrated generative AI feature. Considering these often require dedicated hardware, I was intrigued to see what my iPhone XR would be able to cope with. Again, I was blown away. I gave it the prompt “Cute animal like Father Christmas,’ and it absolutely nailed it! I can definitely see myself using this feature on a regular basis to generate bespoke imagery, although maybe not Father Christmas-themed.
These tools only scratch the surface of what is possible with Picsart and it really has to be seen to be believed. There is also an AI logo maker, an avatar creator, and a whole host of impressive video tools.
Picsart has opened my eyes to how far AI tools have come. The fact that most tools can be utilized on a mobile is truly exceptional and helps open up new creative possibilities to creatives who don’t want to be tied down to a laptop. In reality, it has challenged my own creative processes while having a lot of fun along the way.
Picsart Pro is available to try for 7 days with the ability to cancel at any time. To continue using the app, you’ll need the free, plus, or pro licenses. As you’d expect, the free version has a serious limit on the use of generative AI tools and very little cloud storage. It does, however, have a decent set of photo and video editing tools.
The Plus license includes more generous use of AI tools, a full range of templates and fonts, and 5GB of cloud storage. The Pro version builds on this by offering branding, productivity, and team tools. Plus costs $5 / £5 per month, while Pro costs $7 / £7 per month. Picsart is also available as a web app.
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paulo.n.hatton@gmail.com (Paul Hatton)
