Google Photos gets some cool new editing tools, but you gotta pay for them

As for the new image editing features that are now expanding to all Google Photos users, the first one is Portrait Blur. As the name makes it abundantly clear, it will allow users to add a background blur effect to their photos using some machine learning magic – even if those photos were not captured using portrait mode.

The second one is Portrait Light, and this one lets users improve the lighting on the subject. You can either choose to do it manually by controlling the direction from which light falls on the subject, or apply a portrait lighting preset that does the job without any fine inputs from your side. 

Additionally, Google One subscribers will also get access to a few advanced tricks that apply complex editing effects with a simple tap. One of them is Dynamic suggestions, which intelligently adjusts attributes such as brightness and contrast across the whole image wherever it is necessary. There is a similar Sky feature, which lets users boost the background sky’s appearance in their photos by adjusting the color profile. 

All the four aforementioned image editing features in Google Photos will start appearing for Google One subscribers in the upcoming days. However, Google says that your phone needs to pack at least 3 gigs of RAM and should run Android 8 or a later version to take advantage of the new image enhancement tricks.  

In case you have a Pixel smartphone, you will be able to use the above-listed tools without paying for a Google One membership. However, existing image editing tools in Google Photos with a similar premise such as Blur and Color Pop will continue to be accessible for all without requiring any Google One subscription. 

New video editing tricks in Google Photos are also here

Google is adding some new tricks to the native video editor in Google Photos as well. It now allows users to perform more granular edits to their videos by controlling brightness, contrast, warmth, and saturation. Additionally, users will be able to crop their videos, add filters and also change the perspective. The video editing tricks are already available on iOS, and will arrive on the Android version of Google Photos in the coming weeks.

Nadeem Sarwar

I’ve been writing about consumer technology for over three years now, having worked with names such as NDTV and Beebom in the past. Aside from covering the latest news, I’ve reviewed my fair share of devices ranging from smartphones and laptops to smart home devices. I also have interviewed tech execs and appeared as a host in YouTube videos talking about the latest and greatest gadgets out there.