After taking a picture with your phone camera and examining it, sometimes you may notice elements that ruin the view in a way that often requires retaking the picture before posting it on social media. However, how many “Photobombers” do we have in our lives! They are the people who intentionally photobomb your pictures as a form of prank! Nevertheless, with the advancement of artificial intelligence, there are now dozens of tools dedicated to fixing “what others have ruined” by using machine learning algorithms to delete any part of the image without leaving a trace on its quality or distorting it. If you are using the Google Photos app on your mobile phone, you may not need to download external apps to do this as it already includes a feature that does the task perfectly, here is how to use it.
The Google app for managing and storing photos in the cloud, “Google Photos,” has many very useful features that sometimes eliminate the need to install external apps. For example, the app offers the ability to lock photos and videos, as well as translate images and make precise edits to any video you have in a simple way that does not require prior experience, along with other multiple features that we have reviewed in more than one article.
In October 2021, when Google announced the Pixel 6 Pro and Pixel 6 phones, the company introduced an interesting feature called “Magic Eraser” to be part of the integrated photo editing tools with the Google Photos app, aimed at helping you get rid of elements that spoil the picture after taking it “magically”. The feature is similar to Samsung’s “Object Eraser” tool or the “Content-Aware Fill” feature in Photoshop in terms of concept and efficiency, where all the user has to do is select the elements to be deleted, and then let the machine learning algorithms do their work while ensuring not to distort the image in any way.
Originally, Magic Eraser was reserved for owners of Google Pixel phones, specifically modern models like the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7, before Google first made the feature available in February 2023 to all Google Photos users on Android and iPhone devices — provided that the user is a member of Google One subscription, which allows for purchasing additional storage capacity for Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos, in addition to offering additional advantages in other Google services. This subscription is based on an annual or monthly basis starting at $15 / 2 USD. So, if you are already a member, continue reading the following lines to know how to use Magic Eraser.
First, open the Google Photos app on your iPhone or Android device and make sure you have the latest available version from the Play Store or App Store. Then, go to the image that contains the element you want to remove, whether it is a person, text, or objects you do not want to appear. Then, after displaying the image, click on the “Edit” button or the edit option at the bottom to open the photo editing interface. Here, you will go to the “Tools” section from the toolbar at the bottom, noting that this section may not appear if you are not using a Google Pixel phone or a Google One subscriber. Now, click on the “Magic Eraser” option.
The full image will appear in front of you, and the Magic Eraser technology will automatically analyze the image and highlight the unwanted elements so that you can remove them by clicking on “Erase All.” You can also draw a circle or any shape around the element you want to hide from the image, but try to be as precise as possible to avoid distorting the image by zooming in on the part that contains the element to select it accurately, and once done, the object will be magically removed from the image.
In our experience, the feature performs its job with very high efficiency and utilizes artificial intelligence capabilities well to give the best possible result so that there is no trace of any edits made to the image, at least in most images. However, if you are not satisfied with the results, you can use the undo button to try again.
Once you are satisfied with the final result, click on “Done” in the lower left corner of the screen, then “Save copy” to save a new copy of the image instead of replacing the original image. You can use Magic Eraser limitlessly as long as you have a valid subscription to Google One, or you use the Google Photos app on a Google Pixel phone, and of course, it is advisable to use it if you want to erase writing and things from the images, just try this feature before downloading other apps from the store.
It is worth mentioning that the Magic Eraser feature also includes another tool for photo editing, “Camouflage,” which is best used if you find that the “Erase” tool leads to noticeable distortions in the image. The “Camouflage” tool works to change the color of the unwanted element in a way that makes it blend naturally with the rest of the image, making it less noticeable instead of completely erasing it.
