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Google Photos Can Now Smooth Skin and Whiten Teeth Via New 'Touch-Up' Menu
Google Photos is rolling out a new feature that can help to beautify someone by "subtly" improving features like skin texture or even whitening teeth. The update, called "Touch up, was announced by Google today and borrows its name from the lexicon of photography. Photo editors and photographers, particularly those working in fashion or advertising, know all about touching up an image and are professionally known as retouchers. But with updates like this one, retouching an image when it relates to someone's appearance is being rolled out to the masses. "Your photos should capture how you feel in the moment," Google writes on its blog, The Keyword. "That's why we're introducing new touch-up tools in Google Photos' image editor to help you apply subtle enhancements that refine skin texture, remove blemishes, brighten eyes, or whiten teeth in seconds." Google says that it's straightforward to use. "Simply select a face in your photo and choose which tool you want to use: heal, smooth, under-eyes, irises, teeth, eyebrows, or lips. Then adjust the intensity of the chosen effects," the company writes, while providing the example video below. Left out of The Keyword post is the mention that all of the touch-up tools are powered by deep learning, or artificial intelligence. In the above example video, the changes made to the two young women really are subtle, but as Google mentions, users can play with the intensity of the tools, and everyone wants to look better in their photos, so it's easy to see why this might be a popular feature. Users should be aware that the new touch-up tools are being gradually rolled out globally in the Google Photos app on Android devices with at least 4 GB of RAM and Android 9.0 and upward. It's the second update for Google Photos in a short space of time; earlier today PetaPixel reported on a new feature that lets users create "personalized" AI images by connecting its AI model, Gemini, to users' Google Photos library. The update allows users who opt in to connect Personal Intelligence with the Gemini chatbot. Once enabled, Nano Banana 2 can generate images using information from a user's private Google Photos library, removing the need to manually upload images or provide detailed descriptions.
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Google's New Photo-editing Tools Help Clear Up your Face - Phandroid
A while back, Google announced that it was bringing its "AI Enhance" features for Google Photos users in several regions worldwide, and the company has more recently followed up on this with the roll-out of new touch-up tools, which are found in Google Photos' editor function. The tools are designed to give users the option of removing small imperfections in photographs via new software tricks. Part of Google's announcement reads: Your photos should capture how you feel in the moment. That's why we're introducing new touch-up tools in Google Photos' image editor to help you apply subtle enhancements that refine skin texture, remove blemishes, brighten eyes or whiten teeth in seconds. To use the feature, users just need to open a photo that they want to edit, select a face in the photo and then choose which tool to use, which includes heal, smooth, under eyes, irises, teeth, eyebrows or lips. Users can also change the intensity of the effects to fine-tune their look in the photo. As for availability, the new editing tools will roll out worldwide for Google Photos on Android devices; additionally, a device must have at least 4GB of RAM in addition to Android 9.0 or newer.
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Google Photos now offers AI-powered facial retouching tools that let users subtly enhance facial features, remove blemishes, and brighten eyes. The new Touch-Up menu brings professional photo editing capabilities to everyday users on Android devices with at least 4GB of RAM running Android 9.0 or newer.
Google Photos is rolling out a new Touch-Up menu that democratizes facial retouching, a technique traditionally reserved for professional photo editors and photographers working in fashion and advertising. The update introduces AI photo editing capabilities that allow users to subtly enhance facial features, smooth skin and whiten teeth, remove blemishes, and adjust other facial characteristics with just a few taps
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Source: PetaPixel
According to Google's announcement on The Keyword blog, the company designed these tools with a simple philosophy: "Your photos should capture how you feel in the moment." The new touch-up tools in Google Photos' image editor enable users to apply subtle enhancements that refine skin texture, remove blemishes, brighten eyes, or whiten teeth in seconds
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. While Google's promotional materials emphasize subtlety, users maintain control over intensity levels, raising questions about how these AI-powered photo editing tools might influence beauty standards as they become mainstream.Using the new facial retouching features is straightforward. Users simply select a face in their photo and choose from seven available tools: heal, smooth, under-eyes, irises, teeth, eyebrows, or lips
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. Each tool allows users to adjust the intensity of the chosen effects, providing flexibility for those who want minimal corrections or more dramatic transformations. What Google's official announcement doesn't prominently mention is that all of these touch-up tools are powered by deep learning technology1
.The AI Enhance features represent Google's broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into everyday photography. By automating processes that once required skilled retouchers, Google is making professional-grade editing accessible to anyone with a compatible Android device. The company demonstrated the tools' capabilities through example videos showing subtle improvements to skin texture and blemishes on subjects, though the adjustable intensity means results can vary significantly based on user preferences
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.Source: Phandroid
The new editing tools are rolling out gradually worldwide for Google Photos on Android devices, though not all users will gain immediate access
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. To use the facial retouching capabilities, devices must meet specific technical requirements: at least 4GB of RAM and Android 9.0 or newer operating systems1
. These hardware requirements ensure the deep learning algorithms can process images efficiently without compromising device performance.Related Stories
This marks the second significant update for Google Photos in rapid succession. Earlier, PetaPixel reported on a feature that enables users to create personalized AI images by connecting Google's Gemini AI model to their Google Photos library
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. This integration allows users who opt in to connect Personal Intelligence with the Gemini chatbot, enabling the AI to generate AI images using information from private photo libraries without manual uploads or detailed descriptions.The convergence of these features signals Google's intention to position Google Photos as more than a storage solution—it's becoming a comprehensive AI-driven creative platform. As these tools gain traction, photographers and casual users alike will need to consider how AI-assisted editing affects authenticity in personal photography. The ability to adjust eye brightness, modify skin texture, and apply personalized effects raises questions about where documentation ends and digital manipulation begins, particularly as these capabilities become standard features rather than specialized tools.
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