Microsoft Designer lets you create AI images, apply effects, and edit them online. You might have spotted Microsoft Designer integration in some Windows apps, such as Photos. But clicking on it redirects you to the Designer website in a browser. However, Microsoft plans to change this behaviour.
After a recent update to the Photos app, you can now edit images using Microsoft Designer without leaving the Photos app. Earlier, when you clicked the “Edit with Designer” button while viewing an image in the Photos app, it would launch the Designer webpage.
Windows Latest updated the Photos app to version 2024.11070.12001.0 and higher, which is supposed to have this feature. However, the feature isn’t available for every region or language. At the moment, Microsoft says Photos’ Designer AI integration is limited to English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italian.
The official announcement post shares that this feature will be available in “most” countries.
Sadly, we didn’t get access to the feature after repeated tries in both Canary and Beta builds. If you don’t spot the feature even after updating the app on your Windows 11 insider PC, wait for a few days.
Using Microsoft Designer within the Photos app will be a better experience. It can automatically detect the image objects, and you can use the built-in tools to transform a bland picture into a work of art. So, no more distractions while switching to the browser and waiting for the page to load.
Microsoft Designer is among the four new Custom GPTs for Copilot that debuted in February 2024.
Note that Microsoft Designer in the Photos app focuses on using AI to edit images. It is a cloud-based tool that needs the internet to work. But there are local AI solutions, too!
Restyle images in the Photos app
Copilot+ PCs have exclusive AI features like Cocreator in Paint and Restyle in the Photos app. The latter uses locally stored AI models to transform an image in the Photos app.
You can select from the available styles or define your own and adjust the creativity level. A similar feature exists in the Paint app, where you can create images in a specific style using Copilot.
The glaring difference between the two is that Restyle needs an NPU to work and is way faster in generating images. Restyle doesn’t work on a credit system; you can generate as many designs as you like.
Photos app previously made some UI tweaks to improve accessibility and added a Paint-like dynamic zoom slider for better magnification control.
