Technology always attempts to provide us with a lot of ease to the things we do on a daily basis. Surely, automation contributes a lot to improve our quality of life by reducing laborious and repetitive jobs into quick and simple processes, giving us more room to upgrade our other skills.
However, there is no doubt that technological advancements have always been met with fears and suspicions; and the concerns are even more serious when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. Whether technology and AI can provide better results than humans or not, one cannot clearly decide until he sees and proves it himself. This is also true when it comes to photo editing.
For many years, many relied on Adobe Photoshop and many other photo editing software. These applications provide a lot of features that allow one to edit and retouch images in order to provide better and higher-quality photographs. But with the release of many AI-powered applications designed and programmed to accomplish the same results, many are still hesitant if these tools are as effective as the output of many, outsourced photo editors.
So which one is better and worth the time, effort, and money?
Manual Photo Editing Vs. AI: Which is Best For Photo Editing?
The Edge of Manual Photo Editing vs. AI
As mentioned, many are already used in using manual photo editing software such as Photoshop. There are already a lot of experts in the field of photo editing that you can easily outsource to do the job. Hence, there is no need to use an AI photo editing tool, right?
But what exactly is the edge of manual photo editing that AI can’t provide? Here are some examples:
- Custom requests can always be done
Compared to a software application that is programmed to do only specific tasks, manual editors can accept customizations and learn about customers’ specific preferences on how they want their images to be done. Many prefer to outsource photo editors when pictures need specific client guidance.
It is easy to request simple fixes
With manual editing, you can easily do quick fixes. Whenever you have problems with the initial editing, you can always re-edit it until you’re satisfied. This is better compared to automated tools that will give you almost the same results every time unless you give it some time to learn and satisfy your requirements.
They can maintain and copy your editing preferences
It is a given that you must maintain a sense of consistency with your works. Many photographers employ the same editors over and over so that they can expect and receive the same quality of results. But employing new ones isn’t that bad either. Because editors, especially experts, can easily copy your editing preferences and maintain your standards.
Although manual photo editing takes more time and money, it still remains trusted by many photographers and many businesses that handle a lot of photos. Perhaps, many aren’t ready yet to fully transition to automated edits or maybe they are still not familiar with how it works. So we’ll give you just that and tell you how does AI function and what it can possibly bring to your business:
What can an AI-Powered Editor Do?
AI-powered technology functions to imitate functions akin to human beings. In the case of photo editing software, it is computer vision, a field of AI that deals with learning about how applications can function like the human eye that is mostly applied. Thus, an AI-powered photo editor can function and do the following:
It can detect your image subject and remove the background. Many photo editing tools specialize in background removal. These tools effectively detect the foreground through AI, then the application removes the background so that your image is only left with the subject.
It can analyze your photos and apply genre-specific presets. Some AI editing tools can identify vegetation, wildlife, and other elements that make up a photograph. With this ability, you can choose to change the ambient feel of the image with respect to the elements or the tool can just suggest a specific preset that fits your image.
It can learn more and improve by feeding it with more images to process. Artificial intelligence always precedes machine learning. By feeding an AI-powered software or application with more images to process, it can improve its object detection over time, making better judgments, and thus producing better results.
By knowing how AI works, it is easier for us to single out the things that an AI editor can do better than a human editor. Let’s have a look at some of the most important and useful features of AI-controlled photo editing software.
What are the Advantages of an AI-Powered Photo Editor?
- AI-Powered photo editors can process a lot of images fast.
It is awesome how an AI-powered photo editor can process a lot of images in no time. Compared to humans who need to do a lot of clicks and tasks to get things done, automated software can accomplish them in seconds. So imagine if you have hundreds to thousands of images for a digital store or a lot of photos to change backgrounds with, you don’t need to wait for hours because an AI-powered tool can do it for you.
- Subscribing to a tool costs less than paying for labor.
If you visit a lot of freelancing sites or websites that offer manual photo editing services, you will find that it can vary a lot and can be more expensive compared to subscribing to a photo editing tool. Simple manual photo editing can cost from $0.3-$0.7 per image while a subscription can cost as little as $0.07 per image per month. This could save you a lot of money which you can allot for other necessary and important services.
- It is Best for Basic Edits
AI-powered tools generate output based on perception and are compatible with basic adjustments. AI-powered tools may be employed to perform simple adjustments such as background removal, lighting correction, and image resizing, which is both convenient and efficient.
- You can easily integrate a tool with your workflow
Application Programming Interfaces or APIs acts as intermediaries that allow two applications to understand and communicate with each other. With APIs, you can easily request the usage of functions of an AI-powered editing tool and it will deliver the provider’s response back to you. In other words, you are given the power to use the tool’s functions at any time you want, saving more time and effort.
Five Awesome AI Photo Editing Tools You Can Use
This is a website developed exclusively for manual background removal, making it a fast and effective service. Removal.AI applies one of the most optimized artificial intelligence on the market, so the funds are removed automatically and very precisely.
The process to remove the background from an image is extremely simple: load the image from your computer or paste the link where it is located, and that’s it.
The Removal.AI app is just as easy to use as the web, so removing the backdrop from an image is as simple as uploading it and waiting for the result. In most situations, the automated cropping is right, and if there was an issue, it may be corrected manually. Available for free, though there is a limit of 1 credit(1 high-quality image) per day. The process is fast and very accurate literally, in less than 5 seconds! The amount of backgrounds you can remove is unlimited.
Did you know that Removal.AI also offers manual photo editing services? More than simply an AI-operated Background Remover, they have manual background removers and editors that are eager to meet your demanding deadlines.
- Your pictures will be ready in 24 hours.
- Images will be delivered to your own email address.
- If somehow the grade is not satisfactory, a refund will be issued.
- Private and individual assistance.
Adobe has improved the speed of Photoshop CC by using Ai technologies named ‘Neural Filters’ that edit and stylize pictures. The completely finished filtration is now restricted to complexion smoothing, artifacts elimination, and style transference, which are beneficial for portrait photo retouchers and designers. However, a slew of beta filters allows customers to alter portrait expressions, apply cosmetics, and eliminate JPEG artifacts from photos.
The ‘Colorize’ effect also does an excellent job of automatically colorizing black-and-white pictures. More filtering on Photoshop CC is expected to be published in the coming years, which is a nice supplement to the few now available and would pique the attention of all customers.
This fantastic AI-powered editing tool known as Luminar AI best characterizes itself as powerful, quick, and feature-rich. It contains tools inside the editor which are specifically tailored to various photographic aspects, such as environment, skyline, head, complexion, and body, among others. When this option is selected, the effects would be directly applied to those sections.
Its AI system analyzes your image in a matter of seconds and produces an altered version that is far more appealing than the source. It also includes templates for converting your blended photographs from various devices together into a common aesthetic, making it appear as if they’re all captured at the same session.
So far, we have just scratched the surface of the enormous capabilities of this tool. You can go ahead and try it for free for a first-hand experience. It is available in Windows and macOS applications and in the form of plugins for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple Photos.
With autoRetouch, you may execute a number of various editing operations in mass automatically. It’s really quick and spares you a lot of time simply by enabling you to configure settings, upload as many photos as you like, and download all in one go. You may also export your findings in PSD format, which includes vector pathways and alpha filters so that you can finish modifying them within Photoshop.
Among the several applications of this program are:
- Skin retouching: add shades to the bottom
- With a single click, you may create product models.
- Modify the product pictures to meet the needs of different industries.
- Utilize color schemes.
- Retrieve color and textile patches from any photos in seconds and submit them immediately to your e-commerce site.
For the said number of functions it provides, autoRetouch is extremely cheaply priced. To really get going, you can sign up for free.
Aurora HDR has been the latest product from Skylum, which also produced Luminar AI. It is supported by the Quantum HDR Engine and seeks to generate the finest wide dynamic range photos method for image processing and detail projection. It works by intelligently integrating several bracketed pictures together to restore tonal richness in emphasis, mid-tones, plus shades. Aurora HDR additionally works to expose hidden areas of images by utilizing the technology’s installed RAW file-altering capabilities. It’s better suited for field photographers as well as those looking to add a little additional oomph to their pictures.
Take away…
As marketers, it is important that we understand the importance that artificial intelligence has in digital marketing, since more than being a trend or something that is becoming fashionable, it will soon become a necessity to remain competitive in such a changing environment. like the current one. Artificial intelligence applied to digital marketing is still in a growth phase. This means that its effectiveness and efficiency will increase over time, so if there is a good time to start incorporating it, it is now.
But more than doing it for a matter of permanence in the market, it is important that, instead of perceiving artificial intelligence as an enemy that comes to replace certain human functions, we see it as an ally that will allow us to be more productive by simplifying the load work, save time in repetitive and monotonous activities, and focus on those issues where only our ingenuity and human creativity can give the best results.
Let artificial intelligence help us better understand our target market, make better decisions, and optimize our campaigns to levels we never imagined before, through digital marketing applications like the ones we mentioned in this post. Which of these applications would you like to incorporate? Do you know of any other that has surprised you? Let us know!
