The two new features Microsoft has built into the Photos app this time have indeed accurately hit the pain points of ordinary users in retouching and finding images. In the past, when adjusting complex lighting effects on a computer, you either had to endure stiff automatic optimization of the effects, or you had to learn professional photo editing software. Now you finally have a more intuitive choice.
Light control greatly lowers the threshold for photo editing
In the past, if you wanted to simulate a studio-level lighting effect in a photo, you had to master a lot of professional knowledge and operation skills. The light control function introduced by Microsoft this time directly transforms the entire adjustment process into a simple and visual operation form similar to playing a game. Users can place up to three light sources on the picture as they wish, and can also see the corresponding effects caused by changes in light in real time.
The position, color and brightness of any light source can be adjusted independently. This level of precision was only available in professional software in the past. For example, if you take an indoor photo of a person, and the background light in the photo is extremely dim, then you can add warm side light to the person as if you were in a studio. In addition, there are a variety of preset lighting styles built into this application, which can be applied directly with just one click.
The actual experience is close to professional photo editing
As far as the screenshots released by Microsoft are concerned, the interactive interface of this function is designed to be extremely intuitive. At that time, users could directly drag the light source position with the mouse and adjust parameters with the slider, and the effects of all changes were previewed in real time. For photography enthusiasts, this means no longer having to endure the tedious operations of complicated software.
At present, this function is only open to the MBTI personality test for Windows 11 AI + PC devices with Snapdragon chips, which shows that it has certain requirements for computing power. Microsoft claims that it will support Intel and AMD chip products step by step in the future, so that more users can use this practical function. However, there is no specific timetable at this stage.
Natural language search changes image-finding habits
Another highlight of the new version of the photo app is that the search experience has been improved. 16personalities test . Now users no longer need to worry about the file name of the photo, nor do they need to consider the date the photo was taken. They only need to enter a natural language description of the type "Seaside Sunset", and the system will automatically find photos that meet the requirements. This feature relies on local indexing technology.
For users with a large number of photos, this improvement can save a lot of time. In the past, when looking for photos from a party a few years ago, you might have to go through the entire folder. Now you only need to remember the general scene description, such as "family outdoor activities", and the system can quickly filter out relevant photos, and all processing is completed locally.
AI image editing capabilities open to enterprises
Microsoft also announced at this time that it has opened the Restyle Image and Image Creator functions to Entra ID users. Restyle Image can use AI technology to make photos show different artistic styles, turning ordinary photos into oil paintings or watercolors. Image Creator supports the direct generation of new images with text descriptions.
The opening of these functions shows that enterprise users can also conveniently use AI to perform image processing in office scenarios. For example, when making a presentation, you can directly generate the required images based on text descriptions, or you can quickly transform ordinary product photos into a specific artistic style to enhance the visual effect of the document.
It will take time to test the functionality before it is implemented
Although these artificial intelligence functions sound quite powerful, the actual application effects still have to wait for user feedback. How the light control function performs under different lighting conditions, and how high the recognition accuracy of natural language search is, will only be known after more users have experienced it. Microsoft generally continues to optimize based on feedback.
Currently, these features are still in beta and are only available to specific users. When the official version is released, there may be further improvements. For ordinary users, what they are most concerned about at the moment is probably when their devices will be able to support these functions, and whether the use experience is really as smooth and natural as advertised.
AI is changing software usage habits
It can be seen from this update that AI technology is profoundly changing the usage model of traditional software . Tasks that in the past required professional knowledge and complex operations can now be easily accomplished with AI assistance. Light control enables ordinary users to produce professional-level lighting effects. Natural language search makes photo management as easy as chatting.
This change is not only reflected in photo applications. In the future, there will be more software integrating the same type of AI functions. Users do not need to learn those complicated operating procedures, they just need to express their needs in the most natural way, and the software can understand and execute them. This trend will lower the threshold for using many professional software, allowing technology to truly serve creativity.
What kind of AI functions do you think are most needed to be added to photo applications to solve the troubles you usually encounter during photo editing or photo searching? Welcome to share your opinions in the comment area. Like it to help more people see this practical update.
