Copilot+ PCs pack a few interesting generative AI features powered by locally available Small Language models. This difference made non-AI Windows 11 users yearn for these features, but Generative Erase is one of the few AI features that are now accessible to all Windows 11 users.
Generative Erase was already a part of the Microsoft Photos app, which allows you to remove an image part without making it look weird.
Now, it is publicly available to everyone, and we’ll describe how to remove unwanted objects from your photos. Let’s begin.
What’s Generative Erase, and Who Can Use It?
Generative Erase is an image cleaning feature that removes the selected area from an image and replaces it with something similar to blend the area as if nothing was there.
Microsoft first tested it in Windows 11 Insider channels with a Generative Fill feature. While Generative Fill needs a Copilot+ PC to work, there’s no such limitation for the Generative Erase feature.
You can use it directly inside Paint and Photos apps and don’t need an Internet connection to work. The feature is pretty helpful in removing blemishes from the images–a feat that required dedicated image editing tools like Fotor.
All you need to do is update the Microsoft Paint app to get access to Generative Erase. It doesn’t have a credit system like the Image Creator feature, so you can use it multiple times on your Windows 11 PC.
How to Use Generative Erase in MS Paint on Windows 11
Unlike other Paint features, Generative Erase doesn’t have a dedicated app icon. It appears only when you use the selection tool to highlight a portion of the image. Then, the Erase icon appears alongside the Background Remover icon.
We checked out the tool’s effectiveness in multiple images. Firstly, we used a generic photo of a climber with his harness on and tried to remove the harness from the image. To do that, we used the selection tool’s free-form variant to crop the part of the rope in the harness and then clicked on the Erase tool.
Removing the selected area took about 30 seconds or more, but the results were far from useful. It is a complicated scenario because the rope goes over and inside the harness, and it is tricky to wipe completely while maintaining focus.
The second time, we tried something different. We used a graphic image of four tools and selected one of them to remove. Generative Erase worked perfectly this time. I removed the fourth tool and blended the background color into the empty areas as if nothing was there.
For the third test, we took a complex image. In this image, you see a skateboarder in complete focus while the background has multiple elements, like a person and a store sign, each with varying focus.
Removing the person in the background worked flawlessly, and the result looks as if there was nothing there before.
But when we tried repeatedly removing the skateboard and applying the Erase feature, it was nothing like the previous test. The floor tiles weren’t visible, and we ended up with a blurry mess that felt hazy when the rest of the area had visible tile work and separation.
We also removed the sign in the top left corner, and that effect was manageable. Since there wasn’t complete focus on it, applying the Erase effect didn’t leave a visible spot in the area.
Verdict
The Generative Erase tool is adequate for removing objects that are distinctly placed. If you use a complex image, the removal is successful, but the effect leaves a spot because it fails to reproduce the same background as we saw in the skateboard image. Sometimes, there is a visible blur effect on the erased area, making it seem that something isn’t right with the picture.
Microsoft must polish the post-erase blending feature to make the background match the removed area. You can use it with varying degrees of success, but it’s better than uploading sensitive images online or downloading tools for such a basic task.
You May Also Like:
- How to make Windows 11 look like Windows XP
- How to Create Custom Windows 11 Screensaver [2 Methods]
- 33 Essential Windows 11 Tips and Tricks to Master Windows OS
- 10 Customization Tools Every Windows 11 User Should Know
- How to Extract Text From Images on Windows 11
- Microsoft Paint App gets Dark Mode and other New Features