We've all tried to use MS Paint at least once in our life. While it comes in handy for simple edits and to pass the time when you're internet connection gets cut off, it doesn't offer many tools for a more complex image editing process. In the last month, Microsoft appears to be fixing that.
Layers and PNG Transparency
It has been more than a decade since MS Paint had an update, but in the last month, the software giant has been putting more effort into the painting app. The latest addition to Paint are Layers and transparent backgrounds for PNG images.
If you've used image editing apps like Photoshop, you'd already be familiar with how layers work. It allows you to separately edit elements without affecting the other. It also gives you the freedom to stack images, putting them behind or in front of other elements.
And then there's the transparent background. MS Paint has always had the PNG format for saving images, but it never had transparent backgrounds until now. This allows users to only pick out a certain portion of an image without being limited to a rectangular shape.
This puts the app beyond simple uses like adding text or cropping images. In fact, the PNG transparency function pairs well with another feature that Microsoft released. As mentioned by Ars Technica, Paint now has its own automated background removal feature.
The button is located just at the right side of the selection tool and below the crop tool. All users have to do is open an image through the app, and it can automatically detect the subject of an image. The user can manually select which portion can be preserved as well.
In case you haven't heard or seen it yet, MS Paint has dark mode support. It might not be a big change, but users who aren't fond of bright white screens will probably appreciate it. The app has also been given a redesign, which makes it easier to use and frankly, look more appealing.
Next Up, AI in MS Paint
Microsoft is on a mission to integrate artificial intelligence into all its products and services. With its partnership and investment in OpenAI, the software giant is more than capable of doing just that, and the painting app might be in the queue for it.
Rumor has it that Paint's AI feature would work as an image generator, much like the Bing Image Creator AI based on DALL-E 2. It's not clear yet how it will work, but it will likely be through text prompts and may even add the user's drawing as a factor.
The company even plans to add it to other image apps like the Snipping Tool and Photos. For the latter, the AI would identify the subject of the image and cut it out. The user will then be able to add it to a different background, as reported by Gizmodo.
With the Snipping Tool, Microsoft might add optical character recognition (OCR) technology into the tool, which lets the tool identify and copy texts from an image to the clipboard. Based on these upgrades, Microsoft is certainly headed in the AI direction.
