What it is: Inpainting is when AI fills in or changes a specific part of an image. You mark an area. The AI redraws just that area, keeping everything else the same.
Who it’s for: Anyone editing photos with AI
Best if: You want to remove an object or change part of a picture
Skip if: You already use inpainting daily
Say you have a perfect sunset photo. But there’s a trash can in the corner. Inpainting lets you paint over the trash can, and the AI fills in what the sunset should look like there — as if the trash can was never there.
What you can do with it
- Remove things. Photobombers, signs, objects you don’t want.
- Change things. Turn a blue shirt red. Add glasses to a face.
- Fix mistakes. If an AI image has an extra finger, paint over it.
- Add things. Put a coffee cup on the table. Add clouds to a sky.
Related: Outpainting
Outpainting is the opposite. You keep the image but extend it outward. “What would the rest of this room look like?” The AI makes up the rest.
Tools with inpainting
- Adobe Photoshop’s Generative Fill
- Midjourney’s “Vary Region”
- Stable Diffusion (built in)
- Google Photos’ Magic Eraser
- Samsung Galaxy AI Eraser
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