Design tool Figma has today unveiled a suite of new AI-powered image editing features, significantly enhancing its platform with capabilities like object removal, isolation, and seamless image expansion. These additions aim to streamline creative workflows, allowing designers to perform advanced image manipulations directly within Figma without the need for external software.
According to Figma, these new tools are designed to eliminate the cumbersome process of exporting images to other applications for editing and then re-importing them. While generative AI models excel at creating images, Figma emphasizes the need for granular, prompt-free editing capabilities that empower users with precise control over their designs.
Enhanced Object Manipulation
A key enhancement is the improved lasso tool, which now allows users to effortlessly select, remove, or isolate objects within an image. When an object is moved, the surrounding image intelligently adapts, maintaining background integrity and color consistency. Furthermore, designers can now select specific objects to fine-tune attributes such as lighting, shadow, color, and focus, offering unprecedented control.
Intelligent Image Expansion
Figma is also introducing an intelligent image expansion feature, invaluable for adapting creatives to various formats. This capability allows designers to seamlessly extend backgrounds or fill in missing details—for example, transforming a 1x1 image into a web or mobile banner without constant cropping or manual adjustments. This significantly boosts efficiency when repurposing assets.
Consolidated Editing Toolbar
In addition to these new functionalities, Figma is consolidating all its image editing tools into a single, intuitive toolbar for streamlined access. This centralized hub enables users to select objects or image sections, modify background colors, and add annotations or text. Figma noted that background removal is among the most frequently performed actions on its platform, hence its prominent placement within the new toolbar.
Catching Up with Competitors
While competitors such as Adobe and Canva have offered similar object removal capabilities for several years, Figma is now catching up, bringing these advanced features to its users. The new image editing functionalities are currently available in Figma Design and Draw, with plans for broader integration across all Figma tools next year.
Figma and ChatGPT Integration
Notably, Figma's announcement coincides with Adobe's move to integrate some of its own features into ChatGPT. Given that Figma was an initial launch partner for ChatGPT in October, it remains to be seen whether these newly introduced AI editing functions will be accessible to users leveraging Figma within OpenAI's platform.
