Designer started out as Bing Image Creator in 2022, migrated to the more advanced Dall-E 2 model, and then evolved into an AI-powered design tool in 2022. The layout elements of Designer compete directly with Canva, but Microsoft isn’t limiting Designer elements to apps. Instead, it’s bringing them to a variety of applications within Windows and Microsoft 365.
The simplest integration is within Word and PowerPoint. It requires a Copilot Pro subscription, but subscribers can use AI to generate backgrounds for PowerPoint slides or integrated graphics within Word documents. Previously, you had to pull images from the web, but now AI is an option. (Microsoft says AI-generated banners will be coming to Word soon.)
Note, however, that creating AI art within Word and PowerPoint requires a Microsoft 365 subscription (minimum $6.99 per month; Microsoft 365 Personal is $69.99 per year) plus a Copilot Pro subscription, which costs an additional $20 per user per month.
Designers can use it to create greeting cards, a feature Microsoft is already highlighting. They can also create AI-generated “frames” and stickers for their artwork. They can also use prompt templates (a kind of “Mad Liv”-style suggestion with fill-in-the-blank elements). “Image Style Changer” lets you turn a photo into a painting or 3D art.
Microsoft is also leveraging designers (and branding) within the Windows Photos app. You can already use a photo to remove backgrounds or adjust lighting. You can paint over objects in Photos and erase them with AI, but you have to do it manually.
Microsoft will likely automate this process a bit more with AI, but it doesn’t seem like it will be available on mainstream PCs yet, as this feature will only be released as a preview version for Windows Insiders in English, Spanish, German, Italian, or Portuguese regions. Russia, Belarus, and China are excluded.
Finally, Microsoft plans to release Designer, which supports generative AI capabilities, as an Android and iOS app.
All of these AI features are available as a ‘Boost’ indicator, which appears as a small icon at the bottom of the designer screen.
Designers are given 15 boosts per day to “make or edit AI-based images faster.” Boosts are automatically used when creating images in the Designer and Designer integration. Once you’ve used up all your boosts, it takes a little longer to create your creations. A Copilot Pro subscription gives you 100 boosts per day.
“If you run out of Boosts in Image Creator, you will receive a notification that you have the option to redeem more Boosts using Microsoft Rewards points,” a Microsoft representative said in an email.
editor@itworld.co.kr
Source: www.itworld.co.kr
