Google Launches Pics, an AI Image Generator and Editor Built Into Workspace

Google has launched Pics, an AI image generation and editing app built into Google Workspace. It’s aimed at teams that need marketing, presentation and product images without a designer. Google announced the rollout on Sept. 1.

Users start at pics.new in a browser. From there they can import an image from their computer, Google Drive or Google Photos, or generate one from a text prompt. Pics produces the requested image along with a set of alternatives. Google is pitching the editing tools as the main draw. With Pics, users can:

• Select and edit individual objects within an image
• Edit, reformat or translate individual text elements
• Crop for web, social, print or digital formats
• Upscale images to 2K or 4K
• Apply multiple edits at once and revert unwanted changes

Inside Docs and Slides

In Google Docs and Slides, selecting an image lets users open it in Pics with a single click, without switching apps or tabs. Pics files work like other Workspace files: teammates can be invited to collaborate, images can be shared by link, and Pics images can be created or opened from Drive. Google said that in the coming weeks, users will be able to open and edit nearly any image saved in Drive with one click.

“While AI image generation has been a huge hit for personal use, it’s been a different story for businesses,” wrote Meg Whittenberger, a group product manager at Google. She said teams have dealt with “inconsistent results, endless trial-and-error prompting, and cumbersome workflows across multiple apps.”

Google lists use cases such as creating and translating social and web assets for global markets, placing product shots into new backgrounds, and drafting flyers, event collateral and business cards.

Availability

Pics is rolling out to Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus customers. It’s also available on Google AI Pro and Ultra personal plans and the Google AI Pro for Education plan.

For marketing and sales teams already working in Workspace, the text-editing and translation tools could matter more than generation itself. Localizing a banner or product image is usually a task that goes to a designer, and Pics puts it in the same apps where the deck or one-pager is being built.