7 AI features every photo editing app should have today

Photo editing apps are full of AI features these days, but honestly, most of them are overkill. Some tools are genuinely useful, while others feel like flashy extras that you’ll never use. After trying out countless apps, here are 7 AI features that really make a difference.

Table of Contents

• 1. Noise reduction
• 2. Auto-Enhance
• 3. Spot Healing
• 4. AI Masking
• 5. Auto straightening
• 6. Clone Stamp
• 7. Recommended preset settings

1. Noise reduction

The part most people hate most about photo editing is removing noise from their photos. So when Lightroom introduced AI noise reduction in 2023, people were thrilled. It’s not only one of Lightroom’s best AI features, but one of the best tools of all time.

AI noise reduction is pretty easy to use. Once you've gone to Noise Reduction > Denoise , just move the slider until you're happy with the results. If you're shooting at ISO 1,000 or higher, which is what people often do when shooting at night, move the slider further to the right.

You can see what your denoised image will look like in the on-screen preview. While you can see the entire image, you can also zoom in on specific parts. This is recommended for buildings and other elements, as too much AI noise reduction can make your photo look fake.

Many other photo editing tools, such as Picsart and AVCLabs' PhotoPro software, also have AI noise reduction. Sadly, while you can use it in Lightroom on your computer, you can't access it on your smartphone.

2. Auto-Enhance

Auto-Enhance is probably the most popular AI photo editing feature. It helps you learn the basics of how sliders interact with each other, and when you’re just starting out, people often use photos with Auto-Enhance applied without any further editing. But even if you want to create your own unique style, you can still use them as a starting point.

People often use auto-enhance when they want to make quick adjustments. Almost every tool, including the native editor on your smartphone, allows you to enhance an entire image with just one click. Lightroom, Canva, and Photoshop Express are a few examples.

Some photo editing solutions also allow you to adjust specific aspects. For example, you can edit colors in Photoshop by automatically adjusting them. Auto contrast is also available. Depending on the software you use, you may also be able to use auto-enhance your white balance.

3. Spot Healing

Even when a scene looks great in real life, the camera doesn’t always capture it exactly the way we want it to. Sometimes you’ll see smudges and other annoying things that you want to get rid of. For example, when taking a photo on a sunny day, the camera will sometimes show spots. The same thing sometimes happens when using a narrower aperture.

While having spots in your photos is always annoying, it’s nice to know that you can rely on AI tools like Spot Healing to speed up the editing process. In Lightroom, for example, you can tap on individual spots; the software will then remove them.

You can edit multiple areas at once by selecting Use Generative AI . Once you select the spots you want to remove, the app will find and remove them. You can also select another part of the photo to replace it.

Sometimes people remove blemishes in Photoshop using the Spot Healing tool. This feature works exactly the same as Lightroom.

Note : While you can find similar tools elsewhere, none of them are better than Lightroom or Photoshop.

4. AI Masking

As you become more proficient at editing photos, you'll gradually learn how to edit specific parts of your photo. People often start by using the Radial Gradient filter, and still use it sometimes, but AI Masking is often more effective.

You'll especially enjoy using AI Masking when editing skies. It's extremely accurate when selecting skies, but the tool is inconsistent when trying to mask subjects and backgrounds.

Once you've used AI to mask out a portion of your image, you can adjust the sliders just like you would with a linear/radial gradient. This comes in handy when you want to edit a photo on a sunny day because the sky is often too dark, but changing the rest of the image makes things more complicated.

Besides Lightroom, Capture One and Luminar Neo are two other tools that feature AI masking.

5. Auto straightening

Whether you're using a smartphone or a camera, you're almost always holding the camera in your hand. Unless you really need a tripod, it just adds weight and is difficult to set up.

Even with a lot of photo editing experience, many people still use the auto-straighten feature as a starting point for their photos. They then make further adjustments as needed, but with experience, it's almost always accurate.

You'll find auto-straighten in almost every photo editing app.

6. Clone Stamp

Have you ever wished you could copy one part of your photo to another? Well, you can, and AI tools like Clone Stamp are the perfect way to do it.

People often use Clone Stamp in Photoshop. First, select the part you want to copy while holding the Option key and clicking on the trackpad. Then, paste it somewhere else. This is one of the many ways you can speed up your Photoshop editing process.

The Clone Stamp is especially useful for copying smaller objects, such as flowers, bricks, and clouds.

7. Recommended preset settings

As you become more experienced with photo editing apps, build up a collection of presets that you can easily apply to your images whenever needed. Go through each preset and see how it fits your image. However, this works especially well when combined with Lightroom’s Recommended Presets feature.

This feature is available in the Lightroom mobile app. When you tap on the Presets tab , the software will analyze your photo and provide you with a number of suggested presets. You can then browse through these presets to see if any of them fit your style.

You can use this tool to edit smartphone photos in Lightroom and it also works with photos you take with your camera. It works best with smartphone photos.

While many AI photo editing features may seem like gimmicks, some are actually useful. These tools can help you easily remove blemishes, refine specific areas, and make precise improvements to your images.