Skip to main content

AI-powered photo app Microsoft Pix can now turn photos into paintings, too

microsoft pix adds style transfers blog multiple 1 secondary art 637x478
Microsoft
Artificial intelligence powers Microsoft Pix’s ability to shoot better photos, from choosing the best shot using a pre-burst to automatically adjusting settings. Now, that same neural network is allowing users to turn their shots into stylized art. On June 15, Microsoft announced updates to Pix that give the photo app Prisma-like painterly effects.

The app update gives the photo editor the ability to apply style transfers. Unlike the traditional photo filter, style transfers actually alter the structure of the image by applying texture and pattern adjustments along with color changes. The update brings 11 new transfer styles from rendering fire into photos to creating pointillism-like art.

Microsoft says that additional style transfers are expected to be released in the next few weeks.

“These are meant to be fun features,” Josh Weisberg, a principal program manager in Microsoft’s Computational Photography Group, said in a blog post. “In the past, a lot of our efforts were focused on using AI and deep learning to capture better moments and better image quality. This is more about fun. I want to do something cool and artistic with my photos.”

Along with the style transfers, the app update includes Pix Paintings, which shows those photos rendering into the new styles in a time-lapse video.

Both new options were developed by training deep neural networks with a large number of different paintings. By analyzing what makes a particular style different from another, the program is able to learn how to transform photographs into those specific styles.

With the update, Microsoft is also pushing to keep the AI program off the cloud and on mobile devices. The size of neural networks traditionally requires running the program on a cloud system, but the update will now run on the device, which means users can apply the effects faster and without using data.

Microsoft Pix’s latest update is now available for download for iOS devices from the App Store.

Editors' Recommendations

Hillary K. Grigonis
Hillary never planned on becoming a photographer—and then she was handed a camera at her first writing job and she's been…
Watch an acclaimed director use the iPhone 15 Pro to shoot a movie
acclaimed director uses iphone 15 to shoot movie shot on pro midnight

Shot on iPhone 15 Pro | Midnight | Apple

As part of its long-running Shot on iPhone series, Apple recently handed acclaimed Japanese director Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins, The Happiness of the Katakuris) an iPhone 15 Pro to shoot a short film.

Read more
How to remove location data from your iPhone photos
How to transfer photos from an iPhone to an iPhone

We all love making memories, and a great way to collect those memories is to take a quick snap of a gorgeous landscape, a party in full swing, or a particularly incredible meal. The Apple iPhone now also adds a location to your pictures, meaning it can collate those images together into a location-themed album, or show you all the shots you've taken in a specific location. It's a fun little addition, and it's one that adds a lot of personality to the Photos app.

Read more
‘Photoshopped’ royal photo causes a stir
The Princess of Wales with her children.

[UPDATE: In a message posted on social media on Monday morning, Princess Kate said that she herself edited the image, and apologized for the fuss that the picture had caused. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing," she wrote, adding, "I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."]

Major press agencies have pulled a photo of the U.K.’s Princess of Wales and her children amid concerns that it has been digitally manipulated.

Read more