Google Launches AI Image Tool Pics, Integrated with Workspace to Rival Canva

Google officially launched Google Pics on September 1, a generative AI image creation and editing tool integrated into Google Workspace, designed to compete with products such as Canva, Adobe Express, and Microsoft Designer. The tool is available free of charge to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, as well as most Google Workspace enterprise customers. Powered by Gemini's "Nano Banana" image generation and editing model, Google Pics allows users to create posters, flyers, and other visual content through text prompts, and to adjust the generated results according to their specific needs.

Google said Pics can be used both as a standalone service and integrated into multiple Google Workspace applications, including Google Slides, Docs, and Drive. Users can generate and edit images directly without leaving the Workspace application they are currently using. Since image generation is the primary starting point for using Pics, Google placed particular emphasis on the tool's fine-grained editing capabilities, allowing users to adjust individual parts of an image without regenerating the entire picture each time.

The object segmentation feature can identify and separately extract different objects within an image, after which users can move, scale, delete, or transform these objects without affecting other areas of the picture. Pics also supports entering text instructions for specific regions of an image and executing multiple targeted edits at once. The tool can generate multiple image versions from the same prompt, making it easy for users to choose the most satisfactory result.

Like other Google Workspace applications, Pics supports real-time multi-user collaboration, allowing multiple users to edit the same image simultaneously without the need to repeatedly send different versions back and forth. Google also plans to embed Pics directly into existing Workspace applications, enabling users to generate or edit images within Google Docs and Google Slides without opening the Pics app separately. Related support for Google Drive will be rolled out in the coming weeks.