Figma launches new AI-powered object removal and image extension

Design tool Figma launched new AI-powered image editing features today, including the ability to remove and isolate objects and expand images.

The company said that these features will save the hassle of exporting images to other tools for editing and importing them back. It added that generation models like Nano Banana are good for creating images, but users often need granular tools for editing that work without any text prompts.

Figma has improved its lasso tool for selection. Now you can use it to select an object, remove it, or isolate it to move it around. When you move around the object, the image still retains other characteristics, such as background and color. Users can also select an object to adjust factors like lighting, shadow, color, or focus.

The company is also bringing an image expansion feature to its design suite. This feature is handy when you are adjusting a creative for a particular format and need to fill in the background or other details. For instance, creating a web banner or mobile banner from a 1×1 image. It essentially saves you from constantly cropping an image and adjusting elements within it.

Besides adding these features, Figma is collating all its image editing tools in one toolbar for easier access. You can select objects or parts of images, change background color, and add annotations or text using this toolbar. The company said removing background is one of the most common actions on the platform, and that is why it is getting a prominent spot on the new toolbar.

Rivals like Adobe and Canva have had object removal for a few years now. Figma is finally catching up to offer these features.

The company said the new image editing features are available on Figma Design and Draw, with plans to make them available across Figma tools next year.

Figma’s launch comes on the same day as Adobe making some of these features available to users within ChatGPT. Figma was one of the launch partners of the app, calling on ChatGPT in October. It is not clear if these new functions will be available to users using Figma within OpenAI’s tool.