Erasing a stranger and changing an outfit are different jobs, so the AI photo editor that is best at one can be the wrong pick for the other, and each tool is built for some of them. Below are five everyday edits (remove a person, fix the lighting, change an outfit, replace the background, keep a face the same), with the tools built for each, from free phone erasers to typed-instruction editors and Photoshop. Each section has an instruction you can copy and the check to run before you share the result.
Best AI photo editor for each edit
Here is where each tool fits, as of September 2026.
| Edit | Free first try | Typed-instruction editors | Most control |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remove a person or object | Clean Up (iPhone 15 Pro and newer), Magic Eraser (Google Photos) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Object Eraser, Smart Editor | Photoshop Remove tool and Generative Fill |
| Fix the lighting | Portrait light in Google Photos | ChatGPT, Gemini, Smart Editor | Photoshop, with Harmonize when compositing |
| Change an outfit | Gemini (18+, daily limit) | ChatGPT, Smart Editor (or Clothing Try-On with a garment photo) | Photoshop Generative Fill on a selection |
| Replace the background | Gemini (18+, daily limit) | ChatGPT, Smart Editor, Background Swapper | Photoshop background removal plus Generative Fill |
| Keep a face the same | Typed edits in Google Photos, which use your face groups | Any typed editor, one change at a time | Photoshop, editing only the selected area |
And what each one costs to start:
| Tool | Cost as of September 2026 | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Photos (Clean Up, Extend, Reframe) | Included with iOS; usage limits may apply | iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16 or later |
| Google Photos | No subscription needed for Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur and Portrait light | Android 8.0 or iOS 18 or later, 3 GB of RAM or more |
| Gemini app | Free up to a daily limit; Google AI Plus $4.99 per month | Web browser and app; editing needs age 18+ |
| ChatGPT | Go $8 and Plus $20 per month; image availability depends on plan | Web and apps |
| Photoshop | Photography plan US$19.99 or Photoshop plan US$22.99 per month, annual billed monthly; free mobile app with paid premium features | Desktop, web and mobile |
| Pixlr | Free editor; Plus $2.49 per month with 80 AI credits | Web browser, plus desktop and mobile apps |
| Picsart | Pro $15 per month, or $10.50 per month billed yearly | Web and mobile app |
| Canva | Free app with in-app purchases | iPhone, iPad and Mac apps |
| Toybox Smart Editor | Pro plan, currently $9.99 per month for 1,000 credits; 85 credits per HD edit | Any browser on phone or computer |
Remove a person or object
For a stranger in the background, the free eraser on your phone is the fastest start. On an iPhone 15 Pro or later, open the photo in Photos, tap Edit, then Tools, then Clean Up, and tap, brush or circle the person. Apple notes that usage limits may apply to Apple Intelligence features. In Google Photos, Magic Eraser is under Actions, and you tap, circle or brush what to erase. Photoshop's Remove tool and Generative Fill let you select the exact area, which helps when the person overlaps your subject.
Typed editors help when the person is hard to trace, such as a cyclist half-hidden behind your subject. Describe them by position and one detail:
Remove the cyclist riding past behind him on the right, along with the bike's shadow on the road. Fill the gap with the hedge and sidewalk behind. Keep his face, jacket and backpack exactly the same.Check the spot where the person was for smears, and follow straight lines like railings across it. The full walkthrough for iPhone, Android and Samsung is in how to remove someone from a photo.
Fix the lighting
Lighting fixes come in two forms: light controls inside a photo app, and typed instructions that describe the new light. Portrait light in Google Photos, found under Adjust, has Add light and Balance light settings for portraits, and Google made it free with no subscription (on Android, those two settings need at least 4 GB of RAM). Photoshop's Harmonize matches the lighting, shadows and color of a person or object you add to a new background.
In a typed editor, name where the light comes from and what kind it is, instead of asking for "better lighting". OpenAI's ChatGPT guide gives the same advice: describe where light comes from rather than a broad reaction.
Lift the shadows on his face with soft daylight from a large window on his right, like an indoor photo taken beside the window. Keep his face, expression, skin texture and beard exactly the same.Compare skin tone with the original. A relight that turns skin orange or gray needs a softer instruction. For free phone methods, see how to fix lighting in a photo.
Change an outfit
Outfit changes need an editor that redraws clothing, so phone erasers are out. ChatGPT, Gemini and Smart Editor all take a typed change. If you have a photo of the exact garment, Toybox's Clothing Try-On uses one photo of the person and one of the garment per run, currently for 75 credits.
Swap her denim jacket for a camel wool coat that fits the same way, buttoned to the collar. Leave her face, hair, hands, handbag and the street behind her untouched.Look at the collar, cuffs and anything the person was holding, since those are where a new outfit meets the old photo. For a color change only, the steps in how to change a shirt color in a photo are simpler.
Replace the background
A new background is either a cutout (transparent, for a design) or a replacement (a new scene behind the subject). Cutout tools such as remove.bg and Photoroom are built for the first, and the remove.bg alternatives compare them. For a replacement, a typed editor or Toybox's Background Swapper puts a scene behind you in one step, and Photoshop does it with background removal and Generative Fill on separate layers.
Put her in a bright café with blurred shelves of cups behind her and window light from the left, matching the light already on her face. Keep her face, hair and sweater exactly the same.Match the light direction in your instruction to the light already on the face, or the subject looks pasted in. The methods for every device are in how to change the background of a photo.
Keep a face the same
Keeping a face identical matters most when you edit photos of people. Google says typed edits in Google Photos use your private face groups to make more accurate edits of people. OpenAI's ChatGPT guide recommends one change per revision and repeating whatever has to stay fixed. Photoshop avoids the problem by changing only the area you select.
- One change per edit. Relight, then recolor, then swap the background, checking the face after each.
- Name the features to keep. "Keep her eyes, teeth, freckles and hairline exactly the same."
- Go back to the original when the face drifts. In Smart Editor, switch "Editing" to "Original photo" instead of stacking more edits on a drifted result.
- Edit only people who agreed. Toybox's Terms of Service prohibit generating images of real people without their explicit consent.
A face-keeping instruction you can reuse:
Make the wall behind him a plain light gray studio backdrop. Do not change his face, eyes, teeth, skin, hairline, glasses or expression in any way.For more wording, and what to do when a face drifts, read about editing photos of people without changing faces.
Best AI photo editor apps for iPhone and Android
Start with the photo apps your phone already has. The iPhone Photos app offers Clean Up, Extend (which adds more scene around the edges) and Reframe (which changes the perspective after you take it) on the iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 or later with Apple Intelligence. Most Google Photos editing tools need Android 8.0 or iOS 18 and later with at least 3 GB of RAM, and its Ask Photos editing, where you type or speak the edit, is for users 18 and older in supported regions.
Beyond those, Canva's free app (with in-app purchases) can erase a background and adjust light and contrast on a photo you drop into a design. Picsart puts advanced background and object removal and a 1-tap image enhancer in its Pro plan. The Photoshop app is a free download, with its premium tools on a subscription. Toybox is a web app, so its tools run in the phone's browser.
What to check before you trust any ranking
If you're weighing the best AI photo editor picks from a Reddit thread or a review site, run these checks on one of your own photos before you pay.
- Keeping the original. Photoshop puts each fill on its own Generative Layer, Google Photos offers Save as copy, and Smart Editor keeps "Original photo" one tap away.
- Brush or words. A brush (Photoshop, Clean Up, Magic Eraser) marks the exact area. A typed editor (ChatGPT, Gemini, Smart Editor) works out the area from your words, and OpenAI warns that details can drift between revisions. Smart Editor redraws the whole image each time.
- Output size. Gemini downloads at 1K on the free tier and 2K with a Google AI plan. Smart Editor's HD is about 1,024 px on the short side, and 4K goes up to 3,840 px on the long side.
- Usage limits. Apple says usage limits may apply to Apple Intelligence, Gemini counts images against a daily quota, and ChatGPT's image availability depends on your plan.
- Age rules. Gemini editing and Google's Ask Photos editing are for users 18 and older.
Make all five edits in Smart Editor
Smart Editor in Toybox AI takes one photo and a typed instruction, so the five instructions above work in it as written.
- Start Smart Editor from a Pro or Max account in Safari, Chrome or another browser.
- Choose the photo to fix under "Your image". It takes one JPG or PNG, 10 MB or smaller.
- Paste the instruction for your edit into "What should change?", or write your own with where the change goes and what to keep.
- HD currently costs 85 credits and 4K costs 110 under More options. The Original shape keeps your framing.
- Tap "Apply edit". Image tools generally take about 30 seconds.
- Check the face, hands and edges against your original first, since the whole image is redrawn each time.
- Run the next of the five edits on "Latest result", or go back to "Original photo" if the face has drifted.
A failed edit brings back your previous version and refunds the credits. Smart Editor is the wrong pick for free edits, for combining two photos into one (it takes one photo per run), and for pixel-exact work, since it has no brush or mask. For layers, see the Photoshop alternatives that run in a browser, and for other typed editors, the Nano Banana alternatives. Toybox pricing lists the plans and top-ups.