Inpainting AI tools have made significant advancements in recent years. These tools are widely used in various industries such as photography, design, and media production. Inpainting technology involves restoring or reconstructing missing, damaged, or unwanted parts of an image seamlessly, making it appear as though no alterations were made. This is achieved using deep learning techniques, allowing for high-quality image restoration that can be applied to tasks like old photo restoration, removing watermarks, and filling in missing areas in an image.
With 2024 seeing the rise of several state-of-the-art inpainting AI tools, let’s look at the top contenders who are leading the field.
Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard for image editing, and its Content-Aware Fill feature remains one of the most powerful inpainting tools available. It allows users to remove unwanted objects from images by intelligently filling in the gaps with pixels from surrounding areas. In 2024, Adobe has improved this feature further, integrating AI models for even more precise edits.
Seamless filling with little to no manual retouching required.
Fast and easy to use for both beginners and professionals.
Multiple inpainting modes for different scenarios (e.g., textures, gradients).
Ideal for: Designers, photographers, and digital artists who need an easy-to-use, reliable inpainting solution embedded into an advanced software suite.
DALL-E, developed by OpenAI, has made significant waves in the image generation and inpainting sector. It can generate and modify images based on text prompts, but its inpainting capabilities allow users to erase parts of an image and regenerate new content that blends perfectly with the remaining image.
Extremely powerful in generating contextually accurate restorations.
Allows for highly creative alterations and transformations.
Users can input specific prompts to guide the inpainting process.
Ideal for: Users who want creative control over image restoration and those working in fields where AI-generated content is valuable, such as marketing, design, or content creation.
NVIDIA’s GauGAN is one of the most innovative inpainting AI tools on the market. Initially launched as an AI for transforming doodles into stunning images, it also excels in filling missing parts of an image, offering unparalleled realism. Its deep learning algorithms work by understanding the scene’s context and generating the missing elements, whether they are landscapes, objects, or textures.
Realistic image generation that mimics real-world textures and structures.
Specialized in creative landscapes and scenes.
Intuitive for artists and designers who want to experiment with AI-assisted art.
Ideal for: Artists, designers, and content creators looking for tools to generate photorealistic landscapes and complete missing portions of a digital canvas.
Deep Image Prior is an AI framework that leverages the power of deep learning to fill in gaps in images without requiring a massive training dataset. What makes it unique is that it can perform image restoration without relying on external data; instead, it learns the underlying structure of the specific image at hand, allowing for high-quality inpainting and denoising.
Doesn’t require large datasets for training.
Great for various image restoration tasks like denoising, inpainting, and super-resolution.
Produces results that preserve the original details of the image.
Ideal for: Researchers and professionals who need advanced inpainting tools for academic or specialized purposes. It’s also great for anyone looking for customizable inpainting solutions.
PhotoWorks is an AI-powered photo editor that offers a variety of tools for enhancing images, including inpainting. It allows users to repair old and damaged photos with minimal effort by intelligently filling in cracks, scratches, and other flaws. The software uses deep learning algorithms to analyze images and seamlessly replace missing or damaged parts.
Easy to use with a minimal learning curve.
Effective in restoring old photos and repairing damages.
Wide variety of AI-powered editing features beyond inpainting.
Ideal for: Hobbyists, amateur photographers, and professionals who need a user-friendly interface for quick and effective image restoration tasks.
Let’s Enhance is an online AI tool that excels at enhancing image resolution and quality. It also offers a highly capable inpainting feature that helps users remove unwanted objects and restore missing parts of an image. It leverages deep learning techniques to ensure that inpainted areas blend in seamlessly with the surrounding pixels.
Easy to access with no need for software installation.
Useful for both inpainting and image upscaling.
Web-based, making it accessible from anywhere.
Ideal for: Casual users, social media influencers, and digital marketers who need quick, efficient tools for improving and restoring images without needing professional software.
Runway ML is a platform that offers various AI tools, including a state-of-the-art inpainting model. The Inpainting tool in Runway allows users to remove and regenerate parts of an image using an intuitive interface. It’s a perfect choice for creators looking to take advantage of AI for creative projects.
Easy-to-use interface with a range of creative tools.
Integrates well into video workflows.
AI-powered for fast and accurate inpainting.
Ideal for: Content creators, marketers, and digital artists who need a comprehensive set of AI tools for image restoration and creative editing.
Lama Cleaner is an open-source image inpainting tool designed for those who prefer using cutting-edge AI while retaining full control over their data. It uses the LaMa (Large Masked Attention) deep learning model for image completion tasks. The tool can be used locally, making it a favorite among developers and privacy-conscious users.
Open-source and privacy-focused.
Provides impressive results for both small and large-scale image restorations.
Easily customizable and extensible.
Ideal for: Developers, researchers, and privacy-conscious users who want a robust inpainting tool that they can run locally without relying on cloud-based services.
Fotor is a popular online photo editor that offers a wide range of tools, including AI-powered inpainting. Fotor’s Object Remover allows users to remove unwanted elements from an image and replace them with pixels that blend perfectly into the background.
Simple and user-friendly.
Web-based, allowing easy access from any device.
Provides quick and effective inpainting results.
Ideal for: Casual users, bloggers, and influencers who need a quick and effective tool for removing unwanted objects from their images.
Pixbim Inpaint AI is a dedicated inpainting tool designed specifically for image restoration tasks. The software uses advanced algorithms to remove unwanted objects and fill in missing areas. It’s particularly good for restoring old photos, filling gaps in images, and removing watermarks.
Specially designed for image inpainting tasks.
Great for restoring old and damaged photos.
Easy-to-use interface with efficient results.
Ideal for: Photographers and professionals focused on photo restoration or repairing damaged images.
The field of AI-powered image inpainting has advanced rapidly in recent years, with several cutting-edge tools available in 2024. Whether it’s removing unwanted elements from a photograph, restoring old and damaged images, or creating entirely new content from partial data, these tools are revolutionizing how professionals and hobbyists approach image restoration.
For those looking to restore photos quickly, tools like Adobe Photoshop and Pixbim Inpaint AI offer effective and professional-grade results. Creative professionals looking for more dynamic and innovative inpainting capabilities will benefit from platforms like DALL-E and Runway ML.