Windows 11 Photos app update packs a fresh editor redesign
Bit by bit, the Photos app improves.
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What you need to know
TheWindows 11Photos app may look a bit different the next time you open it up, as Microsoft is rolling out a new editor for it. So when you try to tinker with pictures, don’t be surprised if things aren’t quite as you remember them.
The changes include relocation of the cropping tool, additional picture rotation tools, as well as speedier access to the landscape and portrait orientation options. Plus, cropping now includes the benefit of letting you know what resolution you’re whittling an image down to so you can make better cutting decisions on the fly.
Transparent images will now display a checkered transparency texture while editing but said texture will disappear when you revert back to normal photo browsing.
The filters and adjustments tabs have seen an overhaul as well, though this shakeup has included the removal of features such as spot fix and red-eye removal. It’s currently unclear why those two elements have disappeared from the editor. There’s a chance they could be re-added in later updates, though there’s also the possibility Microsoft removed them for some deliberate purpose and won’t change course.
Drawing on images is now more natively integrated into the Photos app editing experience as well, for those of you in the mood to add some e-graffiti to your pictures.
If the update isn’t already nestled inside your Photos app, go to the Microsoft Store and manually claim it; odds are an update is sitting there patiently waiting to be downloaded.
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Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He’s a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author ofCold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.
