Imagen's Intelligent Studio Is Now Available to Everyone
Table of contents
On September 30 we opened the beta of Imagen’s Intelligent Studio to a first group of photographers. Today, Imagen’s new Studio experience is rolling out to all users. Update the app and your next project opens, now with more tools to improve your workflow.
Imagen’s Intelligent Studio lets you finish more of every shoot inside Imagen: cull, apply your style across your whole gallery, fine-tune with the editor, and more. Here’s what’s new since launch.
More AI tools, inside the Studio
When the beta opened, Straighten was the only AI tool in the Studio. Now the tools photographers use most are in:
| Tool group | AI tools |
|---|---|
| Composition | Crop, Straighten, Portrait Crop, Headshot Crop |
| Masking | Subject Mask, Background Mask |
| Retouch | Smooth Skin, Whiten Teeth |
These are the same tools you know from Imagen, and the ones photographers reach for most: Straighten, Smooth Skin, and Whiten Teeth, plus Background Mask, a favorite of wedding photographers who want the couple to stand out.
Pick your AI tools when you set up a project, and Imagen applies them to every relevant photo. You’ll see every result in the gallery before you export. To add a tool after editing, re-edit the project.
AI culling, fully built in
Culling now lives in the Studio from start to finish, and it knows a lot more than it did in September:
- Cull again. Re-cull a whole project with new settings, without uploading it again.
- Closed eyes and out-of-focus markers. See them right on the full-size photo, so the misses are easy to spot.
- An Assistant that knows what you culled. Ask it to show your keepers or sneak peeks, filter out blurry shots, or run a new culling pass.
One thing changes: you now cull on your edited previews, so you can feel confident you’re choosing the right keepers.
And because we want everyone to try it, every photographer without a culling subscription gets two more AI culling trials on us, even if you already used yours. See how AI culling works.
A smarter Assistant
The Assistant is how you talk to your gallery. Ask in plain words, and it finds the photos and makes the edit. Since launch it’s learned a lot:
- Fine-tune color and effects. Individual colors, color grading, tone curve, grain, and vignette.
- Presets. Apply, save, and rename presets, or import your Lightroom presets.
- Undo and reset. Undo a change, or reset photos to the Imagen edit or the original.
- Culling-aware. It understands your culling results and can explain its picks.
- Collections. Group photos by time of day, by hour, or by a search.
A few things you can ask:
“Add teal to the shadows and warm up the highlights.”
“Save this edit as a preset called Golden Hour.”
“Show me the keepers where someone has their eyes closed.”
“Create a collection for each hour of this event.”
“How much will it cost to export this project?”
Want more? The Assistant prompt library collects the AI photo editing prompts photographers actually type, from warmer skin tones to black-and-white copies of a whole ceremony, ready to copy into your next project.
The Assistant isn’t an image generator. It edits by moving the same sliders you’d move yourself, so it never adds or removes pixels, and the creative call stays with you. That’s the difference from generative prompt editors, which make a new image instead of editing yours. Read how it compares in Imagen vs. Lightroom’s Prompt to Edit.
It’s still learning, too. Here’s what the Assistant can and can’t do yet.
Your Lightroom path stays
The Studio doesn’t replace the way you finish your work. Your AI edits still carry over to Lightroom, and your Lightroom ratings still import and export. The only thing that stays in Imagen is the changes you make in the Studio’s built-in editor.
Pay at export
On pay-as-you-go, you’re now billed when you export instead of when you edit, at the same per-photo prices. That means you see every edit in the gallery before you export.
At export, each AI tool you applied is billed on the photos you export, including a tool you removed along the way. Sliders, crops, and masks you do yourself are always free. On Limitless, nothing changes. Check the pricing page for the details.
Where to start
New to the Studio? Every project starts the same way:
- Cull with AI, or skip it. Choose Skip AI culling if you’d rather cull by hand.
- Choose your AI Profile. Your Personal AI Profile, or a Talent AI Profile.
- Pick your AI tools. Crops, masks, and retouching, applied to the whole project. Imagen then culls and edits together, in one pass.
- Review, fine-tune, and export. Tweak photos yourself or ask the Assistant (the prompt library has ideas), then export from the Studio.
Try it for $5 this Black Friday
If you’re new to Imagen or coming back, there’s never been a better time to try the Studio: from November 9 to December 4, your first month of Limitless is $5. See the Black Friday offer, or read the full details of the deal. Already subscribed? Check your inbox or the Imagen app for your Black Friday offer.
Frequently asked questions
Who gets Imagen’s Intelligent Studio?
Every new Imagen download, and nearly every existing customer. It isn’t a separate app: update Imagen and the Studio is where your projects open.
Which AI tools work in the Studio?
Crop, Straighten, Portrait Crop, Headshot Crop, Subject Mask, Background Mask, Smooth Skin, and Whiten Teeth. Pick them when you set up a project and they apply to every relevant photo. To add a tool later, re-edit the project.
Does AI culling work in the Studio?
Yes. Culling is fully built into the Studio, and every photographer without a culling subscription gets two more AI culling trials on us, even if you already used yours. You cull on your edited previews, so you can feel confident you’re choosing the right keepers.
Does the Assistant generate new images?
No. The Assistant edits by moving the sliders on your photo, the same ones you’d move yourself. It never adds or removes pixels, and the creative call stays with you.
Can I still finish in Lightroom?
Yes. Your AI edits carry over to Lightroom, and your Lightroom ratings import and export as before. Only changes you make in the Studio’s built-in editor stay in Imagen.
How does pricing work in the Studio?
On pay-as-you-go you’re billed when you export, at the same per-photo prices, for every AI tool you applied to the photos you export, including a tool you removed later. Sliders, crops, and masks you do yourself are always free. Limitless doesn’t change.
