Need a poster? Google's new AI tool wants you to describe it instead of designing it

Making a poster usually starts with a blank canvas. You choose a template, move things around, add an image, adjust the text and keep tweaking until everything looks right.

Google wants to replace much of that process with a prompt.

The company has launched Google Pics, a new AI-powered image creation and editing tool designed for everyday graphics such as posters, social media posts, marketing material and illustrations.

Instead of requiring users to build everything manually, Pics lets them describe what they want and uses Google's generative AI to create it.

The tool is Google's latest move into territory dominated by platforms such as Canva and Adobe Express — but with generative AI at the centre of the experience.

Google Pics is powered by Google's Nano Banana image generation and editing technology.

A user can start by describing the image or graphic they want. Pics then generates several versions from the same prompt, allowing them to choose the one they prefer.

But users aren't limited to accepting whatever the AI produces.

If one part of an image isn't right, Pics can isolate individual objects so they can be changed without regenerating the entire design.

Users can select an object and describe what they want changed, including making several edits at once.

Text inside an image can also be modified or translated while preserving the surrounding design and font, according to Google.

That could make a difference for something as simple as adapting an advertisement for different countries: rather than rebuilding the graphic, a user could ask Pics to translate the wording inside it.

The tool also tackles one of the more repetitive parts of producing graphics for different platforms.

An image designed for an Instagram post, for example, may need a different shape for another social platform, a website or printed material.

Pics can automatically crop creations into formats intended for web, social media, digital displays and print.

Images can also be upscaled to 2K or 4K resolution, according to Google's announcement.

And like other Workspace products, Pics supports collaboration, allowing multiple people to work on the same creation.

Google is also putting Pics inside the Workspace apps millions of people already use.

The integration begins with Google Docs and Slides, where users can select an image and access Pics' editing tools without moving the file into a separate design application.

Google Drive integration is due to follow in the coming weeks.

Google says billions of images are already handled through Workspace products every month, and argues that users shouldn't need to move repeatedly between different applications just to create or edit visuals.

Pics will also exist as a standalone application.

The comparisons are difficult to avoid.

TechCrunch described Pics as Google's answer to Canva, while The Verge noted that its poster, flyer and social-media creation tools put it in competition with both Canva and Adobe Express.

But the products don't work in exactly the same way.

Canva has grown around a huge library of templates, stock photography, illustrations and other design assets. It also has a marketplace where designers and photographers can contribute work.

Google Pics puts much more emphasis on generating the material with AI.

There is another wrinkle: Canva is moving in the same direction.

Its Canva AI assistant can already turn text prompts into editable designs, with the AI choosing and using different tools to complete the job. Canva has also been expanding AI image and website generation.

That means the emerging competition isn't simply traditional Canva versus AI-powered Google.

Both companies increasingly want users to describe what they need and let AI do more of the design work.

Pics isn't Google's first attempt at making design easier with generative AI.

Google Labs and Google DeepMind previously launched Pomelli, which can examine a business's website and build what Google calls its “Business DNA” — including its fonts, colours, images and tone of voice.

Pomelli can then generate marketing campaigns and social-media assets based on that identity. Google expanded it this year with tools capable of creating brand books and even websites.

Pics takes a broader approach, putting AI image creation and editing directly inside the Workspace ecosystem.

Google Pics begins rolling out over the coming weeks to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers and most Workspace business customers.

Eligible Workspace plans include Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus. It is also coming to Google AI Pro for Education.

The Docs and Slides integrations begin rolling out now, while Google says Drive support will arrive in the coming weeks.

For Google, the pitch is straightforward.

The next time someone needs a poster, presentation graphic or social-media image, the starting point may no longer be choosing a template.

It could simply be typing what they want.