VSCO announces new AI features for Pro members on iOS

VSCO is one of the most popular apps for both photo and video editing, but it did not start that way. The company, founded in 2011, originally created high-quality presets for professional photographers to use in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. It eventually launched a mobile app that packed in features like video trimming, exposure and saturation controls, and even a collage maker.

The platform has been going all in on generative AI since May, when it released its first major integration, VSCO Canvas, a moodboard that lets users generate images from text prompts and collaborate on projects.

Now, the company is announcing AI Lab, a new space in its iOS app for high-fidelity photo editing, powered by Black Forest Labs' FLUX.1 Kontext model, an extension of the FLUX.1 model that companies like xAI used to build out Grok 2's image generation feature. VSCO is aiming these advanced editing tools at, in the company's words, "photographers who care about every detail." The company also says these new features support high-resolution RAW files and non-destructive edits, so your original image is always safe.

The first tool in AI Lab is one that lets you remove unwanted distractions from your photos while "preserving" the original image's look and feel. You can select objects to remove from an image using the Brush, a simple Tap, or a Lasso select tool. VSCO's system uses content-aware region detection to intelligently fill in the space.

Another tool that's coming soon is called "Upscale," which, just as the name sounds, is designed to increase the resolution of an image. It will sharpen details and enhance clarity while maintaining the integrity and color of the original shot. It is a feature that photographers and editors working with lower-resolution files might find particularly useful.

AI Lab is available in the VSCO app on iOS. To access the new features, you have to be on the latest version of the app and subscribe to the VSCO Pro membership, which costs $12.99 per month or $59.99 per year. Once you have met the requirements, if you navigate to your gallery, there should be an AI Lab icon at the top of your Studio.