Microsoft Designer, an AI-powered design tool, has launched in public preview with new features including generating captions and hashtags for social media posts and creating animated visuals.
The tool uses user-created content and DALL-E 2, OpenAI’s text-to-image AI, to ideate designs, with customization options for further personalization. Designer will remain free during the preview period and will be included in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions once it is generally available. Users will have full usage rights to commercialize the images they create with Designer and Image Creator, according to Microsoft.
The AI models behind Designer have improved since it was announced in October, with the tool now able to create animated visuals complete with backgrounds and text transitions. Future updates will include more editing features, including the ability to place an object in a specific spot in a graphic and automatically fill in the rest of a picture. The tool will also gain “erase” and “replace background” options, allowing users to brush over unwanted objects or backdrops in graphics.
Microsoft Designer is a web app designed to generate designs for presentations, posters, digital postcards, invitations, graphics and more to share on social media and other channels. The tool is similar to Canva and leverages AI to generate designs while offering customization options for users. Microsoft did not elaborate on which Designer functionalities will be free to use for non-subscribers once the app is generally available, but it did address legal questions around the commercialization of the images created with Designer and Image Creator.
