Microsoft’s Photos app just got a surprisingly cool AI lighting feature

A few days ago, Microsoft announced via the Windows Insider blog some new AI features and improvements for the Photos app.

Among the new features is “Relight,” which lets you adjust the lighting in a photo by placing up to three virtual light sources that can each be adjusted for color, intensity, and direction. There are also several built-in preset styles for quicker adjustments.

With Relight, you can use the power of AI to dramatically change the mood, tone, and appearance of any photo. However, you’ll need a Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PC to take advantage of this feature right now. Intel- and AMD-powered Copilot+ PCs will be getting this feature over the next few months.

The search function in Photos has also been upgraded, allowing you to search for images using natural language queries instead of keyword-based queries. For example, you can type “sunset at the beach” or “family outdoor fun” to find relevant images, even if they don’t have file names that match those terms.

As with Relight, you’ll need a Copilot+ PC to take advantage of semantic searches in Photos. If you don’t know what that means, see our handy overview on what to know about Copilot+ PCs.