Fix a nearly right picture, don't start over

More edits to try, by job

Google's guide lists what conversational editing covers: removing and adding objects, fixing old photos, colouring black and white pictures and swapping styles. Its tip is that you don't need to mask anything; you simply tell the model what to change naturally. The library prompts below each do one small job, grouped by what they change. We ran three of them on our pictures.

Change the light, keep the person

Light is the cheapest way to change the mood of a finished picture. This prompt lists everything that must stay before it names the light, then says lighting is the only change. We ran it on the same smiling picture from our first round that step 5 starts from. The garden went dark, pink and blue edge light came in, and her face, pose and basket did not move.

Before

After

Repair a soft or damaged photo

Restoration is an edit too. This prompt names the damage to remove and, at length, what must not change: pose, expression, framing, clothing, background. To test it we blurred our starting picture on purpose and ran the prompt once. Her face came back sharp and still hers, with the freckles in place; the background stayed soft.

Before

After

One caution from a second run. A shorter sharpening prompt from the library gave her darker lashes, darker lips and an earring she never wore. The long list of things to keep is what stopped that here.

Change the place

A new place is the biggest kind of edit, so it is where things drift most: our snow edit dropped her pose on the first try.

This one changes only the far background. The blanks are a city and what to show of it, so the edit stays behind the person. It suits night portraits where the lights in the distance are a blur anyway.

For adding things instead, this prompt splits the edit in two blanks: what to do with the scene, then what to add. The example adds three young goats around a woman in a field. Keep the instruction to one place change and the extra to one thing, or the edit stops being small.

Weather is the simplest place change. The first line of this prompt asks for rain, and that is all most pictures need. The second line adds raincoats and motorbikes. We ran both lines on the starting picture, and it took her out of the garden onto a wet city street, on a scooter in a clear raincoat. Send the first line alone unless you want the street.

Clean up

Small removals are where one-sentence edits shine. This one asks for the lettering laid over a picture to go, and nothing else. It works the same for a date stamp, a caption or a stray sign. Only remove marks from pictures that are yours to edit.

More looks to try

More edit prompts for Nano Banana Pro, each on its page.

Questions

Why not just generate it again?

A new generation makes new choices everywhere, so you lose what was already right. In our run the re-roll changed her face, dress and gloves; the edit kept all three and changed the pose.

How many edits can I make in a row?

We kept four in a row on one picture, and her face held through all of them. What moved was everything else: two of the four needed a second run with a keep list. Check the whole picture after each edit, not only the face.

Do I need the long prompt every time?

No. Our smile edit was three words. When the change is large, add one short sentence that lists what has to stay.

Can I edit a photo I took, not one I generated?

Yes. Google's guide shows edits on uploaded photos, from removing tourists to restoring old prints, and our restoration test started from an ordinary picture. Edit only photos you have the right to change, and ask before you edit someone else's face.

Do I need to mask the area I want changed?

No. Google's guide says you can just describe the change. When words are not exact enough, a flat colour mark works: our magenta oval changed only the roses under it.

Why did my edit change things I didn't ask for?

Usually because the prompt left room or asked for more than you meant. Our snow edit dropped her pose until we wrote Keep her pose, the evening edit lost the basket until we listed it, and the rain prompt's second sentence moved her to a city street. Name what must stay, and cut extra sentences.