Double Drop: Figma's AI Image Editing Suite & Google's Selfie-Powered Virtual Try-On Reshape Design and Shopping Forever
Category: Tool Dynamics
Excerpt:
December 2025 delivered a one-two punch to creative and commerce workflows: Figma rolled out three precision AI image editing tools — Erase Object, Isolate Object, and Expand Image — on December 10, letting designers lasso and refine visuals without ever leaving the canvas. Days later, on December 11, Google upgraded its virtual try-on with Nano Banana AI, generating full-body digital models from a single selfie for realistic clothing previews, now live for U.S. shoppers. These launches slash friction in design pipelines and online retail, proving AI isn't just generating — it's perfecting the human touch.
🎨 & 🛍️ AI Tools Redefine Daily Workflows for Designers & Shoppers
The AI toolbox just got sharper — and more personal — in ways that hit designers and shoppers square in the daily grind.
First, Figma fired the opening salvo on December 10 with a trio of AI-powered image editing features that finally close the "export-to-Photoshop" loop plaguing pros. No more app-hopping for basic fixes: lasso any object, hit Erase to vaporize it with seamless background fill, Isolate to yank it free for repositioning (lighting, shadows, and focus intact), or Expand to generatively stretch the canvas for new ratios without distortion. All tucked into a unified toolbar alongside staples like background removal — Figma's most-used AI trick.
It’s not revolutionary tech (Adobe and Canva have danced this dance), but embedding it natively in the world's favorite collaborative canvas? That's a workflow killer, slashing round-trips and letting ideas flow in context.
✂️ Figma’s Precision Editing Arsenal in Action
The magic hides in the upgraded lasso: draw loose, select tight — AI snaps to edges like a pro retoucher. Early adopters rave about prototyping speedups: mockup a hero banner, erase distractions, isolate the hero product, expand for mobile — all in minutes.
| Feature | Use Case | Workflow Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Erase Object | Remove distracting elements (e.g., clutter in a product shot) | Eliminates 3+ steps of exporting/importing to external editors |
| Isolate Object | Adjust lighting/color of a single element (e.g., brighten a logo in a banner) | Preserves background integrity; no need to rebuild scenes |
| Expand Image | Adapt a 1:1 social graphic to a desktop banner | Avoids cropping key content; maintains image coherence |
Availability: Pro/Org/Enterprise plans (with AI enabled) first; full-platform rollout eyed for 2026.
Hot on Figma’s heels, Google flipped the script on online shopping dread with a December 11 update to virtual try-on: ditch awkward full-body shots — just snap a selfie. Powered by Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash's image wizardry), it conjures studio-quality full-body avatars in seconds, draping billions of apparel listings with eerie realism — folds, wrinkles, shadows all physics-faithful.
Pick your size, generate variants, set a default — boom, personalized previews across Search, Shopping, and Images. U.S.-only for now, but guardrails (no celeb/kid selfies) keep it ethical while Doppl app's discovery feed turns inspiration into impulse buys.
📸 Google’s Selfie-to-Showroom Pipeline
- Upload: Snap a selfie at g.co/shop/tryon (or use an existing one).
- Generate: Nano Banana extrapolates pose, body proportions, and lighting to create a full-body avatar.
- Shop: Try on clothes from Google’s Shopping Graph (billions of listings) — cycle outfits, adjust sizes, and save favorites.
Results: Conversion confidence skyrockets, returns plummet, and that "does this look good on me?" anxiety evaporates. Brands win with richer Shopping Graph data; shoppers win with zero-regret carts.
🌟 Why This Double Drop Hits Different
| Dimension | Figma’s Edge | Google’s Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Core Value | Designer liberation: Surgical AI that amplifies precision (no "gen-from-prompt" gimmicks) | Shopper superpower: Lowers try-on barrier from "effortful upload" to "casual snap" |
| Early Metrics | Pros report 40% faster asset prep for mockups/ marketing materials | Prior try-on tool boosted product views by 60% — selfie update expected to double engagement |
| Competitive Edge | Owns collaboration: Edits stay in Figma’s shared canvas (vs. Adobe/Canva’s siloed tools) | Baked into discovery: Try-on works across Google Search/Shopping (vs. Amazon/Walmart’s app-only tools) |
This December duo isn’t about AI spectacle — it’s about erasing everyday pain points, handing control back to creators and consumers alike. Figma turns the canvas into a self-sufficient studio; Google turns your phone camera into a risk-free fitting room. As these tools proliferate, expect workflows to accelerate and decision regret to vanish: AI not as replacement, but as the ultimate efficiency multiplier in human-centered domains.
Official Links
🔗 Figma AI Image Editing Tools
