New Windows 11 24H2 Photos App with AI Upscale and OCR

In this article, we will talk about the New Windows 11 24H2 Photos App with AI Upscale and OCR.

Microsoft is releasing a preview of super resolution for Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, along with OCR support and other productivity-focused improvements to the Photos app. This update is now available to Windows Insiders on Windows 11 across all Insider Channels.

New Photos App Super Resolution

Super resolution uses AI to enhance and enlarge images up to 8x the original image size. Super resolution is perfect for improving low-quality photos, preparing photos for large prints or displays, and tight cropping without giving up image resolution to zero into the content you want to focus on.

Super resolution leverages the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) on the Copilot+ PC to deliver enhancements quickly and efficiently, all done locally on your PC. You can access super resolution from the Photos Editor to enhance your images within seconds.

New OCR Feature

Microsoft is introducing Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in the Photos app to improve productivity and make managing information in your images easier. With OCR, the app detects text in your photos, allowing you to copy it directly to your clipboard—whether it’s from pictures of documents, notes, or screenshots. Once text is detected, you can copy specific sections and paste them into other apps.  OCR supports over 160 languages and can be accessed via the OCR icon at the bottom of the image when text is identified.

Other Fixes and Improvements

• Microsoft is launching single-click support in the Gallery. With this update, you can now open individual images with a single click to make navigation more efficient. If double clicking is your preference, it will still work the same as before.
• Enhancements to the Zoom feature now include large images automatically resizing to fit within the Viewer window and improved synchronization between the zoom slider and the zoom selection display.
• We implemented bug fixes for the Image creator and Restyle image features on Copilot+ PCs to improve overall quality.

For more information about the New Photos App, you can check this article from the Microsoft Blog.

For a more in-depth presentation of the New Photos App, you can watch the video below from the youtube channel.