ImageLabs

1. Getting started

1. Launch ImageLabs.
2. Open an image: Open image (top-right, Ctrl+O), drag & drop a file onto the window, or Ctrl+V to paste a screenshot or copied image. Supported: PNG, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, WebP, ICO, HEIC, TGA.
3. Pick a task from the left rail (or use a Quick action), adjust it, then click Apply.
4. Save result (bottom-right, Ctrl+S) when you're done.

The workspace has three columns:

Area	What it does
Tasks (left)	Grouped into EDIT, AI & COLOR, RESTORE, ANNOTATE and TOOLS, plus Overview at the top.
Preview (center)	The current image. A checkerboard means transparency. Zoom controls sit at the bottom.
Options (right)	Settings for the selected task, with an Apply button.

The Overview

Click Overview (top of the rail) any time to see:

• Quick actions — one-click jumps: Remove BG, Blur BG, AI Upscale, Extract Text, Replace Color, Watermark.
• Image info — dimensions, format, file size, dates.
• History — every edit you've applied, in order.

2. How editing works

• Edits are chainable: each Apply bakes the change in, so you can crop, then remove the background, then resize, and so on. The chain shows in History and powers the Batch tool.
• Undo (Ctrl+Z) and Redo (Ctrl+Y) step through changes. Reset returns to the original file.
• Compare — press and hold to see the original; release to return.
• Most tasks show a live preview; Apply keeps it. Rotate / Flip apply immediately.
• Ctrl+C copies the edited image to the clipboard.

Zooming the preview

• Ctrl + scroll zooms around the cursor; drag to pan when zoomed.
• Double-click toggles Fit ⟷ 100%. The toolbar has − / + / Fit / 1:1.
• Crop and Blur/Mosaic always use the fitted view (their selection box needs it).

3. Tasks

EDIT

Crop

Drag the dashed box and corner handles, then Apply crop. Two AI helpers snap the box for you: Snap to subject finds the main subject automatically, and Select object lets you click a specific object on the preview to snap the box to it.

Resize

Enter a Width and/or Height.

• Keep aspect ratio and Don't enlarge work as labelled.
• Enlargement engine: when making an image bigger, choose Standard (instant) or AI 4× (much sharper). The AI runs when you press Apply — the live preview shows the standard resize. Large images take a while.

Rotate / Flip

90° left/right, flip horizontal/vertical — each applies at once.

Adjust

Auto enhance (one-click levels + gamma), Brightness, Contrast, Grayscale, Sepia, Blur, Sharpen — preview live, then Apply.

AI & COLOR

Background

Choose a Mode:

Mode	What it does
Remove	Cut the subject out. Extras: fill color, trim to subject, sticker outline (width + color), drop shadow. Or switch Method to Remove a flat color (chroma key with tolerance).
Blur	Portrait/bokeh effect — subject sharp, background blurred (strength slider).
Color pop	Subject in color, background grayscale (with optional dimming).
Replace	Drop the subject onto another image (choose a file; optional shadow).

All AI modes share a Subject choice:

• Auto-detect subject — the model finds the main subject, using the Model dropdown: fast (bundled) · balanced · best · sharpest edges · best for people.
• Pick object — click the object you want on the preview; the chosen mode then applies to that object with its exact silhouette. Click again to pick a different one.

Models download once, are verified, and run offline; Use GPU falls back to CPU automatically. Edge feather softens the mask edge in every mode.

Replace Color

The panel lists the image's detected colors as swatches. Pick the color to replace by clicking a swatch, typing a hex value, or Pick then clicking the image (eyedropper). Choose the replacement from the color plates (the first plate is transparent — it erases the color), set a Tolerance, preview, Apply.

ANNOTATE

Watermark

Text with position (including Auto — avoid subject (AI)), color, font size, and opacity.

Add Text

Type the text, then click on the image to place it; set size and color.

Blur / Mosaic

Hide sensitive areas (faces, plates, addresses). Choose an Area: Rectangle (drag the selection box) or Object (click an object on the preview to hide its exact shape). Then pick Mosaic or Blur and a strength, and Apply.

RESTORE

Colorize

Add natural color to a black-and-white or faded photo. Press Colorize photo; the original detail is kept and only color is generated. Runs in a few seconds (first use downloads the colorization model). Works on true grayscale files (e.g. scanned or exported pure B&W images), not just color photos that happen to look gray.

Repair / Scratch

Remove scratches, tears, creases or small unwanted spots. Paint over the damage on the preview with the brush (adjust Brush size; Undo stroke / Clear as needed), then press Repair painted areas. Only the painted areas are filled in — everything else is untouched.

TOOLS

Extract Text (OCR)

Recognizes text in the image, fully offline, using Windows' built-in OCR. Pick a language (follows your installed Windows language packs), press Recognize text, then edit, Copy, or Save .txt. Tip: crop to the text area first for better accuracy.

Compress / Convert

Choose a format and quality and watch the estimated file size update live, then save with those settings.

Metadata

View EXIF entries and image facts. To remove metadata from saved files, tick Strip EXIF in the bottom bar.

Batch

Replays this image's entire edit chain (see History) on every image in a folder you choose, with progress and cancel. Results go to an imagelab-out subfolder. AI steps are included — e.g. crop → AI remove background → resize applied to a whole folder of product shots.

4. AI models

ImageLabs runs nine specialized AI models entirely on your device — no account, no cloud. Each runs with GPU acceleration and automatic CPU fallback, is open-source, and is verified (SHA-256) before it's ever used. One is bundled so the app works out of the box; the rest download on demand the first time you use a feature that needs them.

Model	What it powers	Size	License
Fast (bundled)	Background removal — fast	4.7 MB	Apache-2.0
Balanced	Background removal — balanced	43 MB	Apache-2.0
Best	Background removal — best quality	176 MB	Apache-2.0
People	Background removal — tuned for people	176 MB	Apache-2.0
Sharpest edges	Background removal — crispest borders	176 MB	Apache-2.0
Click-to-select	Pick any object (Crop, Background, Blur/Mosaic)	43 MB	MIT
Upscaler	AI 4× super-resolution	67 MB	BSD-3-Clause
Colorizer	Colorize black-and-white / faded photos	935 MB	Apache-2.0
Repair	Repair / scratch removal (paint-to-fill)	88 MB	Apache-2.0

Managing models

Click the chip icon (top-right) to open AI Models:

• See every model's status, license, and size.
• Download, Delete (bundled models can't be deleted), or Import model… to add a model file copied from another machine (it's integrity-checked before being accepted) — handy for fully offline setups.
• Use GPU appears on AI tasks; it falls back to CPU automatically.

5. Saving

Save result (Ctrl+S) — choose location and format:

Format	Use it for
PNG	Transparency / lossless
JPEG	Photos (smaller; uses the Quality box)
WebP	Modern, small, supports transparency
BMP / TIFF / GIF	Compatibility / specific needs
ICO	App icons — one file with multiple sizes (16–256 px)

The ▾ next to Save offers Export again (another copy with your last settings, auto-numbered) and Overwrite original… (replaces the opened file, asks first).

Quality applies to JPEG/WebP. Strip EXIF removes metadata from the saved file. Saving to JPEG/BMP flattens transparency onto white. Saves are atomic — a file is never left half-written, even if the app closes mid-save.

6. Keyboard shortcuts

Keys	Action
Ctrl+O / Ctrl+S	Open / Save
Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y	Undo / Redo
Ctrl+V / Ctrl+C	Paste image in / copy result out
Ctrl+scroll · drag · double-click	Zoom · pan · Fit ⟷ 100%
Esc	Cancel eyedropper pick

7. Tips

• Transparent cut-out: Background → Remove → Apply → save as PNG.
• Sticker: Background → Remove → tick Sticker outline (+ Drop shadow) → Trim to subject → save as PNG.
• Portrait mode: Background → Blur → pick the people model.
• Upscale a small logo: Resize → AI 4× → enter the target size → Apply.
• Redact a screenshot: paste with Ctrl+V → Blur / Mosaic → drag over the sensitive part → Apply.
• Restore an old photo: Colorize to add color, then Repair / Scratch to paint out any scratches or creases.
• Cut out one object among many: Background → Remove → Pick object → click the exact thing you want → Apply → save as PNG.
• Folder of product shots: perfect one image (crop → remove BG → resize), then Batch the folder.
• The theme toggle (moon/sun) and About (ⓘ) are top-right.

8. Privacy

All processing — including every AI feature and OCR — happens on your computer. The only network use is the one-time, integrity-verified download of optional AI models. Nothing you edit ever leaves your PC.