Canva has helped countless people pursue their passion in graphic design with absolutely no training in it. Since its creation, there has not really been much competition when it comes to a platform that can be used by virtually anyone to create professional-looking graphics and presentations of all kinds.
Google is looking to change that with Google Pics, which is both a standalone app and an integration in Google Workspace. It was announced at Google I/O 2026 back in May, but just became widely available today.
How it works
Google Pics, unsurprisingly, uses AI to generate images and designs. You can create new images with a prompt or you can build on pre-existing elements by uploading and modifying images from Google Drive, Photos, or your local device.
While Google Pics does not offer the design freedom of Canva, where AI is optional, it has object segmentation and does allow for some tweaking so that you can edit, move, or resize specific parts of the designs it generates. As Google puts it, “no more ‘prompt-and-pray.’”
Text can be translated right within the design, which lets you expand your project across multiple languages easily.
How to access it
You can try out Google Pics at pics.new.
It’s rolling out over the next few weeks. It is available for Workspace customers with Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus plans; Google AI Pro for Education users; as well as Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
It will be a standalone product, and also integrated with Google Drive and Slides at its start and will eventually be in Google Docs as well.
