How to Easily Isolate Subjects in Your Photos with Visual Lookup on iPhone

Have you ever wanted to extract a person, pet or object from an iPhone photo to use elsewhere? Apple‘s new Visual Lookup feature in iOS 16 makes this incredibly easy with just a tap. Keep reading as I explain exactly how to isolate subjects and take full advantage of this time-saving capability.

Overview: Magical Machine Learning Does the Work for You

Visual Lookup uses artificial intelligence to detect edges and layers in iPhone images. When you tap a subject, it separates it from the background automatically using machine learning. This saves tons of manual effort trying to cut things out manually!

It works by identifying the subject‘s outline, removes the area outside that outline, and lifts the subject away into its own cutout. This cutout can then be copied, shared, or dragged and dropped into documents and apps.

Compatible iPhone Models – What Phones Support This?

As amazing as Visual Lookup is, only newer iPhone models support it. You‘ll need an iPhone X or later with an A12 Bionic chip inside or better. Here are all compatible devices:

So essentially, you‘ll need an iPhone from the last 4-5 years. Additionally, your device will need to be updated to the latest iOS 16 software.

Step-by-Step Guide – Isolate, Copy, Share

If your iPhone meets the requirements above, using Visual Lookup is extremely simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app and pick an image with a good view of the subject you want to isolate. Try to avoid complex backgrounds when possible.

2. Press and hold your finger on the subject itself. After a second, you‘ll see it highlight with a ripple animation. This means it‘s isolated!

3. Lift your finger to reveal the context menu. This will show options to Copy or Share the isolated subject.

4. Tap Copy to save the cutout image file to your clipboard. You can now paste this transparent image cutout into any document or app.

5. Alternatively, tap Share to send the isolated subject directly to someone. This opens the iOS share sheet where you can choose an app like Messages, Mail, Notes, etc.

And that‘s it! In just a few taps, you‘ve extracted the subject away from its background. Pretty magical, if I say so myself.

Image credit: Apple iOS 16 promo images

Instead of copy/pasting, you can also drag subjects into apps. After step 2, keep holding the subject and use another finger to switch apps. Let go to drop the cutout into any text field or document.

When It Doesn‘t Work – Limitations, Lighting Issues

As with any machine learning technology, Visual Lookup has its limitations. It can struggle to detect subjects properly if:

• The image has low resolution or is too dark/light
• The background is too visually complex
• The subject lacks clearly defined edges
• There is low contrast between subject and background

You may also encounter inconsistencies between photos. Even within the same set, some subjects may isolate better than others.

Here are a few examples of error cases:

Busy background makes it hard to define the outline accurately

Low lighting causes loss of edge separation and detail

If you run into issues isolating a particular subject, try adjusting perspective, distance, framing, lighting, etc. This can help the AI detect it better against its background.

How Machine Learning Extracts Subjects So Well

You may be wondering – how does Visual Lookup manage to lift subjects out of photos so magically? The secret lies in a complex machine learning model behind the scenes.

Apple used neural networks and AI training to create an edge detection system. It identifies subjects by noticing color, lighting, texture, and outline changes compared to backgrounds.

The model was trained on tons of sample images with pixel-level isolation masks. This taught it to recognize subjects extremely precisely down to stray hairs and fuzzy edges.

Over time, the AI will continue learning from people‘s usage to become even smarter at creating these cutouts.

Updating Your Operating System to Enable This

As mentioned before, you need iOS 16 to get access to the new Visual Lookup feature and many other upgrades. Here‘s how to safely update your compatible iPhone‘s OS:

1. Open the Settings app then tap General > Software Update.

2. You should see an option to upgrade to iOS 16. If not, your device may be too old. Tap Download and Install.

3. It will download in the background and prompt you to install later. Make sure your phone stays connected to power and WiFi during this time.

4. When ready, tap Install and enter your passcode. The update takes around 10-15 minutes.

5. Your iPhone will restart a few times during the process. When you see your homescreen again, iOS 16 is ready to use!

Now you can start isolating subjects with Visual Lookup and explore all the other fun updates.

Use Cases – Get Creative With Subject Extraction

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture with an isolated subject can make your words come alive. Here are some examples of how you can creatively use this capability:

• Make professional social posts by blending cutout subjects on colored backgrounds, templates, etc.

• Create eye-catching digital reports, documents and presentations at work. No need to manually clip subjects via Photoshop!

• Spice up school projects by remixing elements from photos in your documents.

• Annotate and analyze particular subjects close up without distractions.

• Have silly fun with cutouts using third-party apps like Photoleap, Pixelmator and more specialized tools.

The possibilities are endless! See what cool ways you can utilize isolated subjects from iPhone photos.

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Hope this guide gives you a better understanding of Apple‘s incredibly useful Visual Lookup separation feature. Go try it out for yourself on your own photos! Let me know if you have any other questions.