How to Use AI Replace in PowerDirector

Q: Can I just delete something without describing a replacement?

Not by leaving the box empty. Generate stays grayed out until the description has something in it, the same way Continue is grayed out before an image is imported. What works instead is describing the background you want in the object's place, so an unwanted sign against a wall becomes plain brick wall rather than nothing at all.

Q: My result has a visible seam. What went wrong?

Check it against the Avoid panel on the opening screen, because the four failures it lists cover most of them. The two usual culprits are a Small Brushed Area , where the stroke stopped short of the object's edge and left a rim of the original behind, and a Gradient Background like an open sky, where any join in a smooth tonal ramp is easy to see. Use Edit Mask to widen the stroke and generate again.

Q: What does it cost?

The cost is shown on the Generate button and again on Generate More . Each retry is a fresh generation, so trying three variations costs three times.

Q: Where does the finished image go?

Download to Library puts it into your PowerDirector media library rather than a folder on disk, which is what you want when the image is headed for the timeline. The version thumbnails stay in the window while it is open, so download the one you want before closing it.

Brush over something in a photo, describe what belongs there instead, and let it redraw the area.

Updated Aug. 27, 2026 · 5 min read

In a hurry? Use the AI Replace quick guide instead.

AI Replace in PowerDirector works on a photo in two moves: brush over the part you want changed, then say what should be there instead. It repaints just that area and leaves the rest alone. The photo below took one brushed patch of empty sky and three words, add an airplane.

Before

A pagoda on a hillside above a city, with cherry blossom in the foreground and an empty sky above the mountains. — The photo as it was.

After

The same photo with an airliner added in the upper left of the sky, lit to match the light on the rest of the frame. — One brushed area, three words of prompt.

⚡ Quick Answer: How to Use AI Replace in 5 Steps

Open the GenAI menu, go to Image, and choose AI Replace.
Import your photo and click Continue.
Brush over the area you want changed, adjusting Brush size as you go.
Describe what belongs there and click Generate.
Keep it with Download to Library, or generate again.

Steps to Use AI Replace

Step 1: Open AI Replace and Import a Photo

Open the GenAI menu, go to Image, and choose AI Replace. Note the section: this one sits under Image, not Video, which is where people go looking for it first.

The GenAI menu open in PowerDirector, with AI Replace highlighted under the Image section. — Under Image, not Video.

Click Import Image, or drag a file onto the panel. There are three sample images under Try with sample image if you want to see what it does before committing your own.

The AI Replace import panel with the Import Image button highlighted, and three sample images offered below it. — Your own photo, or one of the three samples.

Step 2: Read the Advice, Then Continue

The right half of that first screen is not decoration, and it is the most useful thing in the whole window. Recommended shows the three conditions that make a replacement work: a Distinct Object, a brush stroke covering the Brush Entire Object, and a stroke that follows the Match Object Shape. Avoid shows the four that make it fail: an Unclear Subject, No Object Selected, a Small Brushed Area, and a Gradient Background.

Most of the poor results people get are one of those four, and the last one is the least obvious. A smooth gradient sky is exactly the sort of area the eye checks for a seam. Click Continue when you have your bearings.

The AI Replace advice panel, showing three Recommended examples with green ticks and four Avoid examples with red crosses, and the Continue button below. — Seven worked examples of what to do and what not to.

Step 3: Brush the Area

Use the brush to paint over what you want changed. The eraser beside it takes back a stroke, and the curved arrow undoes one. Brush size runs along the top of the panel with the value in the box next to it.

Cover the whole object, edges included. This is the Brush Entire Object advice from the previous screen, and it is the difference between a clean replacement and a ghost of the original showing through at the border.

The left panel of the AI Replace window with the brush and eraser tools and the Brush size slider set to 50. — Brush, eraser, undo, and the size control above them.

Step 4: Describe What Goes There

Type into Describe what you want in its place. The counter under the box allows 800 characters, though the example that produced the airliner above used fifteen of them.

The description is not optional. Generate stays grayed out until the box has something in it, in the same way Continue was grayed out until an image was imported.

Generate carries a credit badge showing what the run costs.

The AI Replace prompt box reading add an airplane with the counter at 15 of 800, and the Generate button showing its credit badge. — Describe it, or leave it blank to simply remove.

Step 5: Keep It, or Try Again

Each attempt is kept as its own thumbnail under the image, so you can click between versions and compare instead of choosing from memory. Generate More adds another at the same cost, and Edit Mask goes back to the brush if the problem was the selection rather than the words.

Download to Library puts the finished image into your PowerDirector media library, ready to drop on the timeline.

The AI Replace result view with Edit Mask and Download to Library buttons, and two version thumbnails below the image. — Every attempt is kept, so you can compare rather than remember.

Haven't got PowerDirector yet? Brushing an object out and describing what belongs there takes two moves, which is quicker to try than to picture.

Download PowerDirector Free →

FAQs

1. Can I just delete something without describing a replacement?

Not by leaving the box empty. Generate stays grayed out until the description has something in it, the same way Continue is grayed out before an image is imported. What works instead is describing the background you want in the object's place, so an unwanted sign against a wall becomes plain brick wall rather than nothing at all.

2. My result has a visible seam. What went wrong?

Check it against the Avoid panel on the opening screen, because the four failures it lists cover most of them. The two usual culprits are a Small Brushed Area, where the stroke stopped short of the object's edge and left a rim of the original behind, and a Gradient Background like an open sky, where any join in a smooth tonal ramp is easy to see. Use Edit Mask to widen the stroke and generate again.

3. How long can the description be?

800 characters, per the counter under the box. You will not need them. The airliner in the example above came from three words. Name the thing and, if it matters, the direction it faces; long descriptions give the model more ways to disagree with you.

4. What does it cost?

The cost is shown on the Generate button and again on Generate More. Each retry is a fresh generation, so trying three variations costs three times.

5. Where does the finished image go?

Download to Library puts it into your PowerDirector media library rather than a folder on disk, which is what you want when the image is headed for the timeline. The version thumbnails stay in the window while it is open, so download the one you want before closing it.