Meyle+Müller

Shoot professional product photos, that’s what photographers are for. The clipping of images, on the other hand, is one of the time-consuming but necessary activities. Because even in the best studio environments, it cannot be avoided that motifs are actually depicted on a white background. And depending on the channel and advertising material, the requirements for the background of an image can vary. Meyle+Mueller has supported well-known customers here for years and takes over the clipping of their pictures. Since the AI now delivers very good results in the removal of backgrounds, Meyle+Mueller has decided to fully automate this process in the future. The AI-based service “AI-Mask” from apollon came into question, but with the option of clipping paths. Because the images should not only be cut out, but also be created with a white background. The original image should always be available at the same time. The AI service „AI-Mask“ was supplemented with exactly this workflow and Meyle+Mueller is now generating two variants of the original image automatically. In addition to this specific workflow, it was also very important for the media service provider to guarantee maximum quality for the automatically released images. Every automatically generated image is therefore subjected to a system-supported quality check. Only when the result meets the professional requirements of Meyle+Mueller is it approved. And should this not be the case, Meyle+Mueller is always able to manually readjust cut-out images. The manual readjustment is carried out using system-supported processes that Meyle+Mueller implemented together with apollon. These processes are also used to train the AI engines further.

Another AI-based service that Meyle+Mueller uses is „AI Image“. The media service provider uses this to automate its manual image processing using freely definable workflows. The retouching processes include skin processing, edge smoothing, the back mirror and the retouching of wrinkles on garments. When working on the skin, the AI takes on the task of removing impurities as well as removing tattoos or moles. Meyle+Mueller even uses AI to make the models‘ skin prettier. If there are unclean edges on photos, Meyle+Mueller uses the „anti-aliasing“ workflow and performs the anti-aliasing fully automatically. The „back mirror“ process is also used. With the back mirror or so-called “Ghost Mannequin Product Pictures” it is possible for Meyle+Mueller to depict items of clothing “flying” – without a model, only with a bust! The special feature: The creation of the product photo only requires two pictures of the garment – one from the front view and one from the collar, which is turned inside out. If both recordings are available, AI-Image automatically creates an intelligently combined image that gives the impression that the item of clothing is being worn by a ghost. The media service provider supports its customers with the optimal presentation of the fit of clothing. If it turns out that the photographed items of clothing are creased, Meyle+Mueller also retouches the folds using AI and also reduces the effort involved in image processing to a minimum.

In addition to automated cropping and image processing, Meyle+Mueller also uses AI when creating advertising materials and uses „AI Layout“. AI-Layout is another AI-based service from apollon, with which Meyle+Mueller is able to automate and at the same time generate individual layouts for advertising materials. In this way, Meyle+Mueller can create advertising material for customers who have an online shop in no time at all, which is aimed specifically at shopping cart abandoners. The creation does not require a template and is fully tailored to the recipient thanks to customer-specific weightings, because the AI automatically selects the layout that best suits the customer of Meyle+Mueller from several million already generated layouts. But also advertising material, for example for the sale of stock items, can be created for Meyle+Mueller with an AI Layout in next to no time. The media service provider not only creates speed for its customers, the advertising material is also made more effective through target-oriented parameters.