How to remove the background in Photoshop

If you sell anything online, the background can make or break a photo. Maybe the lighting wasn’t great, the table was cluttered, or the colors just didn’t match your brand.

Removing the background in Photoshop lets you place your product on a clean, consistent backdrop so it looks more professional.

The fastest way to remove background in Photoshop (AI Quick Action)

If you just want the background gone as fast as possible, Photoshop has a built-in tool that does almost everything for you. It’s called Remove Background, and it works with one click.

How to do it with AI

1. Open your image and select the layer.
2. Go to the Properties panel or look at the Contextual Task Bar under your image.
3. Click Remove Background.

Photoshop detects the subject automatically and creates a layer mask that hides the background. You’ll see your subject cut out on a clean, transparent background.

Small clean-ups you may need

Even with 1-click removal, you might see loose edges or small areas the AI missed.
You can fix that easily:

• Select the Brush Tool
• Make sure the mask is selected
• Paint black to hide extra areas
• Paint white to fix missing parts

It takes less than a minute, and for many images, this is all you need.

When you turn your artwork into products like mugs, totes, notebooks, or stickers, a clean cutout helps the design sit naturally on any surface. This becomes even more important for clear stickers, since the transparent material shows every small edge or leftover background.

Generate a new background with Photoshop AI

Once you remove the background, you don’t have to search for a replacement or build one from scratch. Photoshop’s Generate Background feature can create a new background for you automatically using a short text prompt.

It analyzes your subject, matches the lighting, and builds something that looks like it belongs in the same scene.

How to do it

1. Make sure your subject is already cut out or masked.
2. Select the layer with your subject.
3. In the Contextual Task Bar, click Generate Background.
4. Type a quick description of what you want:
   
   • “white studio background”
   • “a modern kitchen”
   • “soft pastel gradient”
   • “outdoor park with sunlight”
5. Photoshop will create a few options for you. Pick the one that fits your design.

Why this tool is useful

• Matches lighting and shadows automatically
• Saves time hunting for stock photos
• Creates backgrounds you’d never think to search for
• Great for product photos, portraits, and social media graphics

Tips for better results

• Keep prompts short and clear
• Match your concept to the subject (example: no dramatic sunset for a studio selfie)
• If edges look rough, refine the mask first before generating

Photoshop does most of the work for you, and you get a clean, ready-to-use background in seconds.

Remove background using Select Subject + Quick Selection

If the 1-click Remove Background tool doesn’t get everything right, the next best option is Select Subject combined with the Quick Selection tool. These two tools give you more control while still being easy to use.

• Select Subject tries to find the main object automatically.
• Quick Selection lets you fix any areas the AI missed by brushing over them.

Together, they give you a clean cutout with just a little more effort.

How to use Select Subject

1. Open your image and select the layer.
2. Go to Select → Select Subject.
3. Photoshop will draw a selection around the main person or object.

Most of the time, it works really well, especially for people, pets, and products.

Improve the edges with Quick Selection

If the selection looks a bit rough:

1. Choose the Quick Selection Tool (keyboard shortcut: W).
2. Brush over areas that didn’t get selected.
3. Hold Alt/Option to remove parts you don’t want included.

This is great for fixing:

• hair
• clothing edges
• small areas between arms or objects
• awkward corners the AI missed

Clean it up in Select and Mask

For smoother edges:

1. Go to Select → Select and Mask.
2. Use:
   
   • Smooth to even out jagged edges
   • Feather for softer transitions
   • Contrast to sharpen the edge
   • Shift Edge to pull the selection in or out

You can also use the Refine Edge Brush to fix tricky hair or fur.

Finish with a mask

Once the selection looks good:

1. Click the Mask icon in the Layers panel.
2. The background disappears, and you get a clean, editable cutout.

This method takes a little more time than the 1-click option, but the results are usually much cleaner, especially for detailed photos.

How to remove background with the Magic Wand Tool

The Magic Wand Tool is great when your subject sits on a plain, solid background, especially white paper or scanned artwork. It selects areas based on color values, so you can remove big chunks of background with one click.

Magic Wand settings: tolerance, contiguous, anti-alias

Before you start, check a few settings at the top of your screen:

• Tolerance: This controls how sensitive the tool is.
  
  • A lower number (10–20) selects fewer shades.
  • A higher number (20–30+) selects a broader range.
    If you’re working with clean white paper, tolerance around 20 usually works well.
• Contiguous:
  Keep this ON if you only want to select connected areas.
  Example: Only select the white paper around your artwork, not the tiny white spaces inside it.
• Anti-alias:
  Keeps your edges slightly smoother so the cutout doesn’t look jagged.

Once your settings are ready, click the background. Photoshop will select all areas that match that color.

Fix halo edges around your subject

If your artwork has soft edges or natural brushstrokes, the selection might leave a tiny “halo” of white around it. You can tighten the edge easily:

1. Go to Select → Modify → Contract
2. Contract the selection by 1–3 pixels
   
   • 1 pixel for sharp work
   • 2–3 pixels for softer or painted edges
3. Then go to Select → Modify → Feather and add 1–3 pixels
   This softens the edge and makes your artwork look natural instead of cut out by a machine.

These two adjustments remove the harsh white outline and keep your strokes looking organic.

Remove the background with a layer mask (not the eraser tool)

Once the selection looks clean:

1. In the Layers panel, click the Mask icon.
2. The background disappears instantly.

This hides the background instead of deleting it.
And that’s important—because if you make a mistake, you can fix it.

• Paint black on the mask to hide more.
• Paint white to bring areas back.

This is safer and cleaner than using the Eraser Tool, which permanently deletes pixels and gives you no way to restore them later.

Using a mask keeps your artwork intact and editable, so you always have the option to refine or undo areas if needed.

Remove background with the Lasso Tool

The Lasso Tool is one of the most hands-on ways to remove a background in Photoshop. It’s great when your subject has a simple outline or when none of the automatic tools (like Select Subject or Magic Wand) get things right. You draw the selection yourself, so you have full control.

When to use the Lasso Tool

Use the Lasso Tool when:

• the edges of your subject are simple
• the background has a lot of different colors or textures
• automatic tools keep selecting the wrong areas
• you want full manual control over every curve and corner

It’s not the fastest method, but it works well on objects like boxes, clothing, silhouettes, or anything with clear shapes.

How to draw a selection around your subject

1. Select the Lasso Tool from the toolbar.
   
   • Regular Lasso = freehand drawing
   • Polygonal Lasso = click-to-create straight edges
   • Magnetic Lasso = sticks to edges automatically
2. Carefully trace around your subject.
   Zoom in as much as you need. It doesn’t need to be perfect on the first try—you can always fix it later.
3. When you reach the starting point, Photoshop will close the selection for you.

Turn the selection into a clean mask

Once the outline looks good:

1. Click the Mask icon in the Layers panel.
2. The background will disappear, leaving your subject on a clean, transparent layer.

If you need to fix any spots:

• Paint black on the mask to hide areas
• Paint white to bring them back

This gives you a controlled, precise cutout without permanently deleting anything.

The Lasso Tool takes a bit more patience, but it’s a reliable backup method for tricky images where Photoshop’s AI tools don’t quite get the job done.

Pen Tool method for sharp, clean edges

The Pen Tool is one of the most precise ways to remove backgrounds in Photoshop. It takes more time than automatic tools, but it gives you perfect, sharp edges. This is why designers rely on it when working with logos, product photos, packaging, or any object with smooth lines.

Why designers use the Pen Tool

The Pen Tool creates a clean path around your subject. Unlike any other selection tool, it gives you:

• crisp, smooth edges
• full control over curves and straight lines
• the ability to adjust points later without damaging your image

If you want your subject to really stand out from the image background, this is the tool to use.

How to outline your subject

1. Select the Pen Tool from the toolbar in Adobe Photoshop.
2. Click along the edge of your object to place anchor points.
   
   • Use fewer points for straight areas.
   • Add more for curves so the path stays clean.
3. Drag to adjust the handles whenever you need a smoother curve.
4. Work around the entire subject until the path closes (you’ll see the marching ants once it becomes a selection).

Zoom in as needed to get an accurate trace. You don’t need to rush — this method is all about precision.

Turn the path into a selection and remove the background

Once your path looks right:

1. Open the Paths panel.
2. Right-click your path and select Make Selection.
3. Use a small feather radius (around 0.5–1 px) so the edges look natural.
4. Click the Mask icon in the Layers panel to remove the background on a masked layer.

Your subject is now cleanly separated from the entire background without damaging the original pixels.

If you need to fix anything:

• paint black on the layer mask to hide more
• paint white to reveal areas you want back

This gives you a sharper cutout than the Magic Wand Tool, Quick Selection Tool, or the remove background tool.

It’s the method that gives you the most control in professional graphic design workflows.

Advanced background removal using channels

The Channels method is great for images with tricky edges. Perfect for things like hair, smoke, fabric texture, or anything with soft, irregular shapes. It uses the color information inside your image to create a high-contrast selection tool that does a much better job than the usual automatic options.

This is more advanced, but it can give you some of the cleanest results, especially when the background and subject have very different tones.

Find the channel with the best contrast

1. Open the Channels panel (next to the Layers panel).
2. Click through the Red, Green, and Blue channels.
3. Look for the one where your subject stands out the most against the image background.
   
   • You want strong light vs dark contrast.
   • Hair and soft edges usually show up best in the Blue channel.
4. Duplicate that channel so you don’t affect the original.

This duplicated channel will become your high-contrast base for background removal.

Create a clean selection from your channel

To make the contrast even stronger:

1. Use Levels (Ctrl/Cmd + L) on the duplicated channel.
2. Drag the sliders until the subject becomes very black and the entire background becomes very white.
3. Paint with a soft Brush Tool (black or white) to clean up areas if needed.
   
   • Black = keep
   • White = remove

Once the channel looks solid:

1. Hold Ctrl/Cmd and click the thumbnail of your duplicated channel.
   This loads it as a selected area.
2. Go back to the Layers panel.
3. Click the Mask icon to remove the background on a masked layer.

Why this method works well

The Channels method is ideal for:

• flyaway hair
• fur
• semi-transparent areas
• detailed clothing edges
• irregular shapes that other tools struggle with

It gives you a more natural result than the Magic Wand Tool or Quick Selection Tool, especially when fine detail matters.

How to replace the background in Photoshop

Once you remove the background, you can swap it for anything you want: a solid color, a gradient, a studio setup, or a completely new scene. Photoshop makes this step easy, and you only need a few tools from the Layers panel to get it done.

Replacing the image background is useful for product photos, portraits, graphics, and anything where you need your subject to stand out in a clean, intentional setting.

Add a new image background

If you want a realistic scene behind your subject:

1. Drag your new image into the document.
2. Place it below your subject’s masked layer in the Layers panel.
3. Use Edit → Free Transform (Ctrl/Cmd + T) to resize and position it.
4. Adjust lighting if needed so the subject doesn’t look like it’s floating.

This works well for lifestyle shots, mockups, and photos where you want a believable environment.

Use solid colors or gradients

For a cleaner, more minimal look:

1. Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer icon.
2. Choose Solid Color or Gradient.
3. Pick a tone that fits the style of your project.

This is ideal for:

• posters
• banners
• thumbnails
• e-commerce images with a white background or brand-colored backdrop

It helps your object or product stand out without distractions.

Use AI to generate custom backgrounds

Photoshop’s AI can instantly create a brand-new background in Photoshop using a text prompt.

1. Select your subject layer.
2. Click Generate Background in the Contextual Task Bar.
3. Describe what you want, such as:
   
   • “soft pastel gradient”
   • “clean studio light background”
   • “modern living room”

Photoshop will create a few options that match your lighting and perspective, so the subject feels like it belongs in the new scene.

How to export an image with a transparent background

To keep your transparent background, you need to export the image in a format that supports transparency. JPEG won’t work because it fills empty areas with white. Here’s the best way to save it:

• Go to File → Export → Export As
• Choose PNG (or PNG-24)
• Make sure Transparency is checked
• Save your png file to your computer

This gives you a clean cutout that works for product photos, designs, mockups, and anything where the image background needs to stay invisible.

If you want an editable version for later:

• Save a copy as a PSD
• Keep your layer mask intact
• Use 300 DPI for print projects
• Use PNG for web graphics or social media

This way, you can always come back to refine edges or adjust the mask without rebuilding the whole cutout.

Final thoughts

Removing a background in Photoshop is one of the most useful skills for anyone preparing artwork for printing, branding, or product design. Clean, transparent files are especially important for clear stickers, die-cut stickers, and sticker sheets because any leftover white edge or messy image background can show through the material. A polished cutout helps your artwork look intentional and professional once it is printed.

If you do not want to handle the entire background removal process yourself or you are worried about getting clean edges, we can help. We offer free background removal when you upload your artwork. This is helpful for hand-drawn designs on white paper, scanned illustrations, or photos that are not cut out yet. Our team prepares a clean layer mask, fixes rough spots, and makes sure your file is ready for printing so your final stickers look exactly the way you expect.