QuickCut

How to remove the background from an image

Four reliable methods, from a ten-second online cutout to a pixel-perfect Photoshop mask, and what’s going on under the hood.

Which method should you use?

MethodCostTime
QuickCut (browser)FreeSeconds
iPhone PhotosFree (iOS 16+)Seconds
PhotoshopSubscriptionSeconds to hours
CanvaPro planSeconds

1. In your browser with QuickCut

  1. Open the remover

    Go to the background remover on any phone or computer.

  2. Add the photo

    Drag it in, choose it, or paste it with Ctrl/⌘+V. The first time, the model (7–44 MB) downloads and is cached.

  3. Adjust if needed

    Softness for hair, Shrink for halos, Erase/Restore brushes for anything the AI got wrong.

  4. Download

    PNG keeps the transparency; or pick a background first and save a JPG.

2. On iPhone, built in

Apple added subject lifting in iOS 16. It works in Photos, Safari, Files and Quick Look.

  1. Open the photo in the Photos app.
  2. Touch and hold the subject until a glowing outline appears.
  3. Choose Copy to paste it into another app, or Share to save it as an image or sticker.

It’s fast, but you can’t fine-tune edges or add a background. For that, share the photo to Safari and open QuickCut, which runs in mobile Safari too.

3. In Photoshop

  1. Open the image and convert the background to a normal layer (click the lock icon in the Layers panel).
  2. In the Properties panel, under Quick Actions, click Remove Background. Photoshop adds a layer mask.
  3. For hair, choose Select → Select and Mask and brush over the edge with the Refine Edge Brush.
  4. Export with File → Export → Export As → PNG and tick Transparency.

For hard-edged products that must be perfect, many retouchers still trace the outline with the Pen tool and convert the path to a mask: slow, but exact.

4. In Canva

  1. Select the photo in your design.
  2. Click Edit (or Edit photo), then BG Remover.
  3. Use Erase/Restore to tidy up, then download as PNG with “Transparent background” ticked.

The remover and transparent downloads need a paid plan. On a free plan, cut the image out with QuickCut and upload the PNG; Canva keeps its transparency.

How the cutout actually works

Segmentation. The model looks at a downscaled copy of your photo and outputs a mask: for every pixel, a number from 0 (background) to 1 (subject). It learned this from thousands of images that people traced by hand. In the QuickCut tool you can see it: switch to “2 Raw mask”.

Matting. Around hair and fur the right answer isn’t 0 or 1 but something in between. Portrait models such as MODNet are trained specifically to estimate those fractional values.

Compositing. The mask becomes the image’s alpha channel. Any new background is mixed in by the formula on the right: result = α × subject + (1 − α) × background. Drag the slider to see why a JPG, which throws alpha away, leaves a fringe.

Seeing a formula move usually makes it click faster than reading it. If you like learning this way, ahaboo has narrated, interactive explainers on how everyday things work, one “aha” at a time.

Why a cutout needs “half-transparent” pixels

Zoom into the edge of a hair strand and each pixel is only partly hair. The PNG stores that as alpha (0–100%), and whatever you put behind it shows through by exactly that amount.

New background

50% × hair + 50% × navy = rgb(100,75,73)

This is the “over” operator from Porter and Duff’s 1984 paper Compositing Digital Images, still how every editor, browser and game engine layers images.

Fixing common problems

ProblemCauseFix
Light halo around the subjectBackground colour left in edge pixelsShrink by 5–15, or lower Softness
Hair looks choppedMask too hardRaise Softness; use the “People, fast” model
Part of the subject missingLow contrast with the backgroundRestore brush over the gap
Background blob remainsObject looks like part of the subjectErase brush
White box around a logoSaved as JPG, or AI used on flat artUse the logo tool, save as PNG
PNG shows a white backgroundThe viewer app draws onePlace it in a design app; the file is fine

Questions people ask

What is the easiest way to remove a background from a picture?

Use an automatic remover like QuickCut: drop the picture in, wait a few seconds, download a PNG. Manual tools like Photoshop’s Pen tool give more control but take minutes to hours per image.

How do I remove a background on iPhone without an app?

On iOS 16 or later, open the photo in Photos, touch and hold the subject until it glows, then choose Copy or Share. You get the subject with a transparent background. The Files app also offers “Remove Background” in the Quick Actions menu for images.

How do I remove a background in Photoshop?

In recent versions, open the image, then in the Properties panel under Quick Actions click “Remove Background”. Photoshop adds a layer mask that hides the background. Refine it with Select and Mask, then export as PNG.

Can I remove a background in Canva for free?

Canva’s Background Remover is part of its paid plans (Canva Pro, Teams, and free for eligible education and nonprofit accounts). With a free account you can cut the image out here and upload the transparent PNG to Canva.

How does AI know what the background is?

A segmentation model has been trained on many thousands of images where people traced the subject by hand. It learns what subjects look like and outputs a mask: a value from 0 to 1 for every pixel, meaning “how sure am I this is the subject”.

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