These guides show how to remove a background in apps people already use: Photoshop, Canva, Illustrator, GIMP, Figma, Affinity, Procreate, PowerPoint, Word, Paint and Google Slides, plus the tools built into iPhone and Mac. Each one follows the app's current menus, checked against the vendor's own help pages in September 2026, and points out where a menu differs between versions. Every guide ends the same way, with a PNG that keeps its transparency, because that last step is where most cutouts go wrong.
Photoshop
The Photoshop guide starts with the Remove Background quick action, which you'll find in the Properties panel and the Contextual Task Bar and which hides the background with an editable layer mask. It then covers Select Subject for a selection you can correct before masking, and Select and Mask for hair and fur, including Refine Hair, the Refine Edge Brush tool and Decontaminate Colors. It also shows where to choose between device and cloud processing, and how to export a transparent PNG with Export As or Quick Export.
Canva
The Canva guide walks through BG Remover in the editor toolbar, cleaning up edges with the erase and restore brushes, and downloading a PNG with Transparent background turned on. It lists which plans include Background Remover and transparent downloads according to Canva's Help Center as of September 2026, along with the limits Canva documents, such as the 9 MB photo size and the 10 MP downscale after removal.
Illustrator
The Illustrator guide separates placed photos from vector artwork, because Illustrator treats them differently. It covers the Remove Background command for photos in recent versions, clipping masks for objects with clean outlines, Image Trace for logos on white, and deleting background shapes in artwork you drew yourself. It finishes with the PNG Options setting that decides whether the export is transparent.
GIMP
The GIMP guide covers both GIMP 2.10 and 3.x. It explains why the alpha channel has to come first, when to use Fuzzy Select, Select by Color or Foreground Select, how to clean a halo from the edge, and how to export a PNG with File > Export As, since Save only writes GIMP's own XCF format.
iPhone
The iPhone guide starts with lifting a subject: touch and hold it in Photos, Safari or Quick Look, then copy it, share it, drag it into another app or keep it as a sticker. For an actual file, it uses the Preview app in iOS 26 and later, whose Remove Background command and PNG export give you a transparent PNG, with notes on where Apple's iOS 26 and iOS 27 guides differ.
PowerPoint
The PowerPoint guide covers Remove Background on the Picture Format tab, correcting the magenta preview with Mark Areas to Keep and Mark Areas to Remove, and saving the cutout as a PNG with Save as Picture. It also explains the newer Edit Image editor Microsoft is rolling out, how Transparency differs from removing a background, and how picture compression can shrink the saved file.
Word
The Word guide uses the same Remove Background command, then adds Set Transparent Color for a logo or clip art on one flat color and Tight text wrapping, so text follows the outline of the cutout. It finishes with Save as Picture for a PNG and answers what Word for the web can't do.
Paint
The Paint guide covers the Remove background button in Paint on Windows 11, for a whole picture or a rectangle selection, then cleaning up with the eraser, checking transparency on the checkerboard, saving a PNG and placing the cutout on a new background with layers.
Google Slides
The Google Slides guide shows Edit image and Remove background, which need an eligible Google plan, how to undo a removed background, and how to insert a transparent PNG when your account doesn't include the feature.
Mac
The Mac guide covers Preview's Remove Background button from macOS Tahoe 26, Instant Alpha on earlier versions, the Finder's Remove Background quick action, Copy Subject in Photos, Remove Background in Keynote, and exporting a PNG from Preview.
Figma
The Figma guide covers Figma's built-in Remove background, its AI credit cost, exporting a transparent PNG without a frame's fill, and what replaces the remove.bg plugin, which relies on an API that stops on December 1, 2026.
Affinity
The Affinity guide shows Remove Background and Select Subject, which need a Canva premium plan, refining the edge with a mask, exporting a PNG without a matte, and placing a cutout made elsewhere. remove.bg recommends Affinity to users of its Photoshop plugin.
Procreate
The Procreate guide shows Automatic selection with its threshold and Cut, a layer mask for non-destructive edits, hiding the Background Color layer and exporting a transparent PNG, plus a faster route for photos.
Choosing a file format
After any cutout, the next question is how to save it. PNG vs JPG explains which format keeps a transparent background, which one makes smaller files, what converting between them can and cannot do, and where WebP fits. JPG vs JPEG answers the question of the two file endings: why both exist, and how to rename one safely when a form accepts only the other.
What every method has in common
Whatever app you use, the background only becomes transparent in a format that can store it. PNG can; JPG can't, so a cutout saved as a JPG comes back with a solid background. The checkerboard you see in many apps is just how they display transparency and is not part of the file. Keep an editable copy too, such as a PSD or XCF, so you can adjust the edge later.
Or skip the app
If you'd rather not open a design app at all, Background Remover PNG removes photo backgrounds online, with an optional full-size Max re-cut for one credit. Editing and free Preview downloads need no signup. You can download a free Preview up to 0.25 megapixels or use one image credit for a larger Max PNG, both without a watermark.