To make a background transparent, separate the subject from everything behind it and save the result as a PNG, a format that can hold see-through pixels. The tool above does both on your own device. Here is each stage, with the checks that catch a bad edge early.
Open the image
Drag the file onto the tool, paste it with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac) or choose it from your files; the sample image lets you watch the process first. Common photo formats open directly, including HEIC pictures from an iPhone.
Use the biggest, sharpest copy you have. Thumbnails and photos sent through chat apps often carry fewer pixels and heavier compression, and a cutout is only as clean as the edges it starts with.
While the AI works
The first cutout takes longer while your browser fetches the AI model (the open-source BiRefNet, roughly 50 MB), which it then keeps for later visits. It runs on your graphics chip through WebGPU where the browser supports it, otherwise on your processor through WebAssembly: a few seconds on a recent computer, longer on an older phone. Your photo is never sent to a server.
Check the result on dark and light
A faint gray or white fringe blends right into a checkerboard, so judge the cutout another way:
- Drag the before/after slider slowly across the outline and compare both versions around hair, fingers and enclosed gaps, such as the space between an arm and the body.
- Switch the background to black, then to white. A pale halo jumps out against black, a dark rim shows against white, and any piece of the subject the AI dropped is obvious on both. If you know where the image is going, try a color close to that page too.
These colors are only for checking: return the background to transparent before you download, or the color you picked becomes part of the file.
Fix the edges
Erase / restore brush. Erase turns leftover background transparent; restore paints the original photo back where the AI took too much, such as a hand the same color as the wall behind it. Keep softness low for the hard outline of a product and raise it around hair or fur, so the edge fades gradually rather than stopping at a sharp cut. Undo and redo make every stroke reversible.
Remove a color. Click a color in the image and pixels of that color turn transparent; tolerance decides how close a shade has to be to count. It suits flat, even backgrounds and enclosed gaps the AI left filled in, like the inside of a mug handle. White backgrounds have quirks of their own, covered in removing a white background.
Trim and size, if you need to
Do this once the edges are right: trim to the subject, add padding back if it shouldn't touch the border, then choose an aspect ratio or a width. If you don't yet know where the image will be used, skip this and keep the full size.
Save it so it stays transparent
With the background still transparent, download the PNG, and keep it as your master copy.
Mistakes that bring the background back
A transparent PNG can lose its transparency after it leaves the tool. Watch for these:
- Converting to JPG. JPG has no way to store see-through pixels, so any editor, converter or "reduce file size" option that turns your image into one paints a solid color where the background was.
- Flattening. Many photo editors have a Flatten command that merges all layers and fills empty areas with a background color, usually white. Export a PNG without flattening; the app-by-app guides cover Photoshop, Canva, Illustrator and GIMP.
- Copy and paste. Depending on the programs involved, the clipboard can carry the picture without its transparency, so the pasted copy lands on white or black. Insert or upload the PNG file instead.
- Screenshots. A screenshot records what the screen shows, checkerboard included, so it is an ordinary opaque image. Use the download.
- Uploads that re-save the image. Some websites and chat apps convert pictures on upload. If a platform shows a white box around your subject, the transparency was lost on its side, not in your file.
The explainer on transparent backgrounds covers the theory; the transparent background maker covers new backgrounds, stickers and other uses.
Frequently asked questions
Why did my transparent background turn white after I shared the image?
Somewhere it was converted to JPG or merged onto a solid layer, often by a site or chat app that re-saves uploads. Your PNG is unaffected; where the platform allows, send it as a file or document instead of a photo.
Can I make a background transparent without Photoshop?
Yes. The tool on this page runs in a recent web browser, free, with nothing to install. If you already use Photoshop, Canva, Illustrator or GIMP, this site has a guide for each.
Can I make a background transparent on an iPhone or Android phone?
Yes, in the phone's web browser: pick the photo from your library (iPhone HEIC photos included), let the cutout finish and download the PNG. Everything runs on the phone, so an older phone needs more time than a computer.
What should I do if the AI removed part of my subject?
Switch the brush to restore and paint over the gap; the pixels come back from your original photo. A small brush with low softness keeps a clean line on solid objects, and undo reverses any stroke that goes too far.
How high should I set the tolerance when removing a color?
Start low and raise it in small steps until the color you clicked is gone. If parts of the subject in a similar shade start to vanish, lower it and clear the last specks with the erase brush.
Can I make only part of an image transparent?
Yes. The erase brush makes anything you paint over transparent, even areas the AI kept, such as a table edge attached to a product, and restore brings back what you want to keep.
Why is there a thin outline around my cutout?
It is a fringe of the old background along the edge. Preview on black or white to see it, then paint it away with a small erase brush at low softness, or, on a flat background, remove that color at a low tolerance.