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How to Remove a Photo Background in Photoshop

Cleaning up a messy background behind a product or portrait photo and swapping it for a plain color or new backdrop is one of the most useful things you can do in Photoshop.

  1. Open the photo you want to edit

    Launch Photoshop and open the image file you plan to work on.

  2. Click "Select Subject" in the top menu

    Go to "Select > Subject" and Photoshop's AI automatically detects and selects the person or object in the photo.

  3. Refine the edges with "Select and Mask"

    For fine details like hair, use the "Select and Mask" tool to touch up the selection edge more precisely.

  4. Invert the selection and delete the background

    Invert the selection (Shift+Ctrl+I), then press Delete to remove the background and make it transparent.

When This Technique Comes in Handy

Cleanly removing the background from a product shot or portrait makes it much easier to composite the subject onto a new background or reuse it as a transparent-background image across different projects.

If the Automatic Selection Is Not Quite Right

AI subject selection works well most of the time but is not perfect, especially around fine hair strands or complex edges β€” in the "Select and Mask" workspace, use the brush tool to manually add or remove areas from the selection until the edge looks clean.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if "Select Subject" gets it wrong?

Open the "Select and Mask" tool and use the brush to manually add or remove parts of the selection for finer control.

What file format should I save as after removing the background?

Save as PNG to keep the transparency β€” saving as JPG will fill the transparent areas in with white.