How it works
First, the pixels along the image edges are checked and the most common color is taken as the background. Then, starting from the edges, connected pixels close to that color are removed. Areas that match the background color but aren't connected to it, such as white letters inside a logo or a highlight in an eye, are kept.
To choose the background color yourself, pick it under Background color. Auto-detection turns off and your color is used for every file.
Settings
- Tolerance: how close a color must be to the background to be removed. For JPGs with compression noise, 15 to 25 works well. Too high, and bright parts of the picture disappear too.
- Remove: to also remove enclosed areas, like the hole in a ring-shaped logo or the inside of the letter O, choose Same color everywhere.
- Smooth edges: makes the border between the picture and background semi-transparent and removes leftover background tint, so you see less of a white halo on dark backgrounds.
Results are previewed over a checkerboard. Wherever you see the checkerboard is now transparent.
What works and what doesn't
It works best when the background is one evenly colored area: a signature scanned on white paper, a logo exported on white, a product shot against plain backdrop paper.
Photos with busy backgrounds, such as landscapes, rooms or long shadows, won't come out clean this way. Those need a dedicated background removal tool that recognizes the outline of people or objects.
Adding a signature to documents
When you photograph a signature on white paper, the paper often looks grey or yellowish. Raise the tolerance to 25 to 35. Save as PNG and you can place it on top of documents in Word or a PDF editor. Keep signature images for official documents somewhere safe. This page never sends your files to a server.