PhotoFresco

How to cut out a subject and change a photo's background

Change the background of a photo online — cut out the subject with a wand selection and a layer mask, then place any new backdrop behind it. Free, in the browser, no upload.

Swapping the background of a photo is a cut-out plus one extra move: once the subject sits on its own masked layer, anything you slide underneath becomes the new backdrop — another photo, a flat color, a gradient. All of it happens on your machine; the photo is never uploaded.

The finished composite: the cut-out subject sitting on a completely different background photo
The finished composite: the cut-out subject sitting on a completely different background photo

Change a photo's background in six steps

  1. Open your photo (File ▸ Open…) and pick the Magic Wand tool (W).
  2. Click the old background to select it; Shift-click to add any regions the first click missed. The selection shows as marching ants.
  3. Flip the selection onto the subject with Select ▸ Inverse (⇧⌘I / Ctrl+Shift+I), then tighten the edge: Select ▸ Contract… by 1 px and Select ▸ Feather… by 0.5–1 px.
  4. Click Layer ▸ Layer Mask ▸ Add — the old background disappears, leaving the subject on transparency.
  5. Bring in the new backdrop with File ▸ Place Embedded…. It arrives as its own layer.
  6. The new image lands on top, so send it behind the subject: Layer ▸ Arrange ▸ Send to Back. Done — reposition either layer independently with the Move tool (V).
Marching ants after wand-selecting the old background — the dashed outline hugs the subject and the document edges
Marching ants after wand-selecting the old background — the dashed outline hugs the subject and the document edges

The wand works best on flat backdrops; for busy ones, trace the subject with the Polygonal Lasso or Object Selection instead. The selection and masking mechanics are covered step-by-step in How to remove the background from an image — this page continues where that one ends.

The two-layer setup

The Layers panel: the masked subject layer above, the new background layer below
The Layers panel: the masked subject layer above, the new background layer below

That's the whole trick, and it's fully non-destructive:

  • The top layer is your original photo with a layer mask — the old background is hidden, not deleted. Click the mask thumbnail and paint white/black with the Brush to refine the edge at any point.
  • The bottom layer is the new backdrop. Swap it, recolor it, blur it, or move it without ever touching the subject.

Making the composite believable

  • Match the light. A subject lit from the left pasted onto a background lit from the right never looks right. Pick a backdrop whose light direction roughly agrees.
  • Match the blur. If the new background is tack-sharp behind a softly-shot subject, blur it: with the background layer active, Filter ▸ Blur ▸ Gaussian Blur… a few pixels sells the depth.
  • Check the edges at 100%. Zoom in (Z or ⌘+ / Ctrl++) and fix any leftover fringe by painting the mask.
  • Export as JPEG or WebP for sharing, or keep a layered PSD so you can re-swap the backdrop later.

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