Remove the background from an image

Done on your PC, with no credits

Background removers on the web upload your photo, run it on their servers and often count each picture against credits. Octoolo does the same job on your own computer. The first time you use it, it downloads an AI model made for cutting out subjects, together with the engine that runs it, about 200 MB in all. The download is checked and kept on your PC, and from then on removing a background needs no internet at all.

There is no account with an AI service, no limit on how many photos you do, and your pictures never leave your computer, which matters for photos of people, of your home or of products that are not public yet. AI › AI parts on this computer… shows which AI parts are there.

The model runs on your processor: a few seconds on a recent PC, longer on an older one. The bar at the top shows that it is working.

A mask, not an eraser

Octoolo does not delete the background. It adds a mask to the photo's layer: a gray picture where white shows the photo, black hides it, and gray shows it partly, which is how soft edges such as hair and fur fade out instead of being cut with scissors.

• See the mask in the Properties panel shows the mask on its own, so stray gray patches are easy to spot.
• A soft brush blends the edge; a hard one cleans a straight line, such as the side of a box.
• Layer › Layer mask › Delete mask brings the whole photo back, and Apply mask makes the cut-out final.

Because nothing is deleted, a mistake is never final: if the AI took off an ear or left a patch of sky, paint it back or away, and export again.

Putting the subject on a new background

A clear background is often a step on the way to another one:

• A plain color: Layer › New fill layer › New color fill layer, then Layer › Arrange › Send to back. White suits product photos for shops; a soft color suits profile pictures.
• A gradient: New gradient layer from the same menu, from the foreground to the background color.
• Another photo: File › Place a picture…, then send it to the back and size it with Ctrl T.

Tick Shadow under Effects for the cut-out to set it on the new background rather than floating in front of it, and add a Light & color adjustment if the two lights do not match. To blur the real background instead of replacing it, see blur image.

Getting a clean cut-out

The AI does best with a clear subject: a person, an animal, a product, a car. A busy background, a subject in the same colors as what is behind it, glass and very fine hair against a bright sky are where touch-ups are needed.

• Start from the largest version of the photo you have. Small, blurry photos give soft, uncertain edges.
• For one thing among several, press W for Select an object and click it, then choose Layer › Layer mask › Add a mask from the selection.
• For hair, select the subject first with Select › Subject (AI), refine it with Select › Refine edges…, and make the mask from that selection.
• For a logo or a graphic on a flat color, the Similar colors option of the same tool often cuts cleaner than the AI.

To take something out of a photo rather than keep it, press J for Remove & heal and paint over it: the hole is filled from what is around it.