Lorenzo, your best friend, just sent you a message asking if you know any gods programs to remove the background from photos. Not wanting to disappoint him, you replied that within a few minutes you would send him a list of useful programs for this purpose and so, after a short online search, you ended up on my blog hoping to find the information you were looking for. Well, what about? Congratulations: you've come to the right place at the right time!
In the guide you are reading, in fact, you will find not only some of the most useful programs for removing the background from photos, but also the instructions necessary to use them at their best. And I'll tell you more: in the second part of the tutorial I will also list some online services and some apps for smartphones and tablets that could be useful for completing your work directly from the browser or from your mobile device.
So, are you ready to get started? Yup? Fantastic! Make yourself comfortable, take all the time necessary to concentrate on reading the next paragraphs and, more importantly, implement the "tips" that I will give you: if you do, you will not have the slightest problem in helping your friend to remove the background from the photos and he will be grateful to you. There is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and, above all, have fun!
Programs to remove the background from photos for free
You wish to know if there are gods programs to remove the background from photos for free? The answer is yes. In the next lines I will tell you about some programs, some of which are completely free and others available in timed trial versions, which allow you to remove the background from photos in a rather simple way.
GIMP (Windows / macOS / Linux)
One of the first solutions that I invite you to try is GIMP, a famous free and open source program that integrates various useful tools for removing the background from photos (and not only, since it is the best free alternative to Photoshop). Its well-organized interface and ease of use make it a perfect software even for those who, like you, are now approaching the world of photo editing.
To install GIMP on your computer, connected to its website, press the button Download xxxx and then on the orange button Download GIMP xxxx directly, present on the right of the page. Once the download is complete, open the installation file you obtained and follow the instructions you see on the screen to complete the setup.
Su Windows, pigia quindi sul pulsating Yes and then OK, Install e end. If you use a Macinstead, drag GIMP into the folder Applications say macOS, click on destroy the program icon and select the voice apri from the menu that appears, in order to "bypass" the restrictions applied by Apple to non-certified developers (you have to do this operation only at the first start).
After installing and starting GIMP, select the entry Apri ... from the menu Fillet located at the top, import the image you want to act on and select the item Toggle Quick Mask from the menu Select. If everything went well, the photo you are editing will be colored all red: select it, then Path tool from the tool panel located on the left (the icon of the pen) and trace the perimeter of the subject you want to cut out trying to be as accurate as possible.
When you have finished the tracing work on the perimeter of the subject you want to keep, disable the quick mask by clicking on the item Toggle Quick Mask from the menu Select and presses the button Selection from the path located in the toolbar on the left: as you will notice, the perimeter of the image you have just traced will be marked by a dotted line. Now, open the menu Selectclick sulla voce Invert and delete the background by pressing the button Canc keyboard (on Windows) or fn + Delete key (your macOS).
If you do not need to make any other changes to the photo and are happy with the result, select the item Export as from the menu Fillet and choose the export format you prefer. For more information on how to crop an image with GIMP, take a look at the guide I just linked to.
Paint.Net (Windows)
Another program that I recommend you try to remove the background from photos is Paint.NET: a free software that, as its name can easily guess, has been designed especially for making drawings on the computer. However, thanks to some of its features, you can also use it to edit images and, which interests you right now, remove the background from them.
Paint.NET can be downloaded for free from its website or can be purchased from the Microsoft Store at a price of 7,99 euros (in case you want to offer your contribution for the development of the program). Before guiding you through the installation of Paint.NET and showing you how to use it to remove the background from photos, I would like to tell you that to work correctly it needs the component .NET Framework from Microsoft. If this is not currently installed on your PC, download it from Microsoft's site.
Then connected to the Paint.NET download page and presses on the item paint.net xxxx located on the right, under the heading Free Download Now. When the download is complete, double-click on thezip archive you got, run the program paint.net.xxxx.install.exe inside and follow the instructions you see on the screen to complete the setup: then press the button Yes, put the check mark on the item Rapida, award-winning NEXT, put the check mark on the item Accept and then presses on the buttons NEXT e end.
After installing and starting the program, select the item Apri ... from the menu Fillet which is at the top and choose the photo you want to act on. Then click on the button Tool▾ located at the top left, select the tool Selection with lasso (also located on the toolbar, it would be the icon of the circle with the thread attached) and traces with great accuracy the area of the image you want to keep. Now, invert the selection by clicking on the item Invert selection from the menu Modification and press the button Canc on the keyboard: as if by “magic” everything outside the selection will be eliminated.
If you are satisfied with your work, save the edited image by selecting the item Save with name ... from the menu Fillet And that's it. Easier than that ?!
Photoshop (Windows / macOS)
I know it, Photoshop it is not free: but could it be missing in a guide dedicated to the best programs to remove the background from photos? No, here it is! Besides, if you think about it, you can try Photoshop for free for 7 days taking advantage of the trial period offered by Adobe (if you remember, I have already talked about it extensively in another guide).
If you decide to try Photoshop, know that it too has very useful tools to remove the background from photos. Do you want me to talk about it in more detail? I'll settle you immediately! To begin with, start Photoshop on your computer, import the image you want to edit into it, by clicking on the item Apri ... from the menu Fillet, and follow the instructions I am about to give you.
First, activate the mode Quick mask pressing the icon of rectangle with the circle inside which is located at the bottom left (just below the palettes), select the black colour in the palette and "color" the elements you want to remove (in this case the background) using the tool Brush.
Once this first phase of the work has been completed, which I invite you to do very carefully if you want to obtain appreciable results, deactivate the Quick Mask mode by clicking again on the icon of the rectangle with circle located at the bottom left and choose a tool of Selection from the left toolbar (ex. Lasso selection, Rectangular selection, etc.), then right-click on the photo you have selected and click on the item Select reverse present in the context menu.
To "soften" the selection and obtain a higher quality result, click on the button Refine Edge located at the top right and use the functions radius, Round up e Fade to make the selection of the subject that you do not want to delete together with the background more precise and, as soon as you are finished, press the button OK.
Finally, copy the subject you have selected by pressing the keys Ctrl + C (your Windows) or cmd + c (on macOS) and create a new image by selecting the item New from the menu Fillet. Define, therefore, the width and l 'height of the image you want to create, choose the settings related to the drop-down menu Background content (Eg. Transparent, if you want to get an image with a transparent background) and presses the button OK.
After that, paste the previously selected and copied image using the key combination Ctrl + V (your Windows) or cmd + v (on macOS) and, as soon as you are satisfied with the work done, save the output photo without background (for example in the form of a PNG o GIF if you have chosen to create an image with a transparent background) and that's it.
If you want to learn more about how Photoshop works to remove the background from photos, I suggest you consult the guides in which I explain even more in detail how to cut out with Photoshop and how to make a photo transparent with Photoshop: you will certainly appreciate these readings a lot too.
Programs to remove the background from online photos
Haven't the solutions I proposed to you in the previous paragraphs left you satisfied? If so, try one of the solutions to remove the background from online photos which are listed below and you will see that you will not regret!
Remove.bg
To remove the background from online photos you can use services of the caliber of Remove.bg which, using an “intelligent” algorithm, recognizes human faces by cutting them out (at the time of writing it is not possible to cut out other types of subjects). The service is free only if used for non-commercial purposes and if low resolution images are processed: to break down these limits it is necessary to subscribe to the Premium subscription, which starts at 9 euros / month.
To cut out photos with Remove.bg, connected to its home page, click on the button Select a photo and choose the image to upload and edit or paste the URL of a photo taken from the web into the text field or enter URL. In some cases you may be asked to go through a verification procedure (for safety reasons): follow the instructions that will be provided to you to complete it.
At this point, all you have to do is wait for the image processing to be completed and press the button Download to download the photo that has been cropped and that's it.
Other online services to remove the background from photos
There are other online services to remove the background from photos that deserve to be mentioned: here are some that could be for you.
- Edit Photos for Free - allows you to remove the background from photos by simply drawing the portion of the image to keep and the one to be deleted. It requires no registration and works on virtually any browser.
- Clipping Magic - it is an online service that allows you to easily remove the background from photos. It can be used for free, but to download the edited photos you need to purchase credits via subscription: to buy 15 (and use them for as many downloads), you need to spend $ 3,99 per month.
- Photopea - if you are looking for an online service that allows you to remove the background from photos in a similar way to what is seen with GIMP and Photoshop, this is the solution that could be for you. Photopea, in fact, allows you to use selection tools similar to those present in the "classic" photo editing software through which you can cut out the images and remove the background. This service is also free and does not require the use of additional plugins.
App to remove the background from photos
If you want to remove the background from photos using your smartphone or tablet, try the following on your device app to remove background from photos and you will see that you will have no problems in completing this operation.
- Photo Layers (Android) - is a very versatile app that, in addition to allowing you to remove the background from images in a few taps, also allows you to edit your shots and manage up to a maximum of 11 levels. I showed you how it works in this guide.
- Superimpose Studio (iOS) - it is an app in some ways similar to Photo Layers, since it too allows you to remove the background from photos in a few taps, but it is only available for Apple users. Superimpose Studio can be downloaded for free, but to eliminate the advertising banners present in it, it is necessary to make in-app purchases starting from € 1,09.
