How to Remove a Background in PicsArt

Pick the right photo first

Cutouts succeed or fail before you open the app. Even lighting and a clear gap between subject and background do more than any tool. Avoid busy backgrounds behind hair.

Use the automatic cutout

Open your photo, tap Tools, then Cutout, and choose Person or Object. PicsArt makes a first pass automatically, it will be roughly right and wrong at the edges.

Fix the edges by brush

Switch to the erase and restore brushes and drop the brush size right down. Work zoomed in, and follow the shape of hair rather than trying to trace every strand.

• Hardness around 70 for clothing, 40 for hair
• Restore in short strokes so undo stays useful
• Check the edge against a white and a dark background

Save with transparency

Export as PNG, not JPG. JPG has no transparency and will fill your cutout with white, the single most common mistake here.

Tip. Save both the PNG cutout and the finished composition. You will reuse the cutout more than you expect.

Drop it onto a new background

Add your cutout over a new photo or one of our PNG background elements, then match the two: brightness, warmth and a small shadow under the subject. Matching light is what makes it believable.