removebgpictureStart
Two white camellias on a pale grey studio backdrop, before the background is removedBeforeAfter · PNG

Cut out an image

Cut out exactly what you want.

Draw round the part you want to keep and the edge snaps to the real outline.

or drop it here · paste with CtrlV

FreeFull sizeNo sign-up

Your browser does the cutting. There's no server on the other end.

No photo handy?

What this page does, in detail

Draw round what you want with a polygon, a freehand lasso or a magnetic edge that snaps to the photo; cut holes with a subtract shape. The outline only has to be close: the edge band then finds the real boundary within a few pixels of it.

The first cutout fits colour models to your own picture, with nothing downloaded, so it is at its best when subject and ground differ in colour or brightness. Fine hair against a busy background, glass, netting and motion blur come back rough — the brushes are the honest fix.

If the subject is a person, the Cut panel offers a network trained on people instead — 5.9 MB the first time you ask for it, kept in this browser afterwards, about 90 ms a picture (estimate, not yet timed on a named device for this site).

For subjects nothing automatic separates: a shape in a busy scene, part of an object, a cut-out for a collage.

Drawing, then refining

The shapes you draw become a mask, and the mask goes through the same edge band every other method on this site uses: certainly-in inside it, certainly-out outside it, and a strip along the outline where the photograph’s own edges decide how much of each pixel is subject. That is why a polygon drawn a little loosely round a mug still comes out on the mug’s rim, with its anti-aliasing intact.

After the cut, every Refine, Edge, Finish and Frame control works as it does elsewhere: keep and take-away brushes, halo shrink, a shadow, a white background, an exact size.

  • Soft edges need a wider band. Hair and fur are not a line. Draw round them generously and widen edge detail, or start from the guided selection instead.
  • The magnetic edge follows contrast. On a low-contrast boundary it has nothing to snap to and stays where you clicked.

Questions

Which tool should I use?

Polygon for straight-sided things — boxes, buildings, a phone. Lasso for quick rough shapes. Magnetic for a curved outline with a clear edge: each stretch between two clicks snaps to the strongest edge in the photo nearby.

How do I cut a hole, like the inside of a handle?

Switch the shape to 'Cut away from it' on the Cut panel and draw round the hole. Shapes apply in order, so a subtract shape drawn after an add shape cuts into it.

My outline is a little off the edge. Do I need to redraw it?

Usually not. The edge band re-solves a strip either side of your outline against the photo's own edges. Widen 'Edge detail' on the Edge panel if the outline is further out than a few pixels.

Can I do it with the keyboard?

Yes. Focus the picture, move with the arrow keys (Shift for bigger steps), press Enter to place a point, Backspace to remove one, Shift Enter to close the shape and Escape to clear it.

Is anything uploaded?

No. The outline, the edge and the file are all made in this tab.

Related

Made here, from one photo

One cutout, four ways to use it

The original photograph: white camellias on a grey studio backdrop
The original photo