How to Change the Background of a Picture

Many people would like to know how to change the background of a picture. There’s a good reason for this. How many times have you taken a perfect photo of a friend or family member, only to find out that a passer-by was making faces when you took a shot? Or maybe a dog, running at the speed of light, left a blurry trace across your photo’s background? In both cases, the foreground of the pic looks OK, but the background may have unwanted details that ruin the whole atmosphere of the photo. So, do you want to know how to change the background?

There are several ways to remove or add background to a photo. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones.

Adobe Photoshop® is a powerful photo editor with many professional tools and useful features. While you can simply change the background color or image with this program, there are many other functions. For example, Photoshop® enables its users to add realistic shadows to foreground objects and smoothly adjust them to the new background. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros

• Professional photo editor

• Wide variety of tools

Cons

• Steep learning curve

• A bit pricey if you only need basic editing tools

Follow the instructions below to change the background with Photoshop®.

1. Launch the program. Drag and drop the images of the new background and foreground subjects into the Photoshop® window.

2. Click Object Selection, then choose Select Subject and click the Select and Mask button to enter the Select and Mask workspace. In the workspace, move the Transparency slider to the right to see how the marked object looks on the new background. Then move the Shift Edge slider to the left to smooth out the edges of the selection. Delete the remainder of the original background with the Brush tool. In the Output To list, choose the Selection option. Click OK.

3. In the Layers section, click the Add Layer Mask icon. Use the Move tool to adjust the position of the foreground object.

4. Click the File menu and select Save As. In the dialog box that appears, enter the filename, choose the desired format, and select the output folder. Click Save.

If you only want to replace the background without undertaking any other edits, we recommend using PhotoScissors. This automatic background changer enables you to remove the original background and replace it with another image or a solid color. You’ll still need to do some fine-tuning, but this type of background removal is faster than a fully manual one. PhotoScissors is an online service, so you don’t need to download any potentially risky freeware or shareware. Here are the pros and cons.

Pros

• Removes the background automatically

• Works great with simple objects

• Lets you download low-resolution pictures for free

Cons

• Almost no editing tools

• You need to pay to download high-resolution pictures

• Image size and resolution options are limited

Now, let’s learn how to replace the background with PhotoScissors.

1. Follow the link below to visit the PhotoScissors website:
   
   Go to the PhotoScissors website

   On the main page, click the Upload Image button and choose the desired image. The program will automatically mark the foreground objects.

2. Open the Background tab, then choose one of the options from the list. You can leave the background transparent, replace it with a solid color, or choose a new background image.

3. In the upper-right corner, click the Download button. Then click Download in Low Resolution to download the final image for free. If you want to download the image in high resolution, you can click the Purchase button, create an account, and buy the number of download credits you need.

Today’s smartphones are capable of supporting full-scale photo editors. If you want to edit photos on the fly, a photo-editing app is your best choice. However, a smartphone screen is relatively small, and you have to draw and mark objects with your finger. Both of these factors significantly reduce the precision and enjoyment of using a mobile photo editor. For background replacement, we recommend LightX. This app is available for both Android and iOS and focuses on background replacement. Let’s take a look at its pros and cons.

Pros

• Feature-rich

• Powerful for a mobile editor

Cons

• Save options may seem a bit confusing

Follow the instructions below to change a background with LightX.

1. Launch the app. In the lower part of the main screen, select the saved photo from the ribbon of photos, or make a new one with a phone’s camera.

2. Tap the Pencil icon. In the menu that opens, tap Cut Out in the Creative section. Using your finger, mark the foreground object that you want to place on a new background. Tap the Arrow icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. Use the Smart Erase tool to fix the outline.

3. Tap the Arrow icon in the upper-right corner of the interface. On the next screen, you can crop the image if you want. Tap the Arrow icon again. Hit BG Color to choose a solid color as your new background. Alternatively, you can tap BG Image to choose a new background image. If you have the Pro version of the app, you can tap Transparent to leave the background transparent. Adapt the foreground object to its new background by dragging, resizing, and rotating as needed.

4. To save the final image, tap the Check icon at the upper-right corner of the screen. On the next screen, tap the Save icon. In the menu that opens, select the desired output format and resolution. Finally, tap the Save button.

In this article, we’ve covered several ways to replace a photo’s background. While the final choice is up to you, we recommend using Movavi Photo Editor. This intuitive photo editor has all the tools you need to change a background smoothly and easily.