Want to isolate an object from a photo? Or perhaps give it a brand new background? With Photopea, a free and powerful online photo editor, removing backgrounds is simpler than you might think. This guide will walk you through using the Magic Wand tool to precisely cut out elements, making background removal a breeze.
To get started, navigate to Photopea.com in your web browser. If a welcome screen appears, simply close it by clicking the “X” in the top right corner.
Next, open the image you wish to edit. Click “File” then “Open” in the top left menu, and select your desired image from your computer, or use the convenient drag and drop feature.
The process involves two key steps: Selecting the Background and Deleting the Selected Area. Let’s dive in.
Selecting the Background
Photopea’s selection tools allow you to isolate specific parts of your image. The selected area will be highlighted with a contour.
Let’s use this image of a tree as an example, where our goal is to remove the sky, effectively isolating the tree. A properly selected sky, ready for removal, should look similar to this:
We will achieve this selection using the Magic Wand tool. This tool is excellent for selecting areas of similar color, perfect for isolating a sky, a solid color background, or other uniformly colored areas.
First, locate the Magic Wand tool in the toolbar on the left side of your Photopea interface. It shares a button with another tool, so ensure the Magic Wand is selected.
Now, click on the sky area in your image. Each click initiates a new selection. To select multiple areas, or areas that are not directly contiguous, hold down the Shift key while clicking. This will add the newly clicked area to your existing selection.
For more refined selections, experiment with the “Tolerance” and “Contiguous” settings located in the top menu bar once the Magic Wand tool is active. “Tolerance” dictates how wide a range of colors will be selected with each click. A lower tolerance selects a narrower range, while a higher tolerance selects a broader spectrum of similar colors. “Contiguous” determines if only connected areas of similar color are selected, or if similar colors throughout the entire image are included in the selection. Adjust these settings to achieve a precise selection of the sky, as shown in the example image above.
Mastering selections can take practice. Depending on the complexity of the image, it might take a few seconds or longer to achieve a perfect selection. The more time you invest in precise selection, the cleaner and more professional your final result will be. For a deeper understanding of selections and their various options, explore the comprehensive guide available at /learn/selections and its related articles.
Deleting the Selected Area
Once you have accurately selected the background, deleting it is straightforward. Navigate to “Edit” in the top menu and choose “Clear”. Alternatively, simply press the “Delete” key on your keyboard.
If your layer is a Smart Object, you may need to rasterize it first. To do this, go to “Layer” in the top menu and select “Rasterize”. After deleting, the background will be replaced by a checkered pattern of white and grey squares. This pattern signifies transparency, meaning that area of the image is now empty.
To preserve this transparency, you need to save your image in a format that supports it. PNG is the ideal format for this. Go to “File”, then “Export As”, and select “PNG”. Finally, click “Save”. It’s crucial to save as PNG, as formats like JPG do not support transparent pixels and will fill the transparent area with a solid color, usually white.
Adding a New Background
To place your newly isolated object onto a different background, or simply add a new background to your image, go to “File” and select “Open & Place”. Choose the image you want to use as your new background. This image will be added as a new layer in your Photopea project.
The new background image might initially cover your original image. To fix this, and place the background behind your main object, go to “Layer” in the top menu, then “Arrange”, and select “Send to Back“. This will move the background layer behind all other layers, positioning your cut-out object in front of the new background. You can then move and resize the background layer as needed by dragging its corners, and press Enter to confirm the changes.
With these steps, you’ve successfully removed the background from your image and are ready to place it wherever your creativity takes you! Experiment with different backgrounds and enjoy the versatility of Photopea’s Magic Wand tool.
