How to make a background transparent online
Picstea makes a background transparent by hand, not with AI: click a plain background with the Magic Eraser, clean the edges with the Background Eraser, and export a PNG. It's free, works in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Open the editor — free, no sign-up
Remove a plain background in four steps
- Open the editor and drop your image on the page.
- Choose the Magic Eraser (in the eraser group of the toolbar) and click the background. Every connected pixel of a similar colour becomes transparent; raise the tolerance in the options bar if some of it stays.
- Clean up what's left along the edges with the Background Eraser, which erases colours close to the one under the centre of the brush and keeps the rest.
- Choose File → Export As…, pick PNG or WebP, and save.
For busy backgrounds: select the subject instead
- Trace the subject with the Lasso or Polygonal Lasso (or select the background with the Magic Wand or Color Range and choose Select → Inverse).
- Choose Select → Inverse so the background is selected, then press Delete.
- Prefer to keep the background for later? Use a layer mask instead of deleting: everything the mask hides becomes transparent in the export, and you can repaint it any time.
Tips
- Zoom in on the edges; a 1–2 pixel Feather avoids hard, jagged outlines.
- Logos on white: Filter → Other → Color to Alpha turns white into transparency while keeping soft edges.
- Layer masks are explained in layers and masks explained.
Limitations
Without AI, hair, fur and backgrounds that share colours with the subject take patience. There is no refine-edge or "select subject" tool yet.
How-to guides
- Blur a photo background
- Add text to a photo
- Make a photo black and white
- Sharpen an image
- Liquify a photo
Related tools
- Online photo editor
- PSD editor
- PNG editor
- JPEG editor
- WebP editor
- Image resizer
- Image compressor
- Photo filters
- Image converter
Questions
- Does Picstea remove backgrounds automatically?
- No, not yet. There is no AI background removal; you remove the background with the erasers or a selection. That works best on plain, evenly coloured backgrounds such as product shots and logos.
- Which format keeps the transparency?
- PNG (lossless) or WebP (smaller). JPEG has no transparency, so transparent areas become white there.
- How do I know the background is really gone?
- Transparent areas show a grey and white checkerboard on the canvas. Anything still visible over the checkerboard will be in the exported image.
- Is my image uploaded?
- No. Everything happens in your browser. Picstea has no server that receives images.