How to make Background Transparent in Photoshop

Photoshop is the primary tool for editing digital photographs or images. While many easier-to-use products have mushroomed, Photoshop has retained its worth in the market. A lot of people might want to remove the background in digital images and Photoshop will be the best tool for the same. We will discuss the procedure to make the Background Transparent in Photoshop.

Why should you use Photoshop to remove the background despite the availability of better tools for free?

Photoshop is a paid software and rather an expensive one. Websites like remove.bg and Canva will allow you to do the job for free, but they have 2 limitations. The first limitation is that while it can remove a basic background, you will find it difficult to remove the fine extra sides. Secondly, it will be difficult for these tools to remove backgrounds properly for complicated images. Basically, free tools are good for figures and logos, however for complex photos, you will need Photoshop.

How to make Background Transparent in Photoshop

To make the background of an image transparent, try any one of the following methods:

1. Using Quick Settings
2. Using Object Selection tools
3. Using the Select and Mask tool

1] Using Quick Settings

If you wish to remove the background for an image using Quick Settings on Photoshop, then the procedure is as follows:

• Open Adobe Photoshop.
• Click on File > Open.
• Browse for the image and open it.
• Click on the image once to select it.
• Press CTRL + C to create a copy (this step is important to create a layer).
• Click on Window among the tabs on the top.
• Select Properties from the list.
• Expand the list for Quick Actions.
• Click on Remove Background.
• Wait for a few seconds and the background will be removed.

Simple? But this method has a drawback that it will only work for human figures or well-defined backgrounds. In the case of complex backgrounds, the automatic tool won’t detect the background.

2] Using Object Selection tools

Adobe Photoshop has a set of tools to select certain portions of an object. You can invoke this option either by pressing the keyboard shortcut W or right-clicking on the option on the left pane. In both these cases, you will notice the following 3 tools:

1. Object Selection Tool
2. Quick Selection Tool
3. Magic Wand Tool

The Object Selection tool allows you to select a rectangle around a region and all objects in that rectangular selection get selected. The Quick Selection tool allows you to select figures part by part. The Magic Wand tool will select human figures and objects with precision.

You can use a combination of these three tools to select the portion you wish to retain. Then click on the layer mask icon at the bottom-right corner and the background will be deleted.

3] Using the Select and Mask tool

Of all the tools I used for removing the background on Adobe Photoshop, the Select and Mask tool is the best for human figures. The reason is that it removes everything from the main image and later, you can select and add the human figure. The procedure to use the Select and Mask tool is as follows:

• Open the image on Adobe Photoshop as explained above.
• Simply click on the Select and Mask option in the list at the top.
• The whole image will be removed (but visible in a lighter color. This is to represent a removed background.
• Now, select the part which you need to include.

Anything which is not selected will be removed as the background.

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How can I remove the background from a picture?

Earlier, you would have to use the Lasso tool to remove select the frame of a picture and remove the background manually. However, now this is not needed. Most tools (both free and paid) come with the option to smartly detect the background and eventually remove it. You can use free tools, Canva (the most popular), or MS Word for removing the background of the image.

How do I bulk remove the background of an image in Photoshop?

There is no option to remove the backgrounds of multiple pictures on any tool including Photoshop. This is because the part to be removed needs to be selected manually. However, you can create multiple layers on the Photoshop canvas and use the Object Selection tool to quickly select and remove the background.