About the Make Background Transparent
Make Background Transparent removes one colour from a picture and saves the result as a PNG with see-through areas. It compares every pixel with the colour you choose, so it works best on flat, evenly coloured backgrounds: white studio shots, logos, icons, signatures and scans. It does not detect objects or people, so it is not a cut-out tool for busy photos. Choose the colour, set how close a shade must be to disappear, soften the edges, and watch the checkerboard preview change. Your picture is processed inside your browser and is never uploaded.
Updated September 2026
How to use the Make Background Transparent
- 1Select an image, or drop one on the page. The top-left pixel's colour is chosen for you.
- 2If the background is another colour, click Pick from image and then click the background, or type a hex colour.
- 3Adjust Tolerance and Edge softness until the checkerboard shows the result you want.
- 4Choose Only the outside to keep matching colours inside the subject, or Everywhere to remove them all.
- 5Click Download PNG.
How colour-based removal works
Every picture is a grid of pixels, and each pixel has a red, green and blue value. This tool measures how far each pixel's colour is from the one you chose, as a percentage of the distance between black and white. Pixels within your tolerance become fully transparent; pixels just beyond it can fade out gradually when edge softness is above zero.
Because it only looks at colour, it cannot tell a logo from a wall. That suits flat artwork, and fails on photographs with shadows, gradients or a background that resembles the subject.
Choosing tolerance and edge softness
Start with the default tolerance of 12 and look at the checkerboard. If patches of background remain, raise it a few points at a time. If the subject starts to look eaten away, go back down; the two colours are too similar for one setting to separate them.
Edge softness controls how quickly pixels beyond the tolerance become opaque again. A small value, around 5 to 15, smooths the jagged rim that a hard cut leaves. Set it to 0 for a crisp, hard edge, which suits pixel art and flat icons.
- Low tolerance keeps more of the picture but can leave a fringe of the old colour.
- High tolerance clears fringes but can remove parts of the subject.
- Only the outside protects matching colours that sit inside the subject.
Logos, signatures and scans
Flat logos and icons are the easiest case: pick the background, keep Only the outside, and the result is usually clean in one step. Signatures and scans have paper texture, so the background is a range of near-whites; raise the tolerance until the paper is gone but the ink strokes are intact.
Photograph documents in even light without shadows, since a shadow across the page is a different colour from the paper and stays behind. For JPG files, expect noise in the background and use a higher tolerance than you would for a PNG.
When you need a different tool
If the background is a gradient, a room, a street or hair against sky, colour removal will not give a clean result. Use a subject-cutting editor for those. If the goal is a smaller file or another format, try Image Converter, or Compress Image for uploads.
If you want a solid new colour behind the finished cut-out, download the transparent PNG from here and fill it with Add Background Color to Image. To trim empty margins afterwards, use Crop Image, and set exact dimensions with Image Resizer.
Features
- Remove white or any single colour
- Pick the colour straight from the image
- Tolerance and edge softness sliders
- Only the outside, or everywhere
- Checkerboard preview that updates as you move the sliders
- Full-size PNG download
- Private: the image never leaves your device
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove a white background from a logo?
Open the logo, leave the colour on white, and keep Only the outside selected. The white around the logo turns into checkerboard squares. If a light grey fringe remains, raise Tolerance a little, then download the PNG.
Why are there white edges (a halo) after removing the background?
Pixels along an edge are a blend of the subject and the background, so they are not quite white and survive a low tolerance. Raise Tolerance in small steps, or add some Edge softness so the leftover blend fades out instead of showing a hard light outline.
Does it remove the background from a photo of a person?
Not reliably. This tool works by colour, not by recognising people or objects. It only helps when the backdrop is one flat colour that differs from the subject. For a busy background, use an editor with a proper subject cut-out.
What is the difference between "Only the outside" and "Everywhere"?
Only the outside removes matching colour that connects to the picture's edges, so white inside a shirt or the hole of a letter O stays. Everywhere removes every matching pixel in the whole picture, including enclosed areas.
Can I make a signature transparent?
Yes. Photograph or scan the signature on white paper, keep the colour on white, and raise Tolerance until the paper's grey shading disappears. Download the PNG and place it on documents. Very faint pen strokes may need a lower tolerance.
Which format keeps transparency?
PNG keeps it, and so does WebP, but JPG cannot store see-through pixels. That is why this tool always downloads a PNG. If you later need a JPG, Add Background Color to Image can fill the transparent areas first.