Change the background color

When a colored background is the right call

A solid color background turns a snapshot into something that looks designed. It is common for team pages where every headshot shares one brand color, for social posts and thumbnails that need to stand out in a feed, for slide decks where a cut-out photo has to match the template, and for product shots outside the marketplaces that demand white.

The tool above gives you four kinds of background: transparent, white, black, or any color from the color picker. It does not do gradients, textures or photo backgrounds. For those, download a transparent PNG and layer it in a design tool.

How to choose a color that works

Contrast with the subject. The color should be clearly different from the subject's main colors. A person in a navy jacket disappears on navy. A yellow product vanishes on pale yellow.

Match brightness to the original light. A subject lit by soft gray daylight sits naturally on a mid-tone color. Put the same person on bright saturated red and the lighting no longer matches, so the cut-out looks pasted on.

Keep saturation moderate for people. Strong colors reflect onto skin in real life. When they are added afterward, the skin has none of that reflection, which looks off. Muted colors such as dusty blue, sage or warm gray are more forgiving.

Check accessibility if there is text on top. If you will add a caption over the background, test the text color against it. The W3C's contrast guidance asks for a ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 for normal text.

Keeping colors consistent across many photos

If you are making a set, such as staff photos or a product line, decide the exact color once and write down its hex code. Use the same code in the color picker every time. WipeMark works on one photo at a time, so the shared code is what keeps the set matching.

Shoot the photos in similar light too. A uniform background makes differences in lighting much easier to notice, because nothing in the background distracts from them.

Problems that show up on colored backgrounds

A pale or dark halo. Partly transparent edge pixels mix the subject with the old background. On white you rarely see it. On a dark or saturated color you will. Use Erase at a small brush size along the edge, or pick a color closer in brightness to the original background.

Holes that show the new color. Gaps between arms and body, or inside handles and loops, should show the new color. If they still show the old room, clear them with Erase.

Color bleeding from the original scene. Someone photographed beside a green hedge has a green tint on hair edges. Against magenta, that tint stands out. Choose a color that sits near green, or reshoot away from strongly colored surroundings.

Which format to download

Download JPG for a solid color on a website or social post, since it is small and universal. Download PNG if the image will be edited again or contains flat graphics. Keep a transparent PNG as your master copy so you can try a different color any time without cutting the photo out again.