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Free · Full size · Touch-up brush

Cut out hair without a helmet look

Hair is the hardest part of any cut-out. Here is how to get soft, natural edges instead of a hard outline that looks like a helmet.

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  1. 1Drop a photoJPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC, up to 25 MP.
  2. 2We cut it outA small copy is processed on our server, then deleted. Nothing is stored.
  3. 3Download full sizeTransparent PNG, or any background colour you like.

How to do it

  1. 1Drop a portrait with good contrastHair that is clearly lighter or darker than the background gives the model the most to work with.
  2. 2Fix strands with a small brushUse Restore at a small size to bring back a few loose strands and Erase to clear background caught inside curls.
  3. 3Pick a background close in brightnessA new background of similar brightness to the original hides soft edge pixels best. Keep a transparent PNG too.

Why hair is hard

Hair is not a solid edge. The outer layer is a mix of strands and gaps, and each pixel there is partly hair and partly whatever is behind it. A good cut-out keeps those pixels partly transparent instead of forcing each one to be fully kept or fully removed. That is the difference between natural, wispy edges and a hard outline that looks like a helmet.

WipeMark uses BiRefNet, a model designed to separate objects with fine detail in high-resolution images. Its mask has soft values at the edge, not just on and off, and those soft values are what you see as fine hair. The mask is computed on a reduced copy, at most 1024 pixels on the long side, and applied to your full-size photo in your browser.

Shooting a portrait that cuts out well

Contrast is everything for hair. Dark hair against a light wall, or blond hair against a darker one, gives the model a clear signal. Brown hair against a brown wooden door gives it almost nothing.

Plain background behind the head. Foliage, bookshelves and patterned wallpaper are hardest, because strands of hair and lines in the background look alike.

Avoid strong backlight. A bright window behind someone puts a glowing rim on the hair that mixes with the background color. Turn the person to face the window instead.

Keep it sharp. Hair is fine detail. Camera shake or a slightly missed focus turns strands into a blur, and blur is just more background mixed into the edge.

Fixing hair with the touch-up brush

Open the touch-up brush after the cut-out and zoom in on the hairline.

  • Use Restore at a small size to paint back loose strands that were cut away. Brush along the direction of the hair, not across it.
  • Use Erase to clear patches of background trapped inside curls or between a ponytail and the neck.
  • Do not chase every flyaway. A few strands look natural, and an outline with lots of rough painted bits looks worse than a slightly trimmed one. Zoom out often to check how it looks at normal size.

Choosing the new background

The new background changes how the edge looks more than anything else. Partly transparent hair pixels still carry a hint of the original background.

  • Similar brightness hides the edge. Hair shot on a light gray wall looks natural on white or light colors.
  • Very different brightness reveals it. The same hair placed on black will show a pale fringe. If you need a dark background, shoot on a darker background to begin with.
  • Transparent is the most flexible. Download a transparent PNG and you can test backgrounds in your design tool without redoing the cut-out.

Common problems and fixes

A thin glowing line around the head. That is the old background in the edge pixels. Pick a background closer to it, or run a small Erase brush along the edge.

Clipped buns, braids or hair clips. These stick out from the main shape and are sometimes read as background. Paint them back with Restore.

Hair merging with a dark coat. Where dark hair falls over dark clothing, the model may draw the outline in the wrong place. Restore any shoulder that was removed.

Which format to download

Download PNG to keep soft transparent edges for later editing. WebP keeps them too and is smaller for websites. JPG with a solid color is fine for a final profile picture.

Questions people ask

How do I remove a background without losing hair detail?

Start with a sharp portrait where the hair contrasts clearly with the background, drop it into the tool above, then use the Restore brush at a small size to bring back strands that were trimmed. Choosing a new background of similar brightness to the old one makes the remaining edge look natural.

Why does the hair look like a helmet after removing the background?

The cut-out has treated the soft outer layer of hair as background and kept only the solid inner part. This happens most on busy or similar-colored backgrounds. A plainer background when you shoot, or a few strokes with Restore, brings back the softer outline.

Why is there a halo around the hair on a new background?

Edge pixels in hair are partly transparent and still contain some of the old background color. On a much lighter or darker new background, that mixed color shows as a halo. Choose a background closer in brightness to the original, or clean the edge with a small Erase brush.

Can it handle curly or afro hair?

Yes, and dense curls with a clear outline often cut out more cleanly than thin flyaways, because the outline is well defined. Check for background caught in gaps inside the curls and clear those with Erase.

Does WipeMark keep every single strand?

Not always. The mask is worked out on a copy at most 1024 pixels on the long side and then scaled to your full photo. On a very large photo, single strands thinner than a pixel at that size can come out softer than in the original.