Remove the background from real estate photos

At a glance

How to do it

1. Upload the photoA headshot, a piece of furniture or a photo of the home. Cutouts are cleanest with one clear subject: a person against a plain wall, a chair on a floor, a building against open sky. Trees or cars in front of a house make the edges harder.
2. Pick the backgroundThe tool starts transparent. Keep it for furniture you will place into a room photo, or pick your brokerage colour for a headshot. For a flyer, white or a light neutral keeps the home the focus.
3. Download and label editsDownload PNG to keep transparency, or JPG on a solid colour. If the edited photo shows the property differently from how it is, mark it as edited in the listing and keep the original photo next to it.

Tips and common mistakes

• Shoot headshots on a plain wallA flat, light background a step or two behind the agent gives the cleanest hair edges. Shoot every agent the same way so the team page lines up.
• Stage empty rooms with real productsCut furniture out of its own product photos, then match the room's light direction and add a soft floor shadow so it does not float.
• Keep the property honestAdding furniture is staging; hiding power lines, cracks, a neighbour's wall or changing the view changes what a buyer sees. The California law names furniture, appliances, flooring and walls as examples of altered elements.
• Post the original next to the editIn California the unaltered version, or a link to it, must be in the same posting. Doing the same everywhere keeps one process for every listing and avoids buyer complaints.
• Check your MLS rulesEach MLS sets its own photo rules, and some limit logos, text or people in listing photos. Read yours before adding a headshot or branded layout to the MLS photo set; keep those for your own marketing if unsure.