Make an image background transparent

At a glance

How to do it

1. Upload the original imageUse the full-size original, not a screenshot or a copy saved from a chat app. More pixels give smoother edges, and the cutout can't add detail that isn't in the file.
2. Remove the backgroundLeave the background set to transparent. Check thin parts at full zoom (hair, straps, handles, gaps between arms and body), since those are where leftover background shows.
3. Download PNG or WebPChoose PNG for the widest support, in slides, documents, design tools and print. Choose WebP for websites, where it keeps transparency at a smaller file size. Don't convert the result to JPG, or the transparency is gone.

Tips and common mistakes

• How to check that it is really transparentOpen the file in a browser tab with a dark theme, or place it on a black slide. A real transparent image shows the dark colour through it. If you see white, grey or a checkerboard, the background is still in the pixels.
• The fake checkerboardEditors draw a grey and white checkerboard to show transparent areas. Some downloaded "transparent PNGs" have that pattern painted into the image. If the checkerboard moves with the image when you drag it, it's fake.
• Screenshots and copy-paste lose itA screenshot captures what's on screen, including whatever is behind the image. Some apps also paste images as flattened copies. Save and insert the file itself.
• Where transparency is flattenedMany upload forms, marketplaces and social apps convert images to JPG or put them on a colour. Etsy shows transparent areas as black. For those, pick the background colour yourself and upload a JPG.
• Soft edges are partial transparencyGood cutouts fade over a pixel or two at the edge instead of stopping hard. That needs a full alpha channel, which PNG and WebP have and GIF doesn't, so GIF cutouts look jagged.