How to remove a background in Canva

The short answer

1. Click your image on the canvas.
2. Click Edit photo in the toolbar above it.
3. Choose Background Remover.
4. Wait a few seconds.

Done. The subject stays, the background goes, and the image sits on transparency you can put any color or photo behind.

Background Remover has been a paid feature rather than part of the free plan. Canva's pricing page has the current position, since features move between tiers.

Fixing what it misses

The automatic result is good and not perfect. After it runs, the same panel gives you two brushes:

• Erase removes more of the image.
• Restore brings back parts it took away by mistake.

Zoom in before you judge the result. At the default zoom almost every cutout looks fine, and at 200% you find the missing ear tip and the chunk of fence still attached to a shoulder.

Set the brush small for edge work. Long strokes are for large areas only.

Getting a better result first time

The tool works from contrast, so the photo matters more than the settings:

• Clear separation. A dark subject on a light background cuts out far better than a grey coat against a grey wall.
• In focus. Motion blur and shallow depth of field confuse the edge detection.
• Simple hair. Tied-back hair cuts out cleanly, and flyaway strands are hard for every tool including Photoshop.
• Avoid glass and mesh. Semi-transparent objects are the hardest case in the entire category.

If a photo fights you twice, it is usually faster to find a different photo than to fix the third attempt.

Downloading with transparency

This is where people get stuck after a good cutout.

1. Click Share, then Download.
2. Set the file type to PNG.
3. Tick Transparent background.
4. Download.

A JPEG cannot store transparency, so it will fill the empty area with white and you will wonder what went wrong. This catches everyone once, in every design tool ever made.

If your transparent background keeps turning white, look at the file extension before you look at anything else. It is the file format nine times out of ten.

Free alternatives

If your plan does not include the remover:

• Free background removal websites handle a single image well, and you upload your photo to a third party, which matters for anything confidential or client-owned.
• Photoshop's one-click Remove Background, if you have it. There is a full guide to the Photoshop methods, including hair and hard edges.
• Shoot on a plain background. A sheet of white paper and decent light removes the problem instead of solving it.

What to do with the cutout

The cutout is the easy part. Making it look like it belongs is the design:

• Match the light. A subject lit from the left on a background lit from the right looks wrong even to people who cannot say why.
• Mind the edges. A cutout with a hard, perfect outline reads as pasted on. A tiny amount of softness helps.
• Watch the scale. Objects that are too large or small for their new setting break the illusion instantly.
• Leave room. Crowded compositions look accidental.

Canva's Design School has free material on composition if you want to go further.

When Canva is the right call

For social posts, presentations, flyers and quick marketing, Canva is faster than anything else and the results are perfectly good. For photo retouching, compositing and print production, Photoshop is still the tool, and there is an honest comparison if you are deciding between them.

Where to learn more

The Canva certificate covers the tools and, more usefully, the design fundamentals underneath them, so your work looks intentional rather than templated. One subscription opens the whole Graphic Design & Illustration school, including Photoshop and Illustrator.

Cut it out, zoom in, fix the edges, export as PNG.