How to Add a Background to a Picture: The Easy Way
How often could you call your photo perfect if it was not for the background? For example, there are plenty of distracting details on it. Or it’s just plain boring and needs some drama. People or objects look awesome but the background totally ruins the shot. Bet you have deleted tons of such pictures. Good news! Now it’s become possible to cut out a bad background and add a cool one. Fast - literally in a minute. Easily - you don’t need to have any technical skills at all.
All you need is PhotoWorks - a powerful but absolutely easy to use photo editor! With it, you will be able to add a new background without complicated professional tools for photo editing. Download the program, install it on your computer and keep on reading - you’ll learn how to put the new background on your picture step by step. You’ll also find out how to get it done with other web-based or computer programs and mobile apps. So there’s no doubt that you will find the perfect photo editor in this article.
The photo looks so much better with the new background
How to Add a Different Background to a Photo in a Minute
It’s time to see what PhotoWorks can do for you - just follow these simple steps and enjoy the result.
Step 1. Install PhotoWorks
Before you get down to editing your images, make sure you have the software ready to be used. Press the green button to download PhotoWorks and begin the installation process - it’s a lightweight program, so it will take you mere seconds.
Step 2. Choose the 'Change Background' Tool
Start PhotoWorks, import the photo for adding a background and open the Tools tab. From the toolkit, pick Change Background.
Change the photo background with PhotoWorks software
Step 3. Paint Over the Object to Keep
The program will offer you to mark the object on the foreground with the green brush. Adjust the brush size and mark the object or a person. You don’t have to be precise - just a few strokes and PhotoWorks will determine the edges automatically.
Paint over the object with the green brush
Step 4. Mark the Photo Background to Change
Now, pick the red brush, set its size and outline the background. It will be the area to erase or replace. Once you’re done with drawing, the software will remove the background. Click Next to move to further editing.
Mark the background to remove with the red brush
Step 5. Correct the Object’s Edges
Zoom in the image to see any imperfections that are left. Use the object and background brushes to fix the blemishes. You can restore some details deleted by mistake or erase the remaining area of the background. Adjust the brush softness for the edges to look smoother. Now, decrease the background opacity to make it completely transparent and preview the result.
Use a correction brush to fix the flaws
Step 6. Add a Background to the Photo
The software will add a white background to the photo by default. You can save it with a transparent background as PNG or replace the background by a new one. With just a mouse click, you can change its color to black, grey or any other color from the standard palette. Or replace it by an image. There is a large collection of ready-to-use backgrounds in PhotoWorks - you will find it under the Select Background Image button. Check it out - you might find a suitable one. Alternatively, upload your own picture to use it as the new background.
Choose a plain color, a built-in image or your own picture as a new background
If you want to try some other background, take a step back by clicking Undo or hit Reset and cancel all the changes. When you have finished, apply the changes and save the edited pic with a different background.
Save the image with a new background
Prefer following a visual guide step by step? Then watch this video. It shows how you can quickly insert a background in your picture with PhotoWorks: a few brush strokes and your image has a completely new atmosphere! This way, you can also create stunning photo montages using different images.
Studied the steps? It's high time to work with your images. Download PhotoWorks for free and give your photos a totally new look!
Now that you have learnt how to add a background to your photos on Mac or Windows, keep improving your pictures. In PhotoWorks software you’ll find a whole lot of powerful editing tools:
- Portrait Magic for auto photo retouching
- Graduated Filter for fixing too light or too dark landscapes
- Clone Stamp for removing unwanted people and objects
- Crop for composition improvement
- Red Eye Removal for eliminating the devil’s eyes effect
- Instant photo filters for stylizing your images
- Vignetting for making photos look old
How to Add a Background to a Picture: Alternative Ways
To find the program that will work best for you, be sure to see these options, too. Here’s an online tool and other doable alternatives for Windows, Mac, Android- and iOS-based devices. Now let’s see what those photo editors are like.
Adobe Photoshop is a program suitable for professional photographers and graphic designers. If you’re ready to pay for the high-cost subscription, install the software on your computer, open a photo, and pick the Quick Selection tool - you’ll use it to select the area you want to leave in the image. To refine and convert the selection into a mask, click Select and Mask. You can delete the background by opening the Output Settings, ticking Decontaminate Colors, and selecting New Layer with Layer Mask in Output. Finally, add a new background - insert it in another layer and move it using the Hand tool.
But there’s also a free option available - GIMP. To add a professional background to a photo with the computer photo editor, import your picture, choose the Select By Color tool and click on the background. Now press the Del key to erase the background and insert a new image - select Open as Layers and choose a file. Then drag the new layer below to keep it behind the main part of the photo, and save the picture.
Use Remove.bg to add a new background to an image
Want to edit your photos in a couple of taps? Then download a mobile app on your iPhone. To add background to an image, upload a picture from your gallery, crop it, erase the background, change the Feather and select either Transparent or White Background. Unfortunately, these are the only options available. Android users can try this photo editor to replace the background with another - add your image, delete the current background manually or automatically, and add the photo with the desired one.
In case your computer or phone storage is full, try adding a background online. Upload your file, wait till the program processes the picture, and click Edit to insert the background you want. But keep in mind that there are limitations in the free version, e.g. low resolution.
The background is a crucial part of any photograph - it can either ruin the whole idea or make the image even more eye-catching. That’s why you should take care of it no matter what kind of photo you took. In this article, we showed you how to put a background on a picture using the best photo editors - online, mobile, and computer programs. It’s time to give them all a try, but we highly recommend beginning with PhotoWorks since it’s a lightweight yet powerful photo editor that you can try for free. Go ahead and level up your pictures today!
