The color picker opens as soon as your subject is cut out, with swatches, number entry and suggestions drawn from the photo itself. Click through shades until the backdrop suits the subject.
Ways to choose a color
Every change shows up behind the cutout right away, so you can compare shades by clicking through them rather than exporting test files.
- Ten swatches cover common choices in a single click.
- HEX, RGB and HSL fields take exact values, useful when a brand guide hands you a code.
- The eyedropper samples any pixel on screen, in browsers that provide one. Where a browser does not, the button stays hidden.
- Recent colors remembers what you used lately, saved in this browser only.
Suggestions taken from your subject
Once the subject is separated, the editor reads its main tones and proposes colors that relate to them. The complement sits opposite the dominant hue and makes the subject stand out. A neutral offers a muted tone that will not compete. Warm and cool options tip the mood one way or the other, and the dark and light contrast picks give strong separation when legibility matters more than style.
Treat these as starting points rather than rules. A red product on its complement, a green, can look striking or loud depending on the exact shade, so adjust the lightness in HSL until it settles.
The contrast warning
If the color you pick is too close to the subject's own colors, a warning appears. Similar tones make the outline hard to read, especially at small sizes like thumbnails and avatars. You are free to keep the color, since tone-on-tone can be a deliberate look, but it is worth zooming out to check the result.
Matching the place the image will live
A color that looks calm on a large monitor can turn muddy on a phone, and no two screens agree exactly. If the image will sit on a colored web page or slide, sample that page with the eyedropper so the photo melts into it. For print, keep in mind that very saturated screen colors often come out duller on paper.
When a single color feels flat, try a gradient instead. Two related colors at an angle often give a backdrop more depth.
Consistency is worth a thought if you are making more than one image. A team page, a product range or a series of social posts reads as a set when every picture shares the same exact value. Note the HEX code once you are happy, or save the setup to My presets, and reuse it rather than picking by eye each time.
When the outline shows
A strong color exposes every leftover pixel of the old backdrop. If you see a light or dark rim, Remove fringe neutralizes it and Shift edge pulls the boundary in slightly. Fine hair against a vivid color is the hardest case; Hair detail and a soft Restore brush keep the strands without the original scene showing through.
Shadows matter on color as well. A subject on a mid-tone backdrop with no shadow can look like a sticker; a soft contact shadow in Finish, tinted slightly darker than the backdrop rather than pure black, settles it into the scene.
Step by step
- Open your photo. Add the picture whose backdrop you want to recolor.
- Let the cutout finish. The color picker opens once the subject is separated.
- Choose a color. Click a swatch, type a HEX, RGB or HSL value, or sample one with the eyedropper.
- Try the suggestions. Compare the complement, neutral, warm, cool and contrast options.
- Export. Save as JPEG, PNG or WebP at the size you need.
Questions people ask
Why is the eyedropper missing?
It depends on your browser. When the browser does not offer a screen color sampler, the button is hidden; type a HEX value instead.
Are my recent colors shared between devices?
No. They are kept in this browser's storage and stay on this device.
Can I export a colored background as JPEG?
Yes. Any solid color works with JPEG, PNG or WebP.
What sets off the contrast warning?
It compares the color you chose with the subject's main colors and appears when the two are too similar to separate clearly. It is advice only, and you can keep the color anyway.