Krita: How to Remove a Background from an Image

The short answer

In Krita, you remove a background by selecting it and deleting it, or by hiding it with a transparency mask. A plain white background can also be turned transparent with the Color to Alpha filter. Your work only stays transparent if you then export in a format that supports transparency, such as PNG. JPEG fills transparent areas with a solid color. The standard tools are selection-based, so complex edges like hair or fur usually need manual refinement.

Krita edits still images. It does not remove or replace the background of a live webcam feed, and it has no effect on webcam microphones or speech capture. Live background replacement happens in conferencing or virtual camera software. A transparent PNG made in Krita can still be useful there, for example as an overlay or a custom background image, if that software accepts one.

Before you start

Menu names and tool option labels have changed between Krita versions. The paths below follow the general layout of recent Krita releases. If a label doesn't match your copy, check the Krita manual for your installed version. No version-specific test results were available for this guide.

• Open the image with File > Open.
• In the Layers docker, duplicate the image layer (right-click the layer and choose Duplicate Layer). Then hide the original with its eye icon so you keep an untouched copy.
• Work on the duplicate for all of the steps below.

Method 1: Select the background and delete it

This method works best when the background is a fairly even color that contrasts with the subject.

• Choose the Contiguous Selection Tool (the magic wand icon). It selects connected pixels of a similar color.
• In Tool Options, set the tolerance value. Depending on your version it may be labelled threshold or fuzziness. Higher values take in more color variation.
• Click the background. To add more areas, hold Shift and click. To subtract areas, hold Alt and click.
• If the background color appears in places that aren't connected, such as gaps between arms and body, use the Similar Color Selection Tool. It selects matching colors across the whole layer.
• Optionally, refine the edge from the Select menu with Grow Selection, Shrink Selection or Feather Selection. This helps remove a leftover color fringe or soften a hard edge.
• Press Delete to clear the selected pixels.
• Deselect with Select > Deselect (Ctrl+Shift+A).

Sometimes the subject is easier to select than the background. In that case, select the subject with the Freehand, Polygonal, Bezier or Magnetic selection tools. Then choose Select > Invert Selection (Ctrl+I) and press Delete.

Method 2: Hide the background with a transparency mask

A transparency mask hides pixels without deleting them, so you can fix mistakes later.

• Right-click the image layer and choose Add > Transparency Mask.
• Select the mask in the Layers docker.
• Paint black on the mask to hide areas and white to bring them back. Grey gives partial transparency.
• If you create a selection before adding the mask, Krita uses that selection as the mask's starting point.
• When you're done, you can export directly or merge the mask into the layer.

Method 3: Remove a white background with Color to Alpha

Color to Alpha is the quickest option for line art, logos and scanned drawings on white paper. You can find it under Filter > Colors > Color to Alpha. Choose white as the color and adjust the threshold. The filter turns white transparent and makes near-white pixels partly transparent, which keeps anti-aliased edges smooth.

The filter has one important limitation: it affects white everywhere on the layer, including white or light areas inside the subject. Those areas become see-through or washed out. For a photo or a subject with light colors, select only the background first so the filter applies to the selection, or use Method 1 or 2 instead.

Which method to use

Situation | Suggested method | Caveat

Solid or simple background, clear contrast | Contiguous or Similar Color selection, then Delete | Can leave a color fringe; refine the selection edge

You may need to adjust edges later | Transparency mask | Takes more manual painting

Line art, logo or scan on white | Color to Alpha | Also affects white areas inside the subject

Complex photo, hair or busy background | Manual selection plus transparency mask | Slow; built-in tools don't detect subjects automatically

Some third-party plugins add automatic segmentation to Krita. No evidence about specific plugins, their compatibility or their quality was available for this guide. Check the plugin's documentation against your Krita version before you rely on one.

Check the result and export with transparency

• Hide every layer except the one you edited. Removed areas should show Krita's checkerboard pattern, which indicates transparency.
• Zoom in on the edges and look for leftover background pixels or halos.
• Choose File > Export and pick PNG. In the export options, make sure the setting to store the alpha channel (transparency) is enabled.
• Don't use JPEG, because it doesn't support transparency.
• Keep a copy in Krita's native .kra format if you want to keep your layers and masks editable.

Using the result with a webcam

If you prepared the image for a video call or a virtual camera scene, load the exported PNG in that application and confirm it displays as intended. Krita's background removal only changes the image file. It doesn't change how your webcam captures video, how the app separates you from your real surroundings, or which microphone records your voice. Audio input selection and speech quality are set in your operating system and conferencing app, separately from any image editing.