Removing a Background in Affinity Photo

The short answer

To remove a background in Affinity Photo, select the subject or the background, then either delete the background pixels or hide them with a mask. Transparency only appears where the layer can hold it, so a locked background layer usually has to be unlocked first. To keep that transparency, export in a format that supports it, such as PNG, rather than JPEG.

Tool and menu names can differ between Affinity Photo versions and the newer unified Affinity application, and no version-specific documentation was supplied for this guide. Treat the tool names below as general guidance and check them against the version you have installed.

Before you start

• Work on a duplicate of the original layer so you can return to the untouched image.
• If the Layers panel shows a padlock on the image layer, unlock it so the layer can contain transparent pixels.
• Decide whether you want a reversible result (a mask) or a permanent one (erasing pixels). A mask is usually the safer choice.

Method 1: Select the subject and mask the background

This approach suits photos with varied or busy backgrounds and keeps the original pixels intact.

• 1. Use the Selection Brush Tool to paint over the subject. The selection grows along detected edges as you paint.
• 2. Hold the modifier shown in the tool's context toolbar to subtract areas the brush picked up by mistake.
• 3. Open Refine Selection to soften edges and handle hair or fur. Choose an output that creates a mask, if your version offers that option.
• 4. If you selected the background rather than the subject, invert the selection before you add the mask.
• 5. Add a mask to the layer. Hidden areas then display the transparency checkerboard.

Method 2: Remove a white or solid-colour background

When the background is plain white or another flat colour, colour-based selection or erasing is usually faster than painting a selection by hand.

• Flood Select Tool: click the white area and adjust the tolerance until it captures the background without spreading into the subject. Then delete the selection or mask it.
• Select Sampled Colour: picks every pixel similar to a sampled colour across the whole image, including enclosed gaps such as the space inside a letter or between an arm and a body.
• Flood Erase Tool: removes contiguous similar-coloured pixels in one click. This change is destructive, so use it on a duplicate layer.

Light subjects on white backgrounds are the hardest case. If the tolerance is set too high, parts of the subject vanish along with the background. Lower the tolerance and repeat in several passes rather than relying on one high-tolerance click.

Method 3: Erase by hand

The Erase Brush Tool and the Background Erase Brush Tool let you paint the background away directly. The background eraser samples the colour under the brush and protects contrasting edges, which helps around detailed outlines. Both tools permanently remove pixels from the layer.

Choosing a method

Situation | Suggested approach | Reversible

Busy or varied background | Selection Brush, Refine Selection, mask | Yes

Plain white or solid background | Flood Select or Select Sampled Colour, then mask | Yes, if masked

Quick cleanup of small areas | Erase Brush or Background Erase Brush | No

Hair, fur or soft edges | Refine Selection with a mask output | Yes

Checking and exporting the result

• Hide or remove any layer underneath, such as a filled background or the original copy. The checkerboard should be visible wherever the background used to be.
• Zoom in on the edges to look for leftover halos, especially where the old background was white.
• Export as PNG, or another format that supports transparency. Saving as JPEG fills the transparent areas with a solid colour.

Relevance to webcam use

A transparent cutout can serve as an overlay or source image for virtual camera and background-replacement software, depending on whether that software accepts transparent PNG files. Editing a still image in Affinity Photo does not change how a webcam microphone captures speech. This guide received no evidence about audio input selection or voice quality, so it does not cover them.