looking for recommendations for free background removal tools

Harmony
Valued Contributor

looking for any ideas for free (free also ideally including not having to register an account) background removal tools that can be used for commercial use

20 REPLIES 20

Cat
Honored Contributor III

GIMP is free. It's a full design program, sorta like an open source version of PhotoShop. It can definitely remove backgrounds, but it's not like an automatic one click thing, you have to select the part you want to remove. 

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Cat @ ZingerBug Designs

Harmony
Valued Contributor

i was also looking at Photopea?

CrazyMermaid
Valued Contributor II

GIMP is an amazing resource. I used it when I first started on Zazzle. When i turned Silver, I subscribed to Photoshop and Illustrator, because I was just too lazy to continue with it. It gave me a chance though. I have always appreciated it for that.

Cat
Honored Contributor III

@CrazyMermaid I'm still a GIMP girl myself, but it's more a question of laziness than money at this point - I just dread the idea of having to learn new software - but there are some compelling reasons to make the switch. How steep would you say the learning curve is going from GIMP to PhotoShop?

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Cat @ ZingerBug Designs

LMGildersleeve
Valued Contributor III

Are you on Canva? I don't know if their background remover is for the free accounts but if you are already signed up you can check.

i believe you have to register an account etc

Mariholly
Valued Contributor

Adobe has a free version that works quite well. Registration is required.

 

MOM
Valued Contributor

@Harmony 

https://www.remove.bg/ (a part of Canva). 500 x 500 px images free without login. With login one (1) 3000 x 3000 px image free. Afterwards it depends on your choice (see https://www.remove.bg/pricing).

I personally use Gimp and Kittl daily - love them both. At https://sanfrancisco.zone/resources/ we have more resources listed we often (but not daily) use.

Good luck in your quest! 🙂

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Harmony
Valued Contributor

remove.bg seems like it has one of the best image readers but unfortunately it is not free. terms of use notes that it is only free for personal use and you are required to buy credits for intended commercial use. 

MOM
Valued Contributor

@Harmony @Yup, that’s why I had added the pricing link to my post.

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Harmony
Valued Contributor

so that wouldn't work as a free for commercial use option. 

Barbara
Esteemed Contributor

Once I get going with my day, I'll be giving a try to Adobe Express (https://www.adobe.com/express/feature/image/remove-background) to see if it's better than the software I already use and that's old as the hills. It appears Adobe's app is totally free, the only requirement being to create an account, which is typical of nearly everything these days.

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LMGildersleeve
Valued Contributor III

Let us know if you like the tool Barbra 🙂

 

Barbara
Esteemed Contributor

I absolutely will, but I had to postpone having fun for a couple days after grocery shopping this morning. I stockpile stuff and regret doing so every single time. I'm an idiot.

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Barbara
Esteemed Contributor

I tried checking out the Adobe app, and upon trying to upload a test image, my computer crashed. Was it the app? Unlikely, but I lost my enthusiasm.

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Badeesie
Contributor III

At this point I'm using GIMP for most things and Photoshop for stuff like using mockup templates and sometimes AI image generation - mostly extending backgrounds.

KathyB
New Contributor III

I use Photopea to remove the background from product images, and overall it’s been working great. Simple too. In Photopea click select, then choose remove bg. This has been cleanly removing most backgrounds. 

LauraLee
Contributor III

I use Photopea very often, I love it and purchased a pro-$55 annual subscription, to remove the annoying ads, and also using the AI tools, though.  But the BG removal tool is still free.  One thing I wanted to point out, is yes, the click Select > Remove BG works, but sometimes it then needs a 2nd time to process correctly.  Sometimes that works beautifully, sometimes it doesn't.  

Now, say you originally tried the Select > Remove BG, and it removed too much of what you wanted.  You can try it twice, and if it still doesn't all you have to do is make sure you're using white/black paints.  Then, use your paint tool to brush in white wherever it took too much away.  Or, the opposite of this, it didn't automatically remove some background you wanted gone.  Take the paintbrush tool, using black color paint and just paint it away.  Gray paint is used for fine tuning hairs and such like that.

It's best to know the full process of it, then not being satisfied with simple/fast programs.  Because, background removal tools that cost money, start using AI technology to do it, and can be a little bit more accurate, but not 100%.  Like, I still pay for Clippingmagic.com for the hardest things I've come across...esp if it's too time consuming or too hard for me.  I just thought you'd want to know there are more options within Photopea.  And these are just some tricks I've learned.

Barbara
Esteemed Contributor

Zazzle has to use PNG images with transparency so they can place the image on various in situ backgrounds. The question is this: Why did they eliminate the ability to download those images. We used to have them, and then, suddenly, they were gone. Is it because thieves out there in the wild were downloading them? It's the only reason I can figure, but I do wish they'd let us know if this guess is the correct one or if I'm missing the point.

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JimCarnicelli
Contributor III

I know you asked specifically for free tools. But I thought I'd point out that SHD's Premium agencies have unlimited access to automatic cutouts of product images. This is not an AI tool. We hand-craft our cutout masks to fit Zazzle's in-situs. I discussed this in an earlier forum post:

https://community.zazzle.com/t5/external-tools-materials/image-cutouts-snuggle-hamster-designs/td-p/...

Cheers.