About ClearCut
ClearCut is a free online tool for removing the background from images. This page explains what it does, who it's for, how it works and how we think about building it.
What ClearCut is
ClearCut started with one job: you give it a photo, and it gives you back the main subject with the background removed. The result is a PNG with a transparent background, ready to drop onto a product page, a slide, a social media post or a design.
Alongside the background remover there are two smaller tools for jobs that often come up at the same time. The Image Converter switches images between JPG, PNG and WebP, and the Image Compressor makes image files smaller.
There's nothing to install and no account to create. Each tool does one thing, and we'd like to keep them that simple.
Why we built it
ClearCut was born from a simple observation: professional background removal was either expensive, time-consuming, or required complex software. We believed that everyone should have access to high-quality image editing tools, regardless of their technical expertise or budget.
Cutting a subject out of a photo is one of the most common edits people need, and one of the most tedious to do by hand. Tracing around a product with a selection tool takes practice, and hair, fur and soft edges take patience too. AI models can now do most of that work automatically, and we think the result should be available to anyone with a browser, not just people with design software and the time to learn it.
Who it's for
ClearCut is designed for people who need a clean cut-out and don't want to become image editors to get one.
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Online sellers
Put products on a consistent white or branded background for a shop, marketplace listing or catalog.
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Creators and social media managers
Build thumbnails, stories and posts from cut-outs of people and products.
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Small businesses
Reuse the same product or team photo across a website, flyers, emails and ads.
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Students and teachers
Place images neatly on slides, worksheets and posters without a white box around them.
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Designers in a hurry
Get a quick first cut-out to refine later in your usual editing software.
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Anyone updating a photo
Replace a messy room behind a profile picture with a plain or colourful backdrop.
How it works
When you choose an image, your browser first checks that it's a supported format and under the 5 MB limit. The image is then uploaded to ClearCut's processing service. There, an AI segmentation model estimates which pixels belong to the main subject and which belong to the background, and it makes the background transparent. The finished PNG is sent back to your browser, where you can compare it with the original and download it.
The Image Converter and Image Compressor work differently. They use your browser's built-in image features to convert and compress images on your own device, so the images you use with those two tools aren't uploaded.
Because background removal happens on a server, an image you submit to the Background Remover does leave your device while it's being processed. We think it's important to be upfront about that. Our Privacy Policy explains what happens to uploaded images and which third-party services the website uses.
No automatic tool is perfect. Subjects that blend into their background, very fine hair and see-through objects like glass are hard for any model. We'd rather tell you what to check than promise flawless results. Our guide to AI background removal covers how to prepare photos and tidy up edges.
What we care about
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Simple by default
One upload, one result. No menus to learn and no settings you have to understand first.
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Accessible to everyone
Free to use, with no account. It works on phones as well as computers, and it can be used with a keyboard.
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Honest about results
We explain where automatic background removal struggles instead of hiding it behind marketing claims.
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Clear about data
We describe what happens to your uploads in plain language, and we only make claims we can back up.
Where ClearCut is going
The background remover now runs on a server-side processing service hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Background colours such as white or black are added afterwards in your browser.
From here, our priorities are straightforward: cleaner edges on difficult subjects, a reliable service, and a website that stays fast and easy to use. We'll keep each tool focused on one job rather than growing ClearCut into a full photo editor.
Have an idea or found a problem? We'd genuinely like to hear it. You can reach us through the contact form.
Try the background remover
Upload an image and download it with a transparent background.