Using the Background Remover Tool in Canva

gillmaguire — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 16:23:00 +0000

The Background Remover effect in Canva can be used (if you are a pro user) to erase the background of a photo or image. If you aren’t a Canva Pro user (i.e. you use the free version) DON’T PANIC – there’s a great alternative for you to use.

How to Remove the background of a photo WITH Canva

Time needed: 2 minutes

To use the background remover effect in Canva,

Open Canva and create a (or open an existing) design
Insert the image into your design (either from photos or your own uploads)
Make sure the image is selected (i.e. has handles around it)
Click on Effects
Choose Background Remover
It may take a few seconds…
And your background is removed!
If you want to restore any of the removed background, click on Restore
Use the slider to amend your brush size
Remember to use the Zoom slider in the bottom right-hand corner to zoom in on your design
Click and drag where you want to restore part of your image/photo
When you are happy, click on Done (If you don’t like your amendments, click Cancel!)
If you want to remind yourself of how your original image looked, click on Show Original Image
The original background will appear as a transparent image
To remove more of the image, click on Erase
Use the slider to amend your brush size
Remember to use the Zoom slider in the bottom right-hand corner to zoom in on your design
Click and drag where you want to remove more of your image/photo
When you are happy, click on Done (If you don’t like your amendments, click Cancel!)
Finally, click on Apply 🙂

How to Remove the background of a photo WITHOUT Canva

You can easily remove the background of an image or photo using a free online tool called remove.bg

How to Remove the Background of an Image or Photo using Remove.BG

To remove the background of an image or photo without Canva, access the website remove.bg

Either drag and drop your image onto the browser page, or, click on upload image, navigate to your image, click on your image to select it then click open.

The background is automatically removed. 🙂

You can toggle between the original image and the one with the background removed here.

If you are happy with your image either click on it (to download it) or click on the blue download button

(To download an HD image, you will need to either purchase individual credits or or sign-up to a subscription plan)

Adding a Different Background

You can make more adjustments (e.g. add a new background image or colour) by clicking on edit in the top right-hand corner of your image.

On the background tab, in the editor, scroll down and choose a new image for your background.

Alternatively, to choose one of your own images or photos to use as a background, click on Select Photo, navigate to your image, click on your image to select it then click open.

You can use the Blur icons to blur your background (if you want).

Alternatively, click on Color, to change your background to a solid colour.

Select a colour from the pane, or choose the multicoloured icon (in the top left of the pane) to select your own colour

Click on the Erase/Restore tab to add some of the erased parts back to your photo, or erase more.

Click on either Erase or Restore (depending on what you want to do.

Use the slider to increase or decrease the size of the brush

Click and drag on your image to add to or subtract the original background from it.

Remember you can use the undo button!

Click Download to download your image onto your device.

Click on the X to close the editor…and that’s it! 🙂

Remove the background of an image/photo with or without Canva

I hope you enjoyed reading about the background remover in Canva. To see more resources about Canva, just visit our resource page here. If you’re interested in other software applications, just click here. For a list of FREE image/photo editors, just click here.