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How to remove the background from a photo on iPhone

Seamly’s Cutout lifts a person, a pet or a thing off its background in one tap, right where the photo sits on your design, so the page’s colour or another photo shows behind it. It’s free in the Seamly app, and it works on video clips too.

Last updated · Free on iPhone and iPad · One tap · Photos and videos

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What Cutout does

Cutout finds the main subject of a photo, usually a person, an animal or an object in front, and hides everything behind it. The photo stays where it was on the page, at the same size and crop, so the page’s colour, a texture or another photo shows through where the background was.

On iPhone and iPad, Cutout runs on the device: your photo isn’t uploaded to remove its background. Seamly keeps the original, so Restore brings the background back at any time.

What you need

  • An iPhone or iPad with iOS 17 or later.
  • The Seamly app, free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android.
  • A photo with a clear subject: a person, a pet, food or a product that stands out from what’s behind it.

Make it in Seamly, step by step

Step 1: Get Seamly

Download Seamly from the App Store and open it. The app and most templates are free; templates marked Pro need Seamly Pro, which starts with a free trial.

Step 2: Open a design with your photo

Open a template from Templates, or tap + to start a new project, and add your photo from the camera roll. A page with a colour, or a second photo behind it, shows a cutout best.

Step 3: Tap the photo

Tap the photo once to select it. The toolbar along the bottom switches to the photo’s tools.

Step 4: Tap Cutout

Tap Cutout. After a moment the background is gone and only the subject is left, in the same place on the page.

Step 5: Keep it, or bring the background back

Tap empty space to see the result. To undo it later, select the photo and tap Restore. When the page is ready, tap Export to save it to Photos.

What the video shows

A screen recording of the Seamly iPhone app: a photo of a woman on a beach sits under a yellow page with an “Orange Shade” label. One tap on the photo and one on Cutout, and the beach is gone: she now stands on the yellow page.

  • The design: a beach photo of a woman with flowers in her hair, behind an “Orange Shade” label on a yellow page.
  • Tap the photo. It’s selected, and the toolbar shows the photo’s tools: Change, Cutout, Make sticker, Crop and more.
  • Tap Cutout. A moment later the sky, sea and sand are gone and the yellow page shows behind her. A note says the background can be restored at any time, and the button now reads Restore.
  • Tap empty space to deselect: the finished page, ready to export.

Tips for a clean cutout

  • One clear subject. Cutout keeps what stands in front. A person against a plain wall or open sky cuts out cleanest.
  • Keep the whole subject in the photo. A head or hand cut off by the photo’s edge stays cut off.
  • Contrast helps. Dark hair on a dark background, or a white shirt on a white wall, can lose its edges.
  • Put something behind it. A bold page colour, a texture or a second photo makes the cutout read at a glance.

Make it a sticker, or cut out a video

Make sticker, next to Cutout in the toolbar, turns the photo’s subject into a sticker you can move, resize and turn anywhere on the page.

Cutout works on video clips as well: select a clip and tap Cutout. Seamly removes the background frame by frame and keeps the sound, with a progress card while it works.

Questions

Is removing the background free?

Yes. Cutout is free in the Seamly app for iPhone, iPad and Android. In the browser editor it’s part of Seamly Pro.

Can I get the background back?

Yes. Select the photo and tap Restore. Seamly keeps the original photo, so you can switch back and forth.

Does it work on videos?

Yes. Select a video clip and tap Cutout: the background is removed frame by frame and the sound stays. Longer clips take longer, and a card shows the progress.

Is my photo uploaded to remove the background?

No. On iPhone and iPad, Cutout runs on the device itself.

Can’t the Photos app do this?

The Photos app can lift a subject so you can copy and paste it into another app. Seamly does it in place on your design, keeps the original for Restore, and lets you set the subject on a new colour, photo or carousel slide.

Does it work on Android or a computer?

Yes. Cutout is in Seamly for Android, and in the browser at canvas.seamly.art with Seamly Pro.

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