Change the background colour of a photo to white, blue or red
Forms for passports, visas, exams, ID cards and job portals often ask for a photo on a plain white or light-coloured background, and marketplaces prefer products on white. This free tool lets you change the background colour of a photo you already have: an AI model separates you (or your product) from the background, and the background is replaced with one solid colour.
Choose white, off-white, light grey, light blue, blue, red or any custom colour, then save as JPG or PNG — either at the photo’s own size or at common photo sizes such as 35 × 45 mm and 2 × 2 inches, with 300 dpi written into the file. The photo never leaves your device; only the AI model is downloaded once and cached.
How to use the Change Background Color
- Keep the “People & portraits” model for a person, or choose “Products & objects” for an item. Drop your photo on the upload box.
- Pick a background colour from the presets, or use “Custom colour” to enter any shade.
- Check the edges, especially around hair and shoulders. Use “Restore” and “Erase” to correct the mask, and “Edge softness” for a natural transition.
- Choose an “Output size” and “Framing”: “Crop around the person” fills the frame centred on you; “Fit whole photo” keeps everything and fills the rest with the background colour.
- Select JPG or PNG and press “Download image”. For exact head-size guides, open the saved photo in the passport or visa photo maker.
Change Background Color features
Six presets plus any colour
White, off-white, light grey, light blue, blue and red cover most forms; the colour picker handles brand colours.
Photo-size export
35 × 45 mm (413 × 531 px) and 2 × 2 in (600 × 600 px) at 300 dpi, a 1080 px square, or any custom size in pixels.
Smart framing
Crop centred on the subject with headroom above, or fit the whole photo and pad it with the chosen colour.
No colour fringe
Edge pixels are cleaned of the old background colour, so hair doesn’t show a grey or green outline on white.
Live preview of the saved file
A thumbnail shows exactly how the final crop and colour will look before you download.
Common background colour rules
Requirements change and differ by document, so always check the current official guidance before you submit. As a general guide:
| Use | Background usually asked for |
|---|---|
| US passport and visa | Plain white or off-white, 2 × 2 in (600 × 600 px for online) |
| Indian passport, OCI and many exam or job forms | Plain white or very light; sizes vary by form |
| UK passport | Plain cream or light grey, 35 × 45 mm |
| Schengen visas | Light, uniform background (often light grey or light blue) |
| Some Asian ID and visa photos | White, blue or red depending on the document |
| Online marketplaces | Pure white (#FFFFFF) for the main product photo |
An important caution for official photos
Many passport offices check photos for digital alteration, and some reject pictures whose background was replaced by software — particularly if the cut-out edge around the hair looks unnatural. The safest route for a passport is still a photo taken against a plain light wall, then sized with the Passport Photo Maker or Visa Photo Maker. This tool is ideal when the original wall wasn’t quite plain enough, and for ID cards, exam and job applications, CVs and profile pictures, where the rules are looser.
Whatever you use it for, do not change your face, skin tone or features: only the background should change. The “Restore” and “Erase” brushes affect the mask only, never your appearance.
How it works
The person or product is found by an openly licensed model running in your browser — MODNet portrait matting (Apache 2.0, 13 MB), U²-Netp salient-object detection (Apache 2.0, 4.6 MB) or the MediaPipe Selfie Segmenter (Apache 2.0, 0.25 MB). With the two smaller models, its mask is aligned to the photo’s real edges with a guided filter; edge colours are always corrected with fast foreground estimation before the subject is placed on the solid colour. Difficult cases are the usual ones for automatic cut-outs: frizzy or flyaway hair, a white shirt on a white wall, black hair on a dark background and glasses with strong reflections. For a transparent cut-out instead of a colour, use Remove Background.
Change Background Color FAQ
How do I make the background of a photo white?
Drop the photo on this page, keep the White preset selected and press “Download image”. The AI separates you from the background and replaces it with pure white (#FFFFFF). It is free and nothing is uploaded.
Can I get a blue or red background for an ID photo?
Yes. Choose the Blue or Red preset, or set an exact shade with “Custom colour”, then pick the output size your form asks for.
What size is a passport photo in pixels?
At 300 dpi, 35 × 45 mm is 413 × 531 pixels and 2 × 2 inches is 600 × 600 pixels. Both are available under “Output size”, and the 300 dpi value is saved in the JPG so it prints at the right size.
Will a passport office accept a photo with a replaced background?
Not always. Some offices reject digitally altered photos. Use a photo taken against a plain light wall when you can, and check the current rules. For ID cards, applications and profiles, a changed background is usually fine.
Why is there a thin outline around my hair?
Some of the old background is still mixed into the edge. Keep “Remove colour fringe at edges” on, try “Shrink / grow edge” at −1 or −2, or paint the outline away with “Erase”.
Is my photo stored or uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser and the photo stays on your device. Only the AI model is downloaded once from a public CDN and cached.