7 Best Apps to Change a Picture Background (Add Background to Photos)

Removing or changing a photo background is one of the most common photo edits done by professional and amateur photographers.

Whether it is because you take product photos and you need them on a white background, or because you want to paste yourself in front of an angry dinosaur for a fun profile picture on your social media – the tools you need are the same.

Since many people take their photos on a smartphone, there are many apps available on Google Play and the Apple App Store to help you achieve this effect. In this roundup, I’ll tell you some of the best ones for iOS and Android.

Before you decide which backdrop app for photos is the choice best for you, here are some of the features you should look for:

• All the tools included: Whether or not you can do some basic photo editing to enhance the picture, crop it, etc.,
• Transparent background: Many apps allow you to change the image background, but they won’t allow you to leave the subject on a transparent one. For this, it needs to allow for PNG saving.
• Change picture background: Does the app allow you to add a new photo as background, or does it only add solid colors? If you can add a picture background, does it have an in-app camera?
• Accuracy and smoothness: How accurate is the automatic remover? Does it have more tools to refine the cutout? Can you do it manually? This is the most important part to consider.

We’ve considered all these features as well as the ease of use to select the best 6 phone apps to do the job. However, if you prefer to do it with a desktop photo editor, here’s a guide.

Best Background Changer App in 2023

1. Colorcinch

Colorcinch is exceptionally easy to use and delivers some of the most precise results on the web. The one-click application to change the background of a photo utilizes the power of AI to simplify the process of removing any unwanted background from your images in seconds. 

The tool does a great job at auto-identifying the subject and separating it from the background. This is the appropriate software to change the  background of images, but it’s a photo background changer app that is for PC only which limits its overall utility. 

Once you remove the background, you can then further enhance the photo by applying a solid background color, adjusting its colors and, of course, cropping, resizing and recomposing the photo to your liking.

And with its 4+ million stock photos, there’s no shortage of replacement backgrounds to choose from if that’s what you’re after.

The app is clean, intuitive and all-around a great option not only for seamless background removal but all your essential editing needs.

2. Background Eraser – Remove Image Background

This free background changer app is very easy to use, and it has most of its features available for free. You can erase photo backgrounds using AI Cutout, drawing a selection around the subject or using one of the default shapes.

You can save the image as transparent PNG to keep your new image without a background so you can use it as a sticker for WhatsApp or in a photo montage.

Exporting an image to PNG allows you to use Background Eraser as a green or blue picture background app for more complicated CG edits back on your desktop. 

You can also add a background to your headshot which can be a solid color, an uploaded photo from your library, or one of the graphics and photos available on the app – many of them are free; for others, you have to upgrade to the PRO version.

The app also includes a crop tool with the default sizes of most social media platforms – this way, you can easily turn your creation into a YouTube thumbnail or a profile picture for social media.

It also allows for text editing to make a meme or add your Instagram handle in your quest to get more followers!

3. Adobe Photoshop Mix 

Unlike the desktop version, all Photoshop apps are free to download without any hidden fees – you do need to sign in with an Adobe account though.

Photoshop Mix is much more than a background eraser or a background changer. It allows you to work on layers like you would in the original Photoshop.

You can cut out subjects from the background or remove sections from a photo to merge with other images. Each image becomes a layer that you can blend or adjust to get more realistic results.

You can do some basic photo editing or use any of the multiple FX Looks to enhance your pictures – all these edits are non-destructive, so you can keep the original image safe. This is an ideal free school picture background app since there’s no risk of losing your original images while editing. 

If you do own a paid subscription to Photoshop to use it on your computer, you can sync your work to continue the work you started on your phone.

If you plan to work on more elaborate composites than simply removing the odd image background, this app is the perfect photo background changer.

See also: how to change the background color using Photoshop.

4. Background Eraser: superimpose

This app has multiple tools for you to remove the background, superimpose or overlay your pictures. You can do it manually by switching between the Erase and Restore buttons to fine-tune the result. Also, you can use the auto tools to target by area or by color.

Once you have the subject isolated, you can control the smoothness of the edges to get better results when blending it with another background. You can do some basic editing in the app as well – for example, fix brightness, saturation, exposure, etc.

Finally, you can crop to different aspect ratios and share your images directly to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and many other apps.

You can save your creations in JPEG format or save your subjects with transparent backgrounds as PNGs. It’s a very light app, only 19.2MB, and it’s free – some in-app purchases are available to get more tools.

5. PhotoLayers – Superimpose

You can easily make fun and realistic photo montages and collages using this app. Even if it’s not as intuitive as others, the multiple tools available help you to achieve great results. I find it’s one of the best for accuracy and smoothness.

Start by choosing your background image, then add another on top to start compositing. There are multiple manual and auto tools to help you isolate the subject and remove the background.

Then, you can control the smoothness of the edges and the shadows for better integration – you can make a photomontage with up to eleven images.

Some basic photo editing sliders are also available to adjust the tint, saturation, brightness, etc. If you just want to leave a transparent background instead of a composite, this is also possible.

The app is very light, so it’s suitable for most phones, and it’s highly rated both by Apple and Android users.

6. Superimpose+ Background Eraser

With this app, you can do so much more than erase the background of your photo. You can edit and layer up to twenty images at a time – depending on your device. Superimpose+ is available as a camera app for iPhone, iPad and Android.

You can erase the background with just one tap, thanks to the automatic deletion tool. Alternatively, you can use the lasso tool to outline the subject, use the shaped-cutter (with up to 14 shapes to choose from in the premium version), or erase and restore using your finger.

This photo background and colour change app lets you composite multiple photos or change the background to a different color. Also, you can simply save it as a PNG if you want to keep the transparency of the deleted background.

You can then share your images directly from the app on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

To upgrade your free app into a paid version, there are three plans: Premium – 1 month for $4,99, Premium – 1 year for $19,99 or Pro & Ad-Free for $49,99. There’s a free 1 month trial for the premium version in case you want to give it a try.

If you’re running low on storage space, this might not be the app for you as it requires quite a lot of space compared with similar apps (152MB).

It does give you the chance to get some professional-quality photos for e-commerce and marketplaces, change the background of portraits to use as ID photos or business profile pictures, as well as fun collages to use on your Instagram stories and social media.

7. Background Changer – Remove Background Photo Editor

This background app allows you to cut out any subject automatically – you can tell it if it’s an object or a person for a more precise cutout.

Once the background is removed, you can give free rein to your creativity. To change the background of your picture, you can upload any of the photos saved on your device.

You can also connect directly to Google to search for more images or new backgrounds from the app – beware that images on Google might be subjected to copyright, and you can’t use them without permission from the author.

For royalty-free photos to use on your personal projects, you can connect with Unsplash – also from inside the app. Here you’ll find thousands of photos that you can use as a new background or combine in a photo collage.

While Unsplash images belong in the creative commons category, they do have their own licensing, so check that out before you use the photos and see if it’s OK to use the specific use you want to give them.

There are also tons of color choices – both solid and gradients to use as backgrounds if you don’t want to use a picture. It has some free graphics to use too.

The app also allows for some basic photo editing, and it has tons of fun tools for your creations: stickers, texts, frames, new backgrounds and more. Background Changer is great for adding background filters for pictures and really getting creative. 

Some of them are available for the free version, while others are premium features that you need to unlock. The price for the in-app purchases ranges from $1,99 to $34,99.

You can then crop and resize your images for any social networks and share them directly for the app without using any memory space on your phone.

Final Words

This shortlist is just some of the apps that we think are best to create a transparent background, remove unwanted objects, or add new backgrounds to your photos.

You can use any of them for professional purposes if you run an e-commerce or you need to change the color of a product shot.

You can also use them for fun if you want to spice up your social media and you want to create memes, stickers or have a more creative profile picture – there are even apps that turn photos into sketches if you want to experiment even more with your images. 

(Even if you’ve got no money to spend, you can use the free editor GIMP to remove a background.)

I hope this article helped you with the difficult choice of finding the best app for you from the multiple choices available out there. Let us know if you’re using one of the apps we suggested and what’s your experience with them.

Also, comment if you know any others that you recommend and why you like them. We’re always happy to hear from you or help you if you have any questions – just reach out in the comments below.