Image background removal — it seems an easy operation that doesn’t require a particular effort. At least, you may think so until you try to cut out hair or other sophisticated objects from a photo for the first time. Without having the right tools, you may start thinking that it would be much easier to give up this idea at all than attempting to implement it accurately using free software available on the web.
A time-consuming process in the past, image background removal has become a breeze today. The advent of artificial intelligence has revolutionized many industries, and photo-editing isn’t an exception. This state-of-the-art technology allows professional photographers and casual users to enjoy crafting impressive visuals and removing the image background within minutes. The modern digital market offers us dozens of AI-powered image-enhancing tools and background removers. However, do all of them do their work well?
Unfortunately, the AI-powered algorithm doesn’t mean that software always delivers perfect results. Many background removers still use selection tools that are far from perfect. Searching for the best tool in terms of usability and quality, I have tried out plenty of image background removers, and would like to share my findings with you. So, let’s take a look at the five most popular of them.
Photoscissors
Photoscissors is the first tool I tested, and here is what I’ve found out. What I like the most about Photoscissors is that it’s free and user-friendly. It allows you to get a transparent background within a few clicks. Another advantage is that it doesn’t put a watermark on the image. However, I have also encountered a few things that frustrated me.
Photoscissors works great for high-contrast images. However, it makes inaccurate selections when it comes to processing photos with busy backgrounds. That’s why I have decided to handle the selection manually, but later it’s appeared to be overcomplicated in Photoscissors.
Another limitation is that you can upload images only under 10Mb and of the maximum resolution 4.2Mpx. Even if you are lucky to cut out an object with relatively good accuracy, be ready to purchase download credits to access a high-quality image.
So, not being happy with the outcome, I’ve decided to test another tool. It is SocialBook Free Background Remover.
SocialBook Free Background Remover
SocialBook Free Background Remover is a web-based tool. You shouldn’t spend time on the registration, download, and setup. All you need is only to hit a website, upload an image (or enter its URL), click several buttons, and your image with a transparent background is ready for download. Honestly, I’ve been surprised to see how easy it can be.
Another advantage is that this tool doesn’t have any particular restrictions for image size and resolution. On the website, the creator claims that SocialBook excels at cutting people out of the photos. After using this background remover, I just confirm that it’s true. With SocialBook Background Remover, you can select even the most complicated parts of a human silhouette like hair very accurately. The quality of images is impressive; you can see it in the example below.
At the moment, SocialBook seems to be a great choice. However, being curious about what else is available in the market, I’ve decided to test other tools.
Fotor
Fotor is another free tool for background removal. The first thing I noticed entering its website is that the user interface is very cluttered and it’s difficult to find anything there. I have spent 3-4 minutes looking for a button to upload an image and a few minutes more to find the selection tool. When I have finally applied it, I’ve been disappointed with what I see.
In Fotor, you can select areas intended for removal or retain by using red and green markers accordingly. The results of the selection are showcased in the image above. It demonstrates two disadvantages of this tool at the same time: the low accuracy of selection and watermark on the photo. You can remove a watermark only after upgrading a subscription plan. Another con is that there are many ads in a user interface distracting you from the initial goal.
However, I have also found several things that I love in Fotor. This tool has many additional photo-enhancing features and allows you to put the text, stickers, and shapes on the photo (what’s not available in two previous tools). Fotor is useful for image-editing, but I wouldn’t recommend it if you just need to quickly remove the image background.
WoFox Background Remover
WoFox is a very easy-to-use background eraser. I like its simplicity and convenience. You can easily get started by uploading or dragging your photo into a website. It’s a good choice if you need to erase details on the image. However, it won’t help much if you want to remove an entire background, and here is why.
Many background removers use red and green brushes to select areas that should be cut out and removed. I have found similar brushes in WoFox, but I’ve been surprised to learn that they work in a different way. Instead of selecting the entire background, this tool transforms only areas marked with red. Anyway, my goal hasn’t been achieved with WoFox.
inPixio
inPixio is one more AI-powered background remover. It is also a web-based tool that doesn’t require download and setup. Like in many background removers, you should use red and green markers to select the areas intended for cutting out of the background. Although its AI-based selection algorithm works much better than in other tools, it still delivers imperfect results. In the image below, you can see that the silhouette outlines are slightly blurred. However, inPixio takes the number two position after SocialBok in my rating of the best background removers.
Conclusion
The search results are crowded with many digital tools for image background removal. However, finding the most convenient and helpful one may take hours. To make things easier for you, I have shared these insights and hope that they will help you save time and effort on the research.
According to my experience, SocialBook Free Background Remover and inPixio are the most useful and accurate tools. Since nothing is perfect in the whole universe, these background removers aren’t too. Although regardless of their infelicities, they have appeared to be the most convenient and professional among tools mentioned in this article.
