One-Click Cutout and Background Swap

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A one-click cutout route built for beginners: open the image and unlock the background, let Select Subject pick the subject, clean up the edges in Select and Mask, drop in a new background, then blend the edges and export. Work through it once and you have a finished image.

1

Open the image and unlock it

  1. Open the image in PS. In the Layers panel, double-click the lock icon on the right of the Background layer to turn it into a normal layer ("Layer 0"). Only then will deleting the background leave a transparent area.
  2. Press Ctrl+J to keep a backup copy in case something goes wrong.
2

Select the subject automatically

  1. With the background layer unlocked, click Select > Subject in the top menu. Photoshop analyses the image and outlines the main object (a person, a product and so on) with marching ants.
  2. If the edges are complicated — hair, leaves — don't worry. Go straight to the fine-tuning in the next step.
  3. You can also add to or subtract from the selection by hand with the Quick Selection tool (shortcut W).
3

Refine the selection (Select and Mask)

  1. With the selection active, click Select > Select and Mask to open the dedicated workspace.
  2. In the Properties panel on the right, switch the view to "Overlay" or "On Black" so edge problems stand out.
  3. Pick the Refine Edge brush from the toolbar on the left (shortcut R) and paint along the hair or fur — PS detects the edge and corrects it.
  4. In Properties, adjust Smooth (5-10), Feather (1-3), Contrast (10-20) and Shift Edge (contract by about -10%) until the selection fits the subject.
  5. Tick Decontaminate Colors at 50% to cut color fringing, then choose New Layer with Layer Mask from the Output To dropdown and click OK.
Tip: shrink the brush for small precise areas, enlarge it to cover large areas quickly.
4

Replace the background

  1. In the Layers panel, make sure the masked layer is selected — the transparent checkerboard below means the background is gone.
  2. Create a normal layer below the masked layer: click the "Create new layer" icon at the bottom of the Layers panel, then fill it with color (Alt+Delete fills the foreground color) or place a background image (File > Place Embedded).
  3. Move the background image into position, or add Gaussian Blur to the background layer (Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur) to fake a shallow depth of field.
5

Blend the edges and export

  1. Zoom in (Ctrl+plus) and fix leftover or missing areas on the mask with the Brush tool and black/white foreground colors. For hard edges, lower the brush hardness.
  2. To keep the subject's lighting consistent with the background, create a Curves or Levels adjustment layer and right-click "Create Clipping Mask" so it only affects the cutout layer.
  3. If a halo of the old background remains at the edge, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer below the cutout layer and correct only the edge area.
  4. Finally export: for a transparent background export a PNG (File > Export > Export As, format PNG); to keep the layers, choose Save As PSD.
Tip: keep the PSD with its mask — you can swap the background again at any time.

Tips for one-click cutouts

  • "Select Subject" may not be perfect on the first try. Refine it in "Select and Mask" first, then add or subtract with the Quick Selection tool by hand.
  • Without Photoshop, try the online PS tool www.zaixianps.cc — it handles one-click cutouts and background swaps just as fast.
  • Use the global adjustments in "Select and Mask" too: the Shift Edge slider contracts or expands the selection edge, which is very useful for fine corrections.
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