How to remove a background without losing hair and fine edges

Step by step

1. Use a computer with an up-to-date browser such as Chrome or Edge. Detailed needs more memory than a phone browser allows, so phones use the lighter setting.
2. Open your photo on cutoutfree.com.
3. Choose Detailed under Quality. On fast computers it’s already chosen. It takes a little longer, and switching doesn’t use another of your free images.
4. Check the edges. Click a dark color under Background, then a light one. A thin line of the old background shows up on one of them if something is left over.
5. Save it. Keep the checkerboard for a transparent PNG, or keep the color you like.

Before

After

Why hair is hard

A single hair is often thinner than a pixel, and loose hair is partly see-through: the old background shows between the strands. A good background remover doesn’t just cut along a line; it decides for every pixel how much of it is hair, and keeps the edge soft. That takes a bigger AI and more detail, which is exactly what Detailed adds.

Photos that give the cleanest edges

• A plain background that contrasts with the hair: dark hair against a light wall, blond hair against a darker one.
• A sharp photo. Motion blur and out-of-focus hair turn into soft, vague edges.
• Even light from the front. Strong light from behind makes the hair glow, which is harder to separate.
• No busy patterns right behind the head, such as leaves, branches or striped wallpaper.
• The subject large in the frame. The AI looks at the whole photo at a fixed size, so a head that fills the picture gets far more detail than a small one in the distance.

What CutOutFree can’t do yet

There is no brush yet to erase or restore parts of the cutout by hand. If a spot isn’t right, try the other Quality setting, or a photo with a plainer background behind the hair. For most portraits and pets, Detailed gets it right the first time.

See more results in real before-and-after examples.