How to Remove the Background From an Image in PowerPoint
(Note: Suitable for users of PowerPoint 2016, 2019, 2021, and PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.)
Objective
Use PowerPoint tools to remove the background from an image so it seamlessly integrates with the rest of the slide.
The Removing the Background From an Image in PowerPoint Explained
When we use an image in a PowerPoint presentation, the image usually has a background. For example, the below image of a kingfisher also has a blurred-out, colorful background and some branches.
Maybe we want to ‘cut out’ just the kingfisher from the image and paste it onto our background to create an entirely different image.
For example, we might want to have the kingfisher sitting on this branch instead.
Fortunately, PowerPoint has some tools that will help us remove the background from any image. However, one thing to make clear before we begin, PowerPoint is definitely not Photoshop. We can get decent results using PowerPoint tools, but it won’t be the professional result we expect using a dedicated image editing application.
To ensure we get the best results in PowerPoint, we must select the right image to use.
A general rule is to use images that have a reasonably plain background. We don’t want to attempt to cut something out of an image that has an excessively busy or detailed background. The images we are using in this article are all available for free download.
Related Read:
Insert and Image into a Powerpoint Slide – Including information on sourcing images and image copyright.
So, instead of the image of the kingfisher we just looked at, we might choose a different image with a plainer background that doesn’t have lots of colors or details like twigs and branches.
The image below has a reasonably consistent plain background. Using this type of image instead gives us the best chance to get a good result.
Using PowerPoint tools, we can select the parts of the image we want to remove and the parts we want to keep.
Remove Background
Let’s remove the background from the kingfisher image.
- Select the image.
- From the Picture Format tab, in the Adjust group, click Remove Background.
The Background Removal contextual ribbon will appear and PowerPoint will make its best attempt to mark the areas for removal. The areas to be removed are highlighted in purple.
As you can see, the first result is not great. It hasn’t picked up all of the yellow background and it has picked up some parts of the image that we actually want to keep.
This is where we can start to make some adjustments to the selection using tools on the Background Removal ribbon.
First, let’s mark out the parts of the image we want to keep.
- Click Mark Areas to Keep.
The cursor will change to a pencil. We can then draw a line across the areas to keep, shown in green. We don’t need to be accurate when it comes to the straightness of the line we draw, just as long as we are marking the area.
PowerPoint will redefine its selection. You can see in the image below; the top of the kingfisher’s head is now included in our selection.
We repeat this process to mark other parts of the image to keep.
Once we have marked all areas to keep, we can then mark the areas we want to remove.
- Click Mark Areas to Remove.
The cursor will change to a pencil again. We can then use the same process and draw a line across the areas to remove, shown in red.
The kingfisher is now completed isolated from its background. Everything in purple will be removed from the image.
- Click Keep Changes.
Note: If we make a mistake, we can always click Discard All Changes to go back to the original image.
We can now copy and paste this image onto a different background to make an entirely different image.
Suggested reads:
How to Change PowerPoint Slides to Portrait
How to Change Slide Size in PowerPoint
How to Save PowerPoint as Video
The result is pretty good and we can make all kinds of custom images this way. The key is always to select an image with a reasonably plain background.
Let’s see how this works for the first image we looked at. This image has more detail. When we try to remove the background it’s not so easy because of the thin branches. We could spend time using our PowerPoint tools to try and select the individual branches but usually the result won’t be as clean and it’s quite a time-consuming process.
Let’s look at another type of image. In this example, we want to cut out the businessman from the background and place him into our PowerPoint presentation. We can see we have some areas that have been marked incorrectly.
We will use a combination of Mark Areas to Keep and Mark Areas to Remove again.
When we paste the image into the PowerPoint presentation, it looks seamless.
Also read:
How to Make a Flowchart in PowerPoint
How to Link Excel to PowerPoint
How to Add Slide Numbers in PowerPoint
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Simon Sez IT has been teaching PowerPoint and other business software for over ten years. You can access 160+ IT training courses for a low monthly fee.
Deborah Ashby
Deborah Ashby is a TAP Accredited IT Trainer, specializing in the design, delivery, and facilitation of Microsoft courses both online and in the classroom.She has over 11 years of IT Training Experience and 24 years in the IT Industry. To date, she's trained over 10,000 people in the UK and overseas at companies such as HMRC, the Metropolitan Police, Parliament, SKY, Microsoft, Kew Gardens, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.She's a qualified MOS Master for 2010, 2013, and 2016 editions of Microsoft Office and is COLF and TAP Accredited and a member of The British Learning Institute.
