Introduction
Do you wish you could make aspects of an image disappear? Or looking for a quick way to remove image backgrounds? You can do that right in PowerPoint. Let's get started.
While PowerPoint already has a large number of images without backgrounds. They are primarily of people. If you need to remove a background from a different image these aren't helpful. Fortunately, there is an easy way to remove a background right in PowerPoint. This feature is part of the AI functionality built within the app.
Remove Background Button
First, Add the image to a slide. From the Picture Format tab, click the Remove Background button. PowerPoint will analyze the image and highlight the areas that it detects as a background. If there are certain areas you don't want removed or be removed, click either the Mark Areas to Keep button or Mark Areas to Remove button. Use the Pen Tool and roughly draw on the areas you want to keep or remove. In this example the woman's shirt and part of the blazer should not be removed.
Once you are done with the modifications click the Keep Changes button. Use the Crop Tool to remove the blank area of the image and you can resize the image and place where needed. Now you are ready to add additional content to your slide.
Removing Background Tips
When removing a background here are some things to keep in mind. This feature works best with fairly simple or neutral backgrounds and the portion of image you want to keep is in focus. More complex images like this one of two cats will take more editing and can make really precise removal difficult. The PowerPoint AI engine selects the areas to be removed based on color. An image with similar coloring throughout can also be a challenge like this photo of a yoga pose.
For complex background removal, I recommend using an image editing software. like Photoshop, Affinity Photo, and Luminar. The links are in the description below. Let me know in the comments if you've used this feature and how well it worked.
