Cut out people from a group photo

The example is a photo of eight friends in white, and you want the one on the far left and the fourth from the left, who don't stand together. Background removal keeps everyone in the photo; cutouts keep only the people you pick, each on a layer of its own.

Before

The four friends on the left of the group photo.

After

The first and the fourth friend, cut out together on a transparent background, the two between them left out.

What you get

• Any people you pick from the group, side by side or not, each as a cutout of its own.
• Each person on their own as a PNG with a transparent background, or the ones you choose together in one.

In the Editor

1. Open the photo in the Editor (Add images). It opens in Cutout with Area chosen.

2. Drag a box around the leftmost person: 1 credit. Their cutout's tile appears in the strip on the left.

   

3. Choose New cutout, the + under the tile, for a second cutout.

   

4. Choose Click in the tool menu and click the fourth person, out of the middle of the group: 1 credit a click. Here the first click, on the shirt, took the whole person; click again on any part it missed.

   

5. Choose All cutouts, the top tile with the count, and Show result to see both. Copy then gives both people in one PNG, cropped to their edges. To copy or export one person, select their own tile first (Copy, download or export a result).

   

For people who stand next to each other, one cutout can hold both: click the second person into the first cutout instead of starting a new one (Fix a cutout).

In the Agent

Say who to cut out instead of drawing, by where they stand or what they wear (Ask the Agent):

The Agent gives each person as an image of their own, on a transparent background. To get them together in one image, use the Editor.

Many group photos

To get every person from many photos, each in a file of their own, use the Cut out each person recipe (Cut out each person).

What to check

In Show result, check every part of each person is there, such as hands, hair and shoes, and nothing of the person beside them stayed. White clothes against a white wall, as here, are worth a close look at the edges.

Common mistakes

• Removing the background to keep some of the people. Remove background picks the photo's main subject itself, so you can't choose who stays. Cut the people out instead.
• Drawing one box round people who don't stand together. A box takes in everyone between them, and an Area box keeps one person. Give each person a cutout of their own with New cutout.
• Copying with one tile selected when you want everyone. Copy and Export take the tiles you have selected. Choose All cutouts, the top tile, for both in one image.