Let’s be real for a second. How many times have you taken a photo that was so close to being perfect, but the background just… wasn’t it? Maybe someone walked into the shot at the last second. Maybe your kitchen counter was doing a lot of heavy lifting in the background of your food pic. Or maybe the photo is great, but you want that soft, dreamy blur behind your subject to give it more of a polished feel.
Whatever the situation, there are two things that can save almost any photo: removing the background entirely, or blurring it just enough to shift all the attention to your subject. And the best part? You can do both right from your phone with PicCollage!
In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to remove the background from a picture and how to blur the background in a photo, step by step. Whether you’re on iPhone or Android, the process is the same. Let’s get into it!
Why Remove or Blur a Background?
Before we jump into the how-to, let’s talk about the why for a second. Because once you start using these tools, you’re going to wonder how you ever posted photos without them 🙂↔️
Removing a background is perfect when you want a clean cutout of a person, a pet, or an object. Think product photos for your shop, custom stickers of your friends, birthday card designs, or layered collages where you’re placing people on fun new backgrounds. It gives you total creative freedom because there’s nothing behind your subject except whatever you decide to put there.
Blurring a background is the move when the photo is already good but the background is a little too busy. It creates that professional depth-of-field look (photographers call it bokeh) that makes your subject pop without losing the context of the scene. Great for portraits, food shots, travel pics, and pretty much any photo you want to feel a bit more elevated.
Both techniques take your photos from “nice” to “wait, how did you make that?” And in PicCollage, they’re both just a few taps away.
How to Remove the Background from a Picture in PicCollage
This is one of those features that feels like actual magic the first time you use it. You tap a button, and the entire background just… disappears. Here’s how to do it.
1. Open PicCollage on your phone and start a new project. You can pick any canvas size or template you want, or just go with a freestyle layout. Add the photo you want to edit by tapping the ‘+‘ icon and choosing it from your camera roll.
2. Once the photo is on your canvas, double-tap on it. This opens up the editing menu, which is where all the good stuff lives. Tap ‘Cutout’, and you’ll see a few options. The one you want is Auto.
3. Tap Auto and give it a second. PicCollage’s AI will scan the photo, figure out what the main subject is, and remove everything behind it. Just like that. You’ll see your subject cleanly cut out with smooth edges, ready to be placed on any background you like.
Tips for the Best Cutouts
The Auto tool works incredibly well on most photos, but here are a couple of things that help it shine even more:
- Use photos with good contrast between the subject and the background. A person wearing a dark outfit against a light wall? Perfect. A white cat on a white couch? The AI will still try, but it’s a harder job.
- Clear, well-lit photos always produce cleaner edges. If your photo is blurry or dark, the cutout might not be as precise.
- Don’t worry about complex shapes. Curly hair, fluffy pet fur, plant leaves… the Magic Cutout handles detailed edges surprisingly well. It’s not just about drawing a rough circle around your subject.
What to Do with Your Cutout
Now here’s where it gets fun. Once you’ve removed the background, your cutout is sitting on your canvas ready for anything. Here are some ideas:
Drop it onto a solid color background for a clean, professional look (great for profile pictures or product shots). Layer multiple cutouts together to create a scrapbook-style collage. Place it on a patterned or textured background from PicCollage’s library. Add stickers, text, and doodles around it for a birthday card or celebration post. Save it as a transparent PNG and use it wherever you want.
The background removal is the starting point. What you build from there is entirely up to you.
How to Blur the Background in a Photo
OK, so maybe you don’t want to remove the background completely. Maybe you just want it softer. That blurred background effect you see in professional portrait photos and Instagram posts is totally doable on your phone, and you don’t need Portrait Mode or a dual-lens camera to make it happen.
This is especially helpful for photos you’ve already taken. Portrait Mode on iPhone is great, but it only works if you remembered to switch to it before taking the shot. If your photo is already in your camera roll (taken in regular Photo mode), Portrait Mode can’t help you. PicCollage can with our Free Blur Background web tool!
Here’s how to blur the background in a photo using our web tool (who is also working on mobile):
- Open this Blur Background tool, import your photo… And just wait!
- And just wait! It’s automatic… It’s done already! ☺️
PicCollage tool will detect your subject automatically and apply the blur to the background only, keeping your subject sharp and in focus.
Adjust the Blur to Your Taste
Not every photo needs the same amount of blur. A subtle softness works well for casual portraits and everyday photos. A stronger blur creates more drama and really isolates the subject. Play around with the intensity slider until the photo feels right to you.
Does this work on iPhone and Android?
One question we see a lot is whether you can blur backgrounds on Android the way iPhone users do with Portrait Mode. The answer is yes, absolutely. PicCollage works the same way on both platforms. The blur tool, the cutout tool, the editing features… everything is available whether you’re on an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy or a Pixel. You’re not missing out on anything.
So if you’ve been searching for an app to blur backgrounds on Android, this is it. Same great results, same easy process.
Remove vs. Blur: When to Use Which
If you’re not sure which option to go with, here’s a simple way to think about it.
- Remove the background: when you’re creating something new. Collages, cards, stickers, layered designs, product listings… anything where you want full control over what’s behind your subject. Removing the background gives you a blank slate.
- Blur the background: when the photo is already a keeper and you just want it to look more polished. The scene behind your subject adds something to the photo, but it’s competing for attention. Blurring it solves that without losing the context.
And honestly? Sometimes you’ll do both on the same project. Remove the background from one photo, blur the background on another, and combine them in a collage. That’s the beauty of having both tools in the same app!
Quick Ideas to Try Right Now
If you’ve been reading this and thinking “I should try this,” here are five things you can open PicCollage and do in the next five minutes:
- Make a custom sticker of your pet: Use the cutout tool on a photo of your dog or cat, save the transparent PNG, and now you have a sticker you can use in any project. Way cuter than the generic ones.
- Clean up a product photo for your shop: Got a handmade item you’re selling? Remove the background, drop it on a clean white canvas, and you’ve got a listing photo that looks like you hired a photographer.
- Give a portrait that professional touch: Take a selfie or a photo of a friend, blur the background, and compare it to the original. The difference is wild.
- Build a birthday collage with cutouts: Cut out the birthday person from five or six different photos and layer them all on a fun background with stickers and a message. It’s personal, it’s creative, and it takes ten minutes.
- Upgrade an old photo: Go back in your camera roll and find a photo you love but never posted because the background was messy. Blur it or remove it. Give that photo the second chance it deserves.
Final Thought
Removing and blurring backgrounds used to be the kind of thing you needed Photoshop and a desktop computer to do well. That’s just not the case anymore. With PicCollage on your phone, you can get clean, professional results in seconds, and then actually do something creative with the result instead of just saving it and moving on.
Whether you’re making collages, designing cards, cleaning up photos for social media, or just having fun with your camera roll, these two tools are going to change the way you edit. Try them out and see for yourself!
Have you created something amazing with the cutout or blur tools? Tag us on social @piccollage, so we can see and share your work with the community!