How To Remove Background From Pictures In PowerPoint

Whether preparing for an academic or professional PowerPoint presentation, you must put your heart and soul into impressing your peers. I understand the data or the information you’ll represent will make or break your deal. But your competitors will also judge how you have placed your slides/pictures. Hence, clearing your images’ backgrounds is crucial. Were you wondering how to remove the background from a picture in PowerPoint?

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It’s pretty easy. Many easy AI tools remove the background with just a single click. Other ways to remove background are by using a transparent colour or PowperPoint’s remove background tool. I’ll explain the steps in this guide. Shall we begin?

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What is PowerPoint Background Removal Feature? Is it Helpful? 

The PowerPoint image background removal feature is an in-built PowerPoint tool that lets you quickly alter image backgrounds. Powerpoint gives you two options: remove backdrops from pictures, remove background tools, and set the transparent colour. 

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Yes, these tools are helpful because it brings a more personalized touch to your presentations. Including pictures adds a creative touch to your project and makes it stand out from the rest. Everyone uses stock pictures, but when you use your own, it shows the hard work you put into the presentation. 

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Moreover, the kind of images you’ll use will speak for your project or brand, and the viewers will be able to relate to it more. Another benefit of using the background remover is removing unnecessary elements from the picture. So you can crop your picture without reducing its quality, making your slides look cleaner. Now that you know the benefits of using PowerPoint, let’s go ahead and see how to use it. 

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Removing Background from a Picture in PowerPoint using Remove Background Tool: Step by Step Guide 

As I told you, there are two ways of removing background in PowerPoint, and the first method I will mention is using the remove background tool. This process is helpful for pictures with more complicated backgrounds. In short, if a lot is happening in the background, you should use this method. 

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But before I begin explaining the steps, let me introduce you to a magic tool that removes picture backgrounds with just a single click. Erase.bg is an AI tool where you can remove the backgrounds of your images and videos within seconds. You must upload your image on the website, and the tool will do the rest of the work.

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This is a more convenient option because it will save you time and get your image ready within seconds. And the best part is this is a free tool and supports JPEG, JPG, PNG, and WEBP image formats. Now let’s go ahead and see how you can remove the background using the background removal tool in PowerPoint- 

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Step 1 - Click on your picture to select it. 

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Step 2 - You’ll see the Picture Format tab at the top. Click here. 

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Step 3 - Click on Remove Background. Now PowerPoint will automatically select parts of the picture it considers as the background. 

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Step 4 - As you can see in the above picture, PowerPoint has highlighted the parts it considers as background in purple. PowerPoint may also cover areas that you may not want to remove. For example, the picture above has captured some parts of the laptop, the desktop behind it, and some other elements I want to keep. 

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Step 5 - We have to clean those areas that PowerPoint has caught as background. And to do that, you must click on Mark Areas to Keep, which is at the top left corner. 

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Step 6 - Now, you can draw a line or circle the areas you want to keep. Or you can click and drag the pencil to keep the elements you want, as shown in the picture below. 

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Step 7 - Once you are done making the changes and get the desired result, click on Keep Changes. And that’s it; you have successfully removed the background from your image. If you still think you need to make some changes, you can follow the same steps and get your image ready as you like it. 

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Removing Background From a Picture in PowerPoint with Set Transparent Color Tool: Step by Step Guide 

The previous method was more appropriate for pictures with many background elements. But if you have to remove a solid background from your image, you don’t need to follow such detailed steps. Removing solid backgrounds is extremely easy and takes less time. Let me show you how you can do it in the following steps- 

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Step 1 - As you did in the previous step, first upload your picture in PowerPoint and select it.

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Step 2 - Click on Picture Format. 

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Step 3 - You’ll find the colour tab and click on the dropdown symbol. 

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Step 4 - Now, PowerPoint will show you different options, but you’ll have to go to the bottom of the page and click on Set Transparent Color. 

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Step 5 - Now click on the background of the picture you want to remove. Once you do that, the tool will remove the background colour. 

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Here is how I removed the background of my image. While this is a quick and hassle-free way to clear your background, there are more effective methods. It only works best on white background. As you can see in my edited picture, some yellow colour is still left, and I cannot repeat the same procedure to eliminate that part. Therefore, I prefer to use the remove background method. 

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And, of course, this procedure will not work on images with cluttered backgrounds. While it’s a quick and straightforward procedure, it has many cons, and I don’t recommend using it. Because the method works best in white backdrops, I think there is no need to remove the white background. If you find the written instructions confusing to follow, you can check out this YouTube video to learn picture background removal in PowerPoint. 

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PowerPoint Background Removal Tools May not Work Well in these Cases 

The PowerPoint background removal tool is quite powerful, but it may not work the best in some cases. If you are preparing for an introductory presentation that is a deciding factor for your career, I think PowerPoint isn’t the best tool. I know you are wondering why.

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The remove background tool could do a better job when removing the edges. I have seen that the edited pictures have rough edges which don’t look professional. It’s also frustrating to repeatedly drag the pencil over the same spot.

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And the set transparent colour option could be more helpful. Because when the colour of the main subject and the background is the same, PowerPoint could do a better job of removing the background.

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Again if the picture contains intricate details like hair, fur, or feathers, both PowerPoint tools cannot produce satisfactory results. So what should you do? Now you must be wondering if there are any other better substitutes. Yes, there are. I have talked about the substitutes in the following section. 

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Removing Image Backgrounds Using AI Tools: Are these Tools Really better than PowerPoint? 

Nowadays, we have so many advanced tools that make our everyday tasks extremely easy. One such tool is AI background removal. We all have to make PowerPoint presentations at some point. And adding photos in such presentations makes it ten times better. Since PowerPoint background removal tools are inefficient, AI tools are a better substitute. 

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Yes, AI is much better because these tools give you more precision and quick results. There are numerous AI or ML tools, but I like Erase.bg because it is convenient.

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I already mentioned this tool at the beginning of this guide. Erase.bg removes the background from any image in five seconds, and it’s super easy to use. Plus, this tool works on Windows, Mac Os, Linux, and Ubuntu so everyone can use it. 

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Plus, there are many other options to add different colours or elements to your background, which is excellent for making your pictures or presentation more professional. Here is how you can use the tool- 

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Step 1 - Go to the Erase.bg website and download the app from the Apple or Android store. 

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Step 2 - Once the download is complete, upload the photo you want to remove the background, and within seconds, the app will remove the background. 

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Step 3 - If you want to add other colours or elements, click on the edit tab, and the app will give you different editing options. 

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Once you are done editing, you can save the photo in your preferred format and upload it in PowerPoint. There is no manually dragging and removing the background; therefore, it’s much more convenient than PowerPoint. But using an AI-based tool is not based on individual preferences.

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You can use PowerPoint editors if you think you are more comfortable using them too. Or, if your system does not have space for another third-party app, you can keep using the PowerPoint tools. But you’ll have to spend more time perfecting the edits.

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Is There any Other Way to make the PowerPoint Pictures Stand Out?

Yes, you can go more creative with your pictures to amp up your presentations. In this section, I'll show you some tips and hacks to make your slides look more creative and better than the rest. 

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You can layer two or more pictures. You can add another picture to your already edited or removed background image to make your pictures look more creative. But how do you do it? Don't worry; I'll guide you here as well. 

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It's not very complicated and requires you to follow simple procedures. To do that, you need to.

• Go to slides, click on format background, and click on insert. Here you can add any picture of your choice. 

• If you wish to play around with the colour, contrast, and other elements of the pictures, you can do that as well. You have to format the picture and click on the picture colour to do that. 

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As you get used to using PowerPoint more, you'll learn to explore other options PowerPoint has to offer. You should go through some YouTube videos about using PowerPoint more fluently.