How To Change a Background In Photoshop
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- 0:00 Introduction
- 0:22 Import a Background Image
- 0:55 Layer Stacking Order and Layer Naming
- 1:19 Select and Mask Your Main Subject
- 3:05 Fine-Tune The Mask
- 3:39 Mask Explanation
- 4:44 Paint on the Layer Mask with White or Black
- 5:15 Reposition the Foreground
- 5:45 Match the Light Source
- 6:29 Match the Perspective
- 9:01 Content-Aware Fill to Fill Transparent Areas
- 9:53 Match Depth of Field (Blur)
- 11:31 Match the Brightness of Your Layers
- 12:52 Apply the Color Lookup Table Adjustment Layer
- 13:30 Fine-Tune Mask Details
- 13:47 Final Thoughts
Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
Replace a background in Photoshop by masking out the subject, dropping in a new scene, and matching its light, perspective, and blur so the composite looks real.
Key Takeaways
- Photoshop’s Select and Mask workspace, not just the one-click Remove Background button, is what gives you control over hair and other tricky edges.
- A background swap only looks real once the light direction on the new background matches the light on the subject.
- A Levels adjustment layer clipped to the subject can brighten, darken, and color-correct it to match a new background without touching the background itself.
- The horizon line, where the ground meets the sky, has to line up between the original photo and the new background or the perspective will look wrong.
- A Tilt-Shift blur on the new background can match the shallow depth of field in the original photo.
- One global adjustment, like a Color Lookup table, ties the subject and the new background together into a single cohesive image.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Step 1: Place Your Background Image
- Step 2: Place the New Background Image Below the Original Photo
- Step 3: Remove the Background From The Original Photo
- Step 4: Fine-Tune the Layer Mask
- How To Replace a Background In Photoshop – Beyond The Basics
- Matching the Light Source on a New Background in Photoshop
- Matching Brightness on a New Background in Photoshop
- Matching Perspective When Changing Backgrounds in Photoshop
- Tips for Matching Perspective in Photoshop
- Match the Depth of Field (Blur) on a New Background in Photoshop
- Apply a Cohesive Adjustment When Changing Backgrounds in Photoshop
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to mask out a photo’s original background and drop in a new one
- How to match the new background’s light direction to your subject
- How to match brightness and color between the subject and the new background
- How to line up the perspective using the horizon line
- How to blur a new background to match a shallow depth of field
- How to tie the whole composite together with one global color adjustment
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2022 (version 23.0 or later) or the current version
Practice Files
Download the images used in this tutorial and follow along step by step.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Transform (flip) the layer | Ctrl T | Command T |
| Create a clipping mask | Ctrl Alt G | Command Option G |
| Show the rulers | Ctrl R | Command R |
| Commit a transform or placement | Enter | Return |
| Undo | Ctrl Z | Command Z |
Step 1: Place Your Background Image
After you open your photo, bring in the new background image by going into File > Place Embedded. Resize the image to fill the background.
Step 2: Place the New Background Image Below the Original Photo
Layer Stacking order matters. From the Layers Panel, drag the new background image layer below the original photo.
Step 3: Remove the Background From The Original Photo
Select the original image from the Layers Panel, then from the Properties Panel click on Remove Background. This command will use machine learning technology to find the main subject of the image and apply a layer mask to remove the background.
Tip: For trickier edges like hair, use Photoshop’s Select and Mask workspace. See the Select and Mask workspace tutorial, or this guide to advanced hair masking for busy backgrounds.
Step 4: Fine-Tune the Layer Mask
In most cases, the Layer Mask that hides the background will need some work. Select the Brush Tool from the Toolbar and paint with either black or white. Black will hide pixels, and white will reveal hidden pixels.
How To Replace a Background In Photoshop – Beyond The Basics
After removing the background from your original image you should have a pretty good background replacement. However, in some cases, you may need to do a bit more work to get realistic results.
Keep in mind no two background replacements are the same. Each job will require unique adjustments, but these techniques should cover common issues in background changes in Photoshop.
Matching the Light Source on a New Background in Photoshop
When you import your new background, make sure that the lighting source is pointing in the same direction as your foreground image.
If your light sources are not matching, you can simply flip the background image horizontally. You can do so, by pressing CtrlT (Windows) or CommandT (macOS) to transform the layer. Then you can right-click and select Flip Horizontal from the dropdown menu.
Alternatively, you could flip the foreground image using the same technique.
Matching Brightness on a New Background in Photoshop
Your background and Foreground images were most likely shot at different times of day with varying lighting conditions. This means that you will need to do some sort of brightness or color matching.
From the new Adjustment Layer icon and select Levels. With this adjustment layer, you can adjust the brightness of the image and add/subtract color.
Be sure to only affect your foreground image and not the entire composition. Press CtrlAltG (Windows) or CommandOptionG (macOS) to create a Clipping Mask. With a Clipping Mask, your adjustment layer will only affect the layer directly below it.
You can then make adjustments to brighten or darken your foreground so that it matches your background.
Another thing that I would recommend that you do is to apply a color using the channels option. From the dropdown, you can select Red, Green, or Blue.
With the Red Channel, you can add red or subtract red to get cyan. In the Green Channel, you can add green or subtract green to get magenta. In the Blue Channel, you can add blue or subtract blue to get yellow.
Apply the colors that best suit your background image.
Matching Perspective When Changing Backgrounds in Photoshop
When you’re learning how to change a background in Photoshop oftentimes perspective is overlooked.
You can get pretty much get everything right in a composite. Lighting, color, shadows, and extractions, but if the perspective is off, your viewer will know something is not right. They might not know exactly what it is, but they’ll know there’s something wrong with the image.
To match the perspective in Photoshop you first need to determine where the horizon line of your foreground image is. The horizon line is the “eye-level” of the photo. Where the camera was when the photo was shot.
You can easily find the Horizon line in one of two ways.
- First, you can try imagining your image without any buildings, streets, or any other obstructions. Just the ground and the sky. Where in the photo do you think the ground will end and the sky will begin? That meeting point is the Horizon Line. You probably have seen it when you look at a photo of the ocean and the sky.
- If you can’t visualize it in your mind, you could instead enable the Line Tool. In a blank layer, trace over the parallel converging lines to see where they meet. That meeting point will be your vanishing point, and that will be where the horizon line sits.
Once you know where the Horizon Line of your original image is, you will need to find the horizon line of your new background.
Then with the Move Tool, you will need to place the new background so that it matches the original background’s horizon line.
Tips for Matching Perspective in Photoshop
- You can disable the Layer Mask to see your original background by holding Shift and clicking on the Layer Mask Thumbnail.
- You can press CtrlR (Windows) or CommandR (macOS) to enable the rulers, and drag down a guide to place it over the horizon line.
- After you reposition the background you might see transparent pixels either above or below the image. To fill with similar content you can use the Rectangular Marquee Tool to select the transparent pixels. Then go into Edit > Content-Aware Fill.
- If your Content-Aware Fill is grayed out it is probably because you have a Smart Object as your background image. To convert it into a pixel layer, right-click on it and select “Rasterized.”
Match the Depth of Field (Blur) on a New Background in Photoshop
Another important thing you need to think about when you change a background in Photoshop is the Depth of Field.
If your original image has a shallow depth of field then you will need to blur the background image. Especially if your main subject also has areas that are out of focus.
One easy way to get a realistic background blur is to apply a Tilt-Shift Blur. With your new background layer selected, go into Filter, Blur Gallery, and select Tilt-shift.
In this filter, everything in between the two solid lines will remain in focus. While things in between the solid line and the dashed line gradually become blurry.
If you were to imagine how a lens will blur the background, then you can probably figure out where to place this blur over your image.
Where your subject is standing will be in focus and there will be a gradual transition to a blurry background.
Place the center blur dot where your subject’s feet would be. Even if they are out of the canvas. Then place the dashed line behind them to create the gradual blurry transition
Apply a Cohesive Adjustment When Changing Backgrounds in Photoshop
When you change backgrounds in Photoshop, it’s always a good idea to apply global adjustments to bring all the images together and make them feel more cohesive.
You can do so by adding noise, a vignette, or applying a color grade. One easy thing that you can apply is a global color adjustment.
You can go into the New Adjustment Layer icon, and choose Color Lookup.
You can think of this Adjustment Layer as a filter that colors your image much like an Instagram filter. From the 3D LUT dropdown, you can select any look that you want.
Tap on the down arrow key to toggle between the LUTs. If you find one that you like, but it’s too intense, you can always reduce the Opacity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mask out the subject in your photo, place the new background image below it in the Layers panel, and blend the two together. Then match the light, perspective, brightness, and blur so the new background looks like it was shot with the subject.
Select the layer and click Remove Background in the Properties panel. Photoshop uses machine learning to find the main subject and apply a layer mask automatically, though tricky edges like hair often need extra refinement in Select and Mask.
The most common reasons are mismatched light direction, mismatched brightness or color, a wrong horizon line, or a background that is sharper or blurrier than the original photo. Fixing all four is what sells the composite.
Check which side the light hits your subject from, then compare it to the light in the new background. If they do not match, select the background layer, press CtrlT (Windows) or CommandT (macOS), right-click, and choose Flip Horizontal.
Select the empty pixels with the Rectangular Marquee Tool, then go to Edit > Content-Aware Fill. If Content-Aware Fill is grayed out, right-click the layer and choose Rasterize Layer first, since it will not run on a Smart Object.
Select the new background layer and go to Filter > Blur Gallery > Tilt-Shift. Keep the area around your subject sharp, and let the blur increase gradually toward the edges of the frame.
It applies a 3D LUT that tints the whole image at once, similar to an Instagram-style filter. Use it as a final step to make the subject and the new background feel like one photo.
No. This tutorial was recorded in Photoshop 2022 (version 23.0), but Select and Mask, layer masks, and Levels adjustments work the same way in the current version of Photoshop.
Conclusion
That is how you replace a background in Photoshop: a clean cutout, paired with a new scene that actually matches the subject.
Light direction, perspective, color, and blur are what separate an obvious cutout from a believable composite.
Watch the video above for the full walkthrough, and comment on the video if you get stuck on any step.
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Related Links
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