How To Change the Background Color in Photoshop (Fast & Easy!)
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Recolor a white background in Photoshop by selecting the subject, filling it with a Solid Color adjustment layer, then inverting the mask so the new color lands behind it instead.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to change the background color in Photoshop!
Nothing beats a clean and crisp background that leads the eyes of the viewers to focus mainly on the subject of the image.
That is why it’s a great skill when you know how to change the background color in Photoshop!
In this quick Photoshop tutorial, I’ll be teaching you a handy trick to change the background color of an image in just 5 minutes!
Note: This technique works best on images with an existing white background.
If you want to learn how to transform any background into white, click here to watch the video!
This is one of the fastest ways to recolor a white background in Photoshop, and it takes about five minutes from start to finish.
The video was recorded in Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0.4), and every tool it uses still works the same way in the current version.
Select Subject has improved a lot since this video was recorded. Adobe optimized it for portrait edges in 2020 and moved it to a cloud-based model in 2022. As a result, your one-click result today will likely look cleaner than the one in the video.
Key Takeaways
- A clean subject selection matters more than a perfect one, since small mistakes rarely show up once you add color.
- A new Solid Color layer fills the subject first, not the background, until you invert its mask.
- The Multiply blending mode is what brings the shadow back after you invert the mask.
- You can swap in a different background color anytime by double-clicking the Solid Color layer’s thumbnail.
- This technique only works cleanly when the original background is already white.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Make a Selection Around the Main Subject
- Refine the Selection with a Quick Mask
- Use a Solid Color Fill Layer to Change the Background Color
- Blending The Background Color
- How to Change the Background Color in Photoshop
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recolor a White Background in Photoshop: Final Thoughts
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to select a subject automatically with Select Subject
- How to refine a selection using Quick Mask mode and the Brush tool
- How to fill a selection with a Solid Color adjustment layer
- How to invert a layer mask so the color lands on the background
- How to blend a solid color background with Multiply for a realistic shadow
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0) or later, or the current version.
- A photo with a plain white background already in place.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Toggle Quick Mask Mode | Q | Q |
| Brush Tool | B | B |
| Quick Selection Tool | W | W |
Make a Selection Around the Main Subject
To make the selection by hand instead, press W (Windows) or W (macOS) or pick the tool from the Toolbar.
Use the Quick Selection tool and drag your cursor all over the subject to make a selection.
A moving dashed line, commonly referred to as the “marching ants,” will automatically show the areas marked by the tool.
To refine the selection, go to the Options bar.
Right beside the currently selected tool, click the Subtract from Selection tool to deselect the subject from the background.
For Creative Cloud users, you can save time by using the Select Subject tool on the Options bar.
This tool uses AI-powered selection. It analyzes your entire image and instantly selects the main subject!
Learn How to Remove White Backgrounds in Photoshop (Quick and Easy Way!)
Refine the Selection with a Quick Mask
The AI will not be perfect, you will have to refine areas that it didn’t properly select.
Press Q (Windows) or Q (macOS) to enter Quick Mask mode. This step applies a red overlay over the areas that are not selected.
This enables you to fix the areas that should have been selected by the tool.
Tip: For tricky edges like loose hair, custom hair-masking brushes can clean up what the Brush tool alone can’t.
To do that, switch to Brush from the Tool panel or press B (Windows) or B (macOS). To edit the mask, paint the areas that you want to select by using the colors Black or White.
Note: The painted areas will come out red, and anything in that area will be hidden and become part of the color change later.
Again, press Q (Windows) or Q (macOS) to retrieve the marching ants.
Then you will see that the newly-painted areas are now deselected, giving you a more precise selection of your subject.
Use a Solid Color Fill Layer to Change the Background Color
In the Layers panel, click on the New Adjustment Layer icon and select Solid Color.
When the Color Picker window pops up, select any color that you want, as you can always change it later, and then press OK.
This will fill your subject with the selected color.
Since you need the color to be on the background, simply change this by clicking on the Layer Mask icon.
Then click the Invert icon on the Properties panel.
Blending The Background Color
At first, your background will appear completely solid and flat. We need to make the solid color background more realistic and blend it with the original background and its shadows.
To do so, select Multiply from the Blending Mode dropdown.
The Multiply Blending Mode looks at the color information in each of the channels. It multiplies the base color by the blend color, and the result is always a darker color.
When it multiplies any color with black, the result is always black. However, multiplying colors with white will leave the color unchanged.
For a deeper look at how every blending mode calculates color, see Blending Modes Explained.
That is why when we pick a certain hue of red and use the Multiply Blending mode on the white background, the color will stay the same.
How to Change the Background Color in Photoshop
I mentioned previously that you can always change the background color without repeating the process.
To do that, bring your cursor over the Layers panel and double-click on the Solid Color thumbnail, which brings you back to the Color Picker window.
This allows you to adjust the color or intensity by clicking and dragging around the panel until you find a color that goes best with your subject.
When you’re happy with the output, simply press OK and you are done!
Frequently Asked Questions
Select the subject with Select Subject, then add a Solid Color adjustment layer. Invert the layer mask so the color lands on the background, then switch the layer to Multiply blending mode to keep the shadow.
It works best when the subject already sits on a plain white background. A different starting background color needs a different masking approach.
Select Subject uses AI-powered selection to analyze the image and automatically select the main subject in one click. It has been part of Photoshop since version 19.1. Adobe has kept refining its edge detection since, most recently with a 2022 update that moved it to a cloud-based model.
Quick Mask mode overlays red on everything outside the current selection. Painting with the Brush tool adds or removes areas from that red overlay before you go back to a normal selection.
A new Solid Color adjustment layer fills the selected subject first, not the background. Click the layer mask, then click Invert in the Properties panel to move the color onto the background.
Inverting the mask hides the original shadow along with the old background. Switching the adjustment layer’s blending mode to Multiply brings the shadow back.
Yes. Double-click the Solid Color layer’s thumbnail to reopen the Color Picker and choose a new color without rebuilding the selection.
You need Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0) or later, or the current version. Select Subject itself has been available since Photoshop 2018 (version 19.1).
Recolor a White Background in Photoshop: Final Thoughts
And that’s the easy trick on how to change background color in Photoshop in just 5 minutes!
Changing this background color only takes three tools: Select Subject, a Solid Color adjustment layer, and the Multiply blending mode.
This is the fastest way to recolor a white background in Photoshop, and you can always come back and pick a new color later.
If you’d rather place your subject on a real photo instead of a flat color, How To Change a Background In Photoshop covers that method.
Watch the full video above, and comment on the video if you have a question.
Selections and Masking Mastery
Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.
Keep going
Ready to go further? Check out the complete guide to changing background colors in Photoshop for two more methods and hair-detail cleanup.
Related Links
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