How to Make a White Background in Photoshop (and Keep the Shadow)
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- 0:00 Introduction
- 1:04 Creating the White Background
- 1:51 Select the Main Subject
- 2:20 Fine-Tune The Mask with Quick Mask
- 3:34 Create the Mask and Refine the Mask Edge
- 4:45 Apply the Second Select and Mask Adjustment to Hair
- 5:30 Fine-Tune The Details of the Mask with The Brush Tool
- 5:58 Mask the Shadow
- 7:00 Use the Clone Stamp Tool to Remove Unwanted Objects
- 8:05 Blur out shadow details and texture.
- 9:07 MSI Creator Z16
- 10:35 Selectively Apply The Shadow
- 11:46 Levels Adjustment to Control Shadow Intensity
- 12:20 Apply Contact Shadows
- 12:59 Create a Light Wrap
- 14:35 Final Thoughts
Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
A white background in Photoshop looks like a studio photo when you combine a clean layer mask, the original shadow and a light wrap.
In this tutorial, you’ll remove the original background and replace it with a solid white layer.
You’ll learn how the Select and Mask workspace works and how to use it for the best results on edges and hair.
You’ll also keep the shadow from the original photo and place it on the white background, so your subject doesn’t look like it’s floating.
Finally, you’ll create a light wrap around the subject. It simulates the white light bouncing off the background, which makes the effect more realistic.
The technique works on people, products, or anything else you can select. It’s written for beginners, and every step stays editable.
The main video was recorded in Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5) in August 2021. The steps work in Photoshop 2021 or the current version.
An earlier 2018 version of this tutorial showed a few extra techniques. You’ll find them in their own section after the main steps.
Key Takeaways
- A white Solid Color fill layer under your subject is the background, and you can change its color at any time.
- Select Subject gives you a fast starting selection, but it misses small details, so fix them in Quick Mask Mode.
- Mask people in two Select and Mask passes: the hard edges of the body first, then only the hair.
- You don’t need to paint a fake shadow. A blurred, desaturated copy of the original photo gives you a real one.
- An Inner Shadow doesn’t have to be a shadow. Set to white and Screen, it becomes a glow that works as a light wrap.
- A few contact shadows under the feet ground the subject on the white background.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- White Background in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
- Step 1: Add a White Background in Photoshop
- Step 2: Select the Subject from the Background
- Step 3: Fix the Selection in Quick Mask Mode
- Step 4: Refine the White Background Mask in Select and Mask
- Step 5: Refine the Hair in a Second Pass
- Step 6: Keep the Original Shadow for the White Background
- Step 7: Remove Objects with the Clone Stamp Tool
- Step 8: Desaturate and Blur the Shadow Layer
- Step 9: Paint the Shadow onto the White Background
- Step 10: Control the Shadow with Levels
- Step 11: Add Contact Shadows on the White Background
- Step 12: Create a Light Wrap for the White Background
- Going Further: White Background Techniques from the 2018 Version
- Output To and Edge Detection in Select and Mask
- Hide Dark Edge Pixels with the Burn Tool
- A Second Light Wrap from Above
- An Alternative Shadow Built with Levels
- Dodge and Burn on 50% Gray Layers
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to add a white fill layer and organize your layers quickly
- How to select a subject and repair the selection in Quick Mask Mode
- How to refine edges and hair in two Select and Mask passes
- How to clean, blur and paint in the shadow from the original photo
- How to control the shadow with a clipped Levels adjustment layer
- How to build a light wrap from an Inner Shadow layer style
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2021 (version 22.5) or the current version
- In older versions without Select Subject, the Quick Selection Tool makes the starting selection
- A photo of a person or product with a visible shadow on the ground. The practice file below has one.
Practice Files
Download the practice image used in this tutorial and follow along step by step.
White Background in Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Move a layer up or down the stack | Ctrl ] or Ctrl [ | Command ] or Command [ |
| Rename the next layer while renaming | Tab | Tab |
| Quick Mask Mode on or off | Q | Q |
| Zoom Tool | Z | Z |
| Smaller brush | [ | [ |
| Larger brush | ] | ] |
| Draw a straight brush line | Shift click | Shift click |
| Swap foreground and background colors | X | X |
| Disable or enable a layer mask | Shift click the mask | Shift click the mask |
| Duplicate a layer | Ctrl J | Command J |
| Invert a layer mask | Ctrl I | Command I |
| Set the Clone Stamp source | Alt click | Option click |
| Desaturate a layer | Ctrl Shift U | Command Shift U |
| Fill with the foreground color | Alt Backspace | Option Delete |
| Fit the image on screen | Double-click the Hand Tool | Double-click the Hand Tool |
| Toggle the last state | Ctrl Alt Z | Command Option Z |
| Clip a layer to the layer below | Ctrl Alt G | Command Option G |
| Open the Fill dialog | Shift Backspace | Shift Delete |
| Group layers | Ctrl G | Command G |
Step 1: Add a White Background in Photoshop
Open your photo. In the Layers panel, click the lock icon to unlock the Background layer.
Click the New Adjustment Layer icon and select Solid Color. Choose white from the color picker and click OK.
Drag the new layer below the photo layer. To work faster, hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) and tap the ] or [ key to move a layer up or down the stack.
This next part is optional, but it keeps you organized. Delete the layer mask on the fill layer and rename the layer Background.
Tip: While you rename a layer, press Tab to jump to the next layer’s name. Use it to rename the photo layer Woman.
Step 2: Select the Subject from the Background
Next, make a selection of the main subject of the image.
In the video, the selection comes from Select > Subject. Photoshop uses artificial intelligence to analyze the image and select the main subject.
Note: In an older version of Photoshop without Select Subject, pick the Quick Selection Tool. Click and drag over your subject to select it.
The selection won’t be perfect, but it’s a great starting point.
Step 3: Fix the Selection in Quick Mask Mode
With the selection active, press Q to turn on Quick Mask Mode. It places a red overlay over the areas that are not selected, so the selected areas are easier to see.
Press Z for the Zoom Tool and zoom in. In the video, the selection missed part of the headphones.
Quick Mask Mode lets you edit a selection by painting on it. Paint with white to reveal pixels and add them to the selection. Paint with black to hide them.
Select the Brush Tool from the toolbar and paint with white over the missed areas.
The selection also missed the headphone cord. Tap the [ key to make the brush just a bit smaller than the cord.
Tip: Click once, then hold Shift and click again. Photoshop draws a straight line between the two points. Repeat it to follow the cord to the other side.
Spend more time on the small details in your own image. When you’re done, press Q again to turn the overlay back into a selection.
In the Layers panel, click the Add Layer Mask icon. Photoshop creates a layer mask from the selection, and the white background shows through.
Step 4: Refine the White Background Mask in Select and Mask
Before you move on, fine-tune the layer mask. In the video, the mask thumbnail is selected and Select and Mask opens from the Properties panel.
By default, the view in this workspace is Onion Skin. Change it to Black & White so you can see the mask itself.
The sliders under Global Refinements refine the edges of the mask. Use the Zoom Tool to zoom in on the edges.
If the edges look jagged, drag the Smooth slider to the right. Then raise the Contrast to sharpen the edges of the mask. Click OK.
Photoshop does a good job on most edges, but it can miss some areas. In the video, it missed part of the model’s leg. Select the Brush Tool and paint with white on the mask to reveal them.
For a full guide to every setting in this workspace, see the Select and Mask workspace tutorial.
Step 5: Refine the Hair in a Second Pass
When you mask people, do two passes in Select and Mask. The edges of a person’s body are very different from the edges of the hair.
The first pass works on the hard edges. The second pass focuses only on the hair, and it gives you much better results.
Go back into Select and Mask and select the Refine Edge Brush Tool. Paint over the edges around the hair. Photoshop analyzes those edges and creates a better selection around the hair.
Note: You could click the Refine Hair button instead, which does this with AI. In the video, painting it manually gives a better result.
Click OK when the hair looks good. You can still clean up the mask with the Brush Tool. If black is your background color, tap the X key to swap the foreground and background colors.
With black as your foreground color, paint on the layer mask to hide areas that shouldn’t show. This is where the magic happens, so spend time on the small details.
For more ways to handle hair and stop halos, try these three tricks for better cut-outs.
Step 6: Keep the Original Shadow for the White Background
Now work on the shadow. Hold Shift and click the layer mask thumbnail to disable the mask. You can see the shadow in the original image.
You can take this shadow and place it on the white background. It creates a more realistic effect than a subject floating on white.
Shift-click the mask again to turn it back on. Then press CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) to duplicate the layer.
Name the bottom layer Shadow. Hide the top layer by clicking its eye icon, and work on the bottom layer.
To see what you’re doing, invert the layer mask so it hides the subject and reveals the background. Select the mask thumbnail and press CtrlI (Windows) or CommandI (macOS), or click Invert in the Properties panel.
Now the mask reveals everything except the model, and that’s what you want.
Step 7: Remove Objects with the Clone Stamp Tool
In the video, a water bottle and a jump rope sit on the floor next to the model. Remove objects like these if you want to use the shadow on your white background.
Select the Clone Stamp Tool from the toolbar. It paints pixels from one area to another by copying them.
Warning: Click the layer thumbnail, not the layer mask. The white outline shows which one is active, and it must be on the layer thumbnail.
First, set a sample source, which is the area Photoshop copies from. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the area you want to copy.
Then paint over the objects to remove them. You don’t need to be perfect. You’ll blur this layer, so you can get away with a lot of imperfections.
Step 8: Desaturate and Blur the Shadow Layer
Press CtrlShiftU (Windows) or CommandShiftU (macOS) to desaturate the layer. You can also go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.
Next, blur the layer to remove the detail from the ground and keep only the shadow. Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur.
Don’t blur it so much that you lose all detail. But don’t keep the blur so low that the texture on the ground still shows. In the video, about 10 pixels works. Click OK.
If the texture is still visible, try another blur. Go to Filter > Blur > Motion Blur. Use an angle that doesn’t distort the shadow too much and click OK.
Then apply Gaussian Blur one more time to reduce more of the texture. In this case, 4 or 5 pixels works.
Step 9: Paint the Shadow onto the White Background
Now hide all the pixels on the Shadow layer by making its layer mask completely black.
With black as your foreground color, select the mask and press AltBackspace (Windows) or OptionDelete (macOS). The whole mask fills with black.
Turn the Woman layer back on. Select the Brush Tool and make white your foreground color.
In the brush presets, set the Hardness to 0 so you paint soft brush strokes. Tap the ] key to make the brush bigger.
Paint on the Shadow layer mask to bring the shadow back.
Then tap X to make black your foreground color. Paint with black to hide any shadow you don’t want, and keep fine-tuning it.
Step 10: Control the Shadow with Levels
Double-click the Hand Tool to fit the image on screen. If the shadow looks too strong, a Levels adjustment layer can control its intensity.
Click the New Adjustment Layer icon and select Levels. In the Properties panel, click the clip icon to clip it to the layer below.
The down-pointing arrow means the Levels adjustment only affects the Shadow layer.
Drag the white point slider to the left to brighten the shadow. Then use the middle Gamma slider to control the intensity. Keep adjusting until it looks good to your eye.
Step 11: Add Contact Shadows on the White Background
In some cases, the subject needs contact shadows where it touches the floor. They make the white background look more realistic.
Select the Woman layer mask and zoom in close. With the Brush Tool, make white your foreground color and make the brush smaller.
Paint to reveal some of the pixels closest to the feet. That brings back the contact shadows from the original photo.
You can also bring back details like a shoelace. Spend more time on the small details in your image.
Step 12: Create a Light Wrap for the White Background
Double-click the Hand Tool to fit the image on screen. One more subtle adjustment makes the white background more realistic.
In a real photo, light would bounce from the white background onto the model. You can recreate it with a light wrap, and a layer style is an easy way to build one.
Select the Woman layer. Click the fx icon in the Layers panel and select Inner Shadow.
Note: The name doesn’t mean you have to make a shadow. Here, the Inner Shadow makes a glow, and it does a better job for this look than Inner Glow.
Click and drag on the image to position the effect. In the video, it sits on the top part of the model’s body.
Change the Blend Mode to Screen and the color to white. Increase the Size to soften it, and lower the Opacity to reduce its intensity.
Click and drag again to move it if you need to. Toggle the effect to compare before and after. It’s subtle, but it brings a lot more realism to the image.
For more ways to make a cutout fit its new scene, try these tips to make your composites more realistic.
After the light wrap, go back and clean up the small details. Your layer mask is what makes a white background work, so give it the most time.
Going Further: White Background Techniques from the 2018 Version
The 2018 version of this tutorial was recorded in Photoshop 2018 (version 19.1). It used a few techniques the 2021 video doesn’t show.
They’re alternatives, not extra steps you must do. Each one is described the way the 2018 video does it, so you can try it and keep what works on your photo.
Output To and Edge Detection in Select and Mask
In the 2018 video, the first Select and Mask pass starts from a selection. Because Output To is set to Selection, clicking OK gives you a selection. On the hair pass, set Output To to Layer Mask.
The two passes matter for a second reason. On the first pass, global refinements like Smooth and Contrast also apply to the hair, so the Refine Edge Brush Tool does a poor job there.
To see what the brush does, check Show Edge under View Mode and raise the Radius under Edge Detection. The band you see is where Photoshop looks for hair and fine detail.
Check Smart Radius, and the band changes width depending on the content of the image. To paint your own edge, uncheck it and bring the Radius down to 0.
Warning: Keep the Radius at 0 when you paint the hair yourself. A higher Radius also refines areas you didn’t paint and can damage clean edges, like a shirt.
Note: Since Photoshop 2019 (version 20.0), CtrlZ (Windows) or CommandZ (macOS) steps back through multiple undos. CtrlAltZ (Windows) or CommandOptionZ (macOS) toggles the last state.
Hide Dark Edge Pixels with the Burn Tool
After the hair pass, the 2018 video also uses the Burn Tool on the layer mask. The Burn Tool darkens pixels.
Painting with it on the mask hides pixels along the edge that are already very dark, so they become invisible against the white.
A Second Light Wrap from Above
The 2018 video builds its light wrap from an Inner Shadow too, but with the Blend Mode set to Overlay instead of Screen. Try both and keep the one that looks more natural on your photo.
It then adds a second Inner Shadow with the plus icon next to Inner Shadow. Uncheck Use Global Light, so this one moves on its own.
Set the Angle to 90° so the light comes from right above the shoulders. Lower the Opacity to 0%, then raise it ever so slightly.
Note: A second instance of Inner Shadow needs Photoshop 2015 (version 16.0) or newer.
Right-click the fx icon and choose Create Layers to turn the styles into clipped layers. Add a layer mask to each one and paint with black where the highlight is too strong.
Name them Light Wrap 1 and Light Wrap 2 so you know what they control.
An Alternative Shadow Built with Levels
The 2018 video builds the shadow without the inverted mask or the Clone Stamp Tool. Duplicate the original photo with CtrlJ (Windows) or CommandJ (macOS) and name the copy Shadow.
Desaturate the copy with CtrlShiftU (Windows) or CommandShiftU (macOS). Then open Image > Adjustments > Levels and drag the white point to the left until mainly the shadow remains.
One Gaussian Blur of about 10 pixels hides the detail in the wall. Hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and click the Add Layer Mask icon to add a black mask, then paint the shadow back with white.
To hide the edges, nudge the layer with the arrow keys while the Move Tool is active. Smudge the leftover edges with the Smudge Tool and lower the layer Opacity.
If you only need the subject off its background, without a white backdrop, see how to remove a background in Photoshop.
Dodge and Burn on 50% Gray Layers
The 2018 video finishes with dodge and burn. Create a new layer and press CtrlAltG (Windows) or CommandOptionG (macOS) to clip it to the photo.
Press ShiftBackspace (Windows) or ShiftDelete (macOS) to open the Fill dialog, choose 50% Gray, and click OK. Set the blending mode to Soft Light, and the gray disappears.
Paint highlights with the Dodge Tool and deepen shadows with the Burn Tool. The video uses one layer for the shirt and a second one for the face, so each part stays under its own control.
Lower each layer’s Opacity to fine-tune the effect.
To finish, select the top layer, hold Shift and click the bottom one. Press CtrlG (Windows) or CommandG (macOS) to put the whole white background setup in a group.
Frequently Asked Questions
Add a white Solid Color fill layer below your subject. Then hide the original background with a layer mask on the photo layer. The fill layer is pure white, and you can change its color later.
Duplicate the photo layer, invert its mask, and remove any objects on the floor with the Clone Stamp Tool. Desaturate and blur the layer until the floor texture disappears. Fill the mask with black and paint the shadow back in with a soft white brush.
Hair needs a different edge treatment than the body. Do one Select and Mask pass for the hard edges. Then do a second pass and paint only over the hair with the Refine Edge Brush Tool.
A light wrap simulates light from the background bouncing onto the edges of the subject. It helps a cutout look like part of the scene. A white Inner Shadow layer style set to Screen is a quick way to make one.
Add a Levels adjustment layer above the shadow layer and clip it to that layer. Drag the white point slider to the left to brighten the shadow. Use the Gamma slider to fine-tune its intensity.
Yes. The same steps work on people, products, or anything else you can select. Products with hard edges are faster to mask because they don’t need a hair pass.
Yes. If your version doesn’t have Select Subject, make the starting selection with the Quick Selection Tool. The rest of the steps work the same way.
Conclusion
You now have a complete workflow for a white background: a Solid Color fill, a two-pass layer mask, the original shadow and a light wrap.
Each piece sits on its own layer, so you can go back and adjust any of them later.
Watch the full video above, and comment on the video if you have a question about any step.
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Final Image
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