Tools
Preview (macOS), rembg, uv
Price
Free
Time
1 click, or 10 min of setup for rembg
Level
Beginner, then Terminal

Cutting out means keeping the subject (a product, a face, a dish) and making the background transparent. The result is a PNG file you can place on any background in Canva, Figma or your website. Free websites that do this ask you to upload the photo to their servers; here, everything stays with you.

One photo: Preview, in one click

  1. Open the image in PreviewDouble-click the photo, or right-click, Open With, Preview.
  2. Click Remove BackgroundThe button is in the toolbar. If Preview offers to convert the file to PNG, click Cancel then File, Duplicate to keep the original, or Convert to replace it.
  3. Check, and undo if neededIf the cut-out ate part of the subject, choose Edit, Undo.

From the Finder, the same feature exists as a Quick Action: Control-click the image, Quick Actions, More, Remove Background. If it is not there, add it in the Extensions settings (the Customize button).

A whole folder: rembg

rembg is an open-source tool (MIT licence) that removes backgrounds from the command line, one image or one folder at a time. It needs Python 3.11 to 3.13; the easiest way is to run it with uv, a Python manager that fetches the right version by itself without touching the rest of your Mac.

  1. Install uv
    Terminal
    brew install uv
  2. Cut out one imageThe first time, the "birefnet-general" model downloads (close to 1 GB, stored in ~/.rembg/models/). After that it runs straight away.
    Terminal
    uvx --python 3.13 --from "rembg[cpu,cli]" \
  rembg i -m birefnet-general photo.jpg photo-cutout.png
  3. Cut out a whole folderPut your photos in an input folder: the cut-out PNG files land in output.
    Terminal
    uvx --python 3.13 --from "rembg[cpu,cli]" \
  rembg p -m birefnet-general input output
  4. Refine the edges if neededFor hair or soft edges, try -a (alpha matting, which smooths the outline) or -dc (removes the colour fringe left by the old background). For portraits, there is a dedicated birefnet-portrait model.

Model licence. Without the -m option, rembg uses BRIA's RMBG-2.0 model, whose licence requires a paid agreement for commercial use. For business visuals, pick a model with an open licence such as birefnet-general (BiRefNet, MIT licence), and check the model's licence before any commercial use. As with any tool you install, use the official source.

Sources

Got a product catalogue to cut out every week? It can be automated end to end, from the photo folder to the product page.