Download PNG when the cutout will sit on another background later; download JPG when the background is final and the file is going straight to a listing or a profile. That one choice decides whether you can reuse the asset without removing the background again.
Both exports come from the same removal result. PNG writes the alpha channel through at the result's pixel size; JPG draws the same pixels on a canvas, fills the background first and saves at quality 0.94.
The sections below cover the editor's real input and output limits, the failures that come from the export choice, and the click order that avoids them. Every limit below is enforced by the uploader or the server, so treat it as a product constraint rather than a guideline.
| What changes | PNG | JPG |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency | Kept as an alpha channel | Flattened; no alpha channel |
| Empty areas | Stay transparent | Filled with white when Transparent is selected |
| Background | Can be changed later without cutting again | Baked in at export |
| Reuse | Drop the file onto any new background | Export again to change the background |
| Compression | Lossless | Lossy, saved at quality 0.94 |
| Best for | A reusable master file | A final listing or profile image |
Should you download PNG or JPG?
PNG is the working file. The alpha channel keeps empty areas empty, so the same asset can go onto a white product page, a colored slide or a photo backdrop later.
JPG is the delivery file. It cannot store transparency, so the subject has to be composited onto something first. In this editor that something is a solid color, a custom color or an uploaded backdrop; if you leave the background on Transparent and download JPG, the empty area is filled with white.
- Choose PNG if the subject might move to another background, or if you want to keep a master you can export from again.
- Choose JPG if the background is decided and the destination expects an ordinary photo.
- Keep both when you are unsure: download the PNG first, then set the final background and export JPG from the same result.
What does this editor accept, resize and export?
Input is PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 20 MB. HEIC, GIF, SVG and PDF are rejected before processing, so convert them first. A file that decodes to more than 24 megapixels is refused outright.
Before sending, the browser fits the image inside 4096 px on its long edge and 16 megapixels, then re-encodes it (PNG first, WebP as a fallback) to stay under roughly 3 MB. The server caps at 6 MB, 16 megapixels and 8192 px per side and re-encodes again, applying the camera orientation and stripping metadata. A 6000 px photo is therefore not processed at 6000 px, and the result cannot contain more detail than the resized copy that was sent. If you need every pixel, crop or resize the source yourself before uploading.
The removal service returns a PNG with an alpha channel. Download PNG writes that alpha through at the result's pixel size. Download JPG draws the same pixels on a canvas, fills the background first (white when Transparent is selected) and saves at quality 0.94.
Backgrounds are transparent, a solid color (white, blue, red or near-black presets plus a color picker) or an uploaded image. A backdrop is prepared at up to 2048 px on its long edge and scaled to cover the output, so it is center-cropped to the cutout's aspect ratio rather than letterboxed. Prepare the backdrop at the same aspect ratio when the crop matters.
Not in this editor: a manual mask brush, edge feathering, a threshold slider, cropping, resizing or batch processing. It handles one file at a time, and the inspection tools are the before/after slider and 1× to 4× zoom.
Why is there still a checkerboard, a white box or a halo?
Most of these results come from the preview or the export format, not from the removal itself. Check the list before you upload the same file again.
- The PNG still shows a checkerboard. The checkerboard is a preview layer drawn behind the result so transparent pixels are visible; it is not written into the download. If it survives into a file, the file is a screenshot, or the checkerboard was already part of the source image.
- The JPG has a white background. JPG cannot store transparency, and the export fills white when Transparent is selected. Choose a color or backdrop before downloading if you wanted something else.
- Renaming a JPG to .png did not add transparency. The pixels have to be made transparent and saved as PNG; a new file extension changes nothing.
- A pale halo or a patch of the old background remains. Removal is automatic and there is no brush or eraser here, so whatever the matte leaves is exported. Try a source with more separation, or finish the mask in an editor with manual controls.
- The upload is rejected. The file is over 20 MB, is not PNG/JPEG/WebP, or decodes to more than 24 megapixels. Some large panoramas hit the pixel limit even when the file size looks reasonable.
- The download is smaller than the original. The browser downscaled it to fit 4096 px, 16 megapixels and roughly 3 MB before removal. Crop or resize the source deliberately if you need every pixel.
- Processing is busy right now. Two short-lived request budgets apply: six removals a minute from one browser session and twelve a minute from one network. They reset within a minute and are not a daily allowance.
How do you export a clean transparent PNG?
1. Export the photo as PNG, JPEG or WebP under 20 MB. Convert HEIC first if it came from an iPhone.
2. Upload it and start the removal. Leave the tab open while it runs; the job ID is kept in this tab, so a reload can reconnect to it.
3. Switch to Compare and zoom to 1× to 4× around hair, straps and thin edges. Check the outer outline, the holes inside the subject and the finest detail.
4. Choose Transparent for a reusable asset, or Color/Image for a finished image. Use the custom color input when a preset does not match the destination.
5. Download PNG for the alpha version. If you also need a flat file, set the final background and download JPG from the same result.
6. Open the PNG on a colored background, not only on the checkerboard, to confirm the transparency is real and the edge is clean. If a fringe appears there, it will appear in the design too.
Bottom line: which export should you keep?
PNG is the safer default because it preserves the cutout and can be flattened later, while a JPG cannot give transparency back. Use JPG when the background is decided and the destination wants an ordinary photo. The trade-off is control: you get an automatic matte, a comparison view and three background modes, but no manual mask, edge refinement or batch, so one clean subject is usually enough while a difficult edge or a whole catalog needs a tool with manual correction or a desktop batch workflow.