Use Adobe Photoshop to change a photo background.

You don’t need a travel budget to find new backgrounds for your photos. See how graphic artist Erica Larson uses Adobe Photoshop to place the subject of a photo in an entirely new environment.

Photo composite showing a woman wearing a hat standing in front of a wall with green and purple plants

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From blank walls to lush gardens, take your photos on a journey. The steps are written out below this one-minute video.

Before you start.

Need images? Use these sample images or practice with your own.

Step 1: Hide the wall

Larson’s first step is hiding the plain grey wall. Use the Quick Selection tool to select just the shape of the model. Choose Select Subject and then choose Select And Mask to enter the Select And Mask workspace.

Use Quick Selection tool to select model, choose Select Subject and Select and Mask in Adobe Photoshop

Step 2: Remove rough spots

In the Properties panel of the Select And Mask workspace, move the Shift Edge slider to the left to refine the edges of the selection and choose Output To Selection. Note: when leaving Select And Mask, the original background comes back; you’ll fix this in the next step.

Move the Shift Edge slider to refine edge and choose output to selection

Step 3: Delete the wall

With the model layer selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon. Since Larson had output the model as a selection from the Select And Mask workspace, Photoshop masked (or hidden) anything that was not selected so the grey wall disappeared and the selected model remained.

Add layer mask in Photoshop to hide background and display model

Step 4: Create a consistent look

Larson wanted to match the lighting of the model with that of the background. To do this, duplicate the New Background layer, move it above the model layer and choose Filter > Blur > Average. Option-click (or alt-click) between the green layer and the model layer to create a clipping mask.

Apply filter blur and clipping mask in Adobe Photoshop, the shape of model is filled with green

Step 5: Add a new background

With the green layer selected, set the Blend Mode to Soft Light and reduce the Opacity setting. Larson applied a dark blue Solid Colour adjustment layer to give each of the layers below it a finishing colour cast. Set the Blend Mode to Soft Light and also reduce the adjustment layer’s Opacity setting.