How to Make a Transparent Background (PNG) on Your Phone

A transparent background isn't white, and it isn't a colour at all — it's the absence of one. Image formats that support transparency store an extra layer of data called an alpha channel, which records how opaque each pixel is. Fully transparent pixels simply show whatever is behind the image: a website's background, a chat bubble, a slide, another photo.

This is why editing apps display transparency as a grey-and-white checkerboard. The pattern isn't part of your image; it's a visual convention meaning "nothing here".

PNG vs JPG: PNG supports the alpha channel, so it's the standard format for transparent images. JPG does not support transparency at all — if you save a cutout as a JPG, the transparent area is filled with a solid colour (usually white). This single detail causes most "my transparent image has a white box" frustrations. When in doubt, export PNG.

With Cutout on Android, the process takes under a minute and runs entirely on your device:

1. 1

   Open your image

   Pick any photo from your gallery. The editor works without an account, so there's nothing between you and the cutout.

2. 2

   Let the AI cut out the subject

   On-device AI detects the person, pet, product or object and removes the background automatically.

3. 3

   Refine the result

   Use the Keep and Erase brushes with an adjustable brush size to perfect the edges. Undo and redo make experimentation risk-free.

4. 4

   Export with a transparent background

   Keep the background set to transparent and export. Cutout saves a high-quality PNG to Pictures/Cutout, ready to share or drop into any project.

Once you have a clean transparent cutout, it becomes a reusable asset across almost everything you make:

• Stickers — turn friends, pets and inside jokes into transparent PNGs ready for chat sticker packs.
• Logos and watermarks — place a signature or logo over photos and videos without a white box around it.
• Profile pictures — a crisp portrait on transparency can be placed on any colour, gradient or scene.
• Presentations and documents — drop products or people into slides with no background rectangle fighting the template.
• Social media graphics — layer subjects over bold backgrounds, text and shapes in any design tool.
• Marketplace listings — keep a transparent master, then generate white-background or lifestyle versions on demand. See our white-background product photo guide.

Cutout stores up to 24 recent uploads in private local storage, so your recent masters are easy to reopen and re-export whenever you need a new variation.

• Exporting as JPG. The transparency is discarded and replaced with a solid fill. Always choose PNG for cutouts.
• Assuming white equals transparent. A white background looks clean in your gallery but becomes a visible rectangle the moment the image sits on a coloured surface.
• Skipping the zoom check. Ragged leftover pixels are invisible at thumbnail size and glaring at full size. Zoom in along the edges before exporting.
• Over-erasing fine details. If hair or fur looks chopped, restore it with a small Keep brush rather than accepting a helmet-like edge.
• Losing the master. Keep your transparent PNG as the master file and derive coloured-background versions from it, never the other way around.