How to Get a White Background for Product Photos (With Just Your Phone)

Scroll through any bestseller list and a pattern emerges: the main product image almost always sits on pure white. There are practical reasons for this beyond fashion.

A white background removes every distraction, so the buyer's eye goes straight to the product. It makes your listing look consistent with the biggest, most trusted sellers on the platform. And it travels well — the same image works in search results, ads, category pages and email campaigns without clashing with surrounding design.

For sellers photographing stock at a kitchen table or in a garage, white is also forgiving. You don't need a studio; you need a decent photo and a clean cutout.

Each marketplace publishes its own image requirements, and they change over time — always check the current seller guidelines before a big upload. The broad picture:

• Amazon — main product images must show the product on a pure white background (RGB 255, 255, 255). The product should fill roughly 85% of the frame, and main images can't include text, logos, borders or watermarks.
• eBay — requires photos without borders, text or artwork, and recommends a clean, uncluttered background. White or neutral backgrounds perform best in search placement.
• Etsy — gives sellers more creative freedom, but clean, bright first photos consistently outperform busy ones because the thumbnail is your storefront in search results.

Background removal AI is remarkably capable, but the photo you feed it still matters. A few habits make the automatic cutout noticeably cleaner:

• Use soft, even light. Daylight near a window beats harsh overhead bulbs. Hard shadows across the product confuse edge detection.
• Separate subject from background. Place the item a metre or more in front of whatever is behind it, and avoid backgrounds the same colour as the product.
• Keep the whole product in frame. Cropped edges can't be recovered later.
• Hold the phone steady or prop it up. Sharpness matters more than resolution for clean edges.

This is the full workflow in Cutout, from gallery to marketplace-ready image:

1. 1

   Import your product photo

   Open Cutout and select the shot from your gallery. No account is needed.

2. 2

   Let the AI remove the background

   On-device subject detection isolates the product in seconds. Because processing is local, even a batch of listings doesn't mean uploading your entire camera roll anywhere.

3. 3

   Clean up the edges

   Zoom to 100% and check reflective surfaces, handles, cables and gaps between parts. Restore missed areas with the Keep brush and remove leftovers with the Erase brush.

4. 4

   Set a solid white background

   Choose the solid-colour background option and set it to white. This gives you the pure, consistent backdrop marketplaces expect.

5. 5

   Export and list

   Export the image — it saves to Pictures/Cutout — then upload it to your marketplace of choice. Up to 24 recent uploads stay available in the app if you want to re-edit or create alternate versions.

White backgrounds win the main image slot, but secondary images are where lifestyle scenes do the selling. Show the product in use, in context, at scale. With a transparent cutout saved, Cutout's custom-image background lets you drop the same product into any scene — a styled desk, an outdoor setting, a seasonal promotion — without a reshoot.

If you're new to transparent files, our guide to making a transparent PNG on your phone explains the format and the export settings that preserve it.