Are you thinking of "rejuvenating" your social profiles a bit, perhaps setting an original photo as your profile picture whose background has been modified to your liking? Would you like to eliminate elements of "distraction" present in the background of your shots, perhaps blurring it? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, you really need a few app to change background to photos.
Yes, you read that right: then do everything with "simple" apps for smartphones and tablets! If, in fact, until some time ago it was necessary to resort to the use of the computer to complete certain photo editing jobs, now, with the advent of smartphones and tablets with surprising capabilities and with the spread of apps based on artificial intelligence and the cloud, "music" has changed.
Of course, to carry out photo editing jobs of a certain quality you still have to rely on professional solutions on PC, but to change the background of a shot, apps for portable devices are enough and advance. Indeed, in some cases they are even more comfortable than those for PC! If you want some practical examples, keep reading: below you will find several very interesting ones!
App to change background to photos for free
If you agree, let's get straight to the point and see some app to change background to photos for free. Using the solutions I am about to propose is very simple and you will soon realize it yourself.
AfterFocus (Android/iOS)
Do you want to eliminate some elements of "distraction" present in your photo by blurring the background? Well, in this case I suggest you try AfterFocus, an excellent application that allows you to emulate the bokeh effect that is produced by some cameras and some recent generation smartphones already at the time of shooting. After Focus can be downloaded for free on Android (it is also available on alternative stores for devices without the Play Store), while on iOS / iPadOS it costs € 1,09.
After completing the download of AfterFocus on your device, start the app and, on its home screen, press the button Camera, to take a photo in real time and edit it immediately afterwards. Alternatively, click on the button Album to change the background of a photo already on your device.
As soon as you have chosen the image you want to edit (or after taking one), the app will ask you if you want to use the auto blur tool (Smart), the manual one (Manual) or the one that uses artificial intelligence (AI): once you have selected the one you want to use, click on the button Continue.
After selecting your favorite blur tool, tap on (X) located at the top right of the opened box (where there are some indications on how to use the app). If you've opted for the manual blur tool, for example, all you need to do is highlight in red the area you don't want to blur by trying to be as accurate as possible. I recommend, try to have a steady hand, because the more precise you are, the more satisfying the final result will be. In case you have decided to use the artificial intelligence-based blur tool (from the tests I conducted for the writing of this article, it works very well), this job will be done in a totally automatic way.
As soon as the main subject of the photo is highlighted in red, press on the item Next (top right), wait for the image to be processed by AfterFocus and, as if by "magic", the background of your photo will be blurred. Pressing on the wording Aperture (below, on the left) and on the wording Bokeh that appears on the right, you can also adjust the background blur using the appropriate adjustment bar.
When you are satisfied with the final result, save the changes made to the image by pressing on the item Save (top right) and tap on the option Yes, in the box that appears on the screen, to save the edited image on your device.
Prism (Android / iOS / iPadOS)
If you are looking for an app to change the background of photos because you want to make your shots more fun and original, Prisma it might be the best solution for you. This app is available both for Android (if you have a device without Google services, you can find it on an alternative store) and for iOS / iPadOS, and allows you to edit photos by applying some very fun filters that turn your shots into real works of art.
The only real “limit” of Prisma, if we can define it like this, concerns the fact that the filters cannot be downloaded and used offline and therefore, to work properly, the app needs a good Internet connection. I also want to tell you that the basic app is free, but that the function that allows you to download the output photos in HD and the entire set of filters are available by subscribing to a Premium subscription starting from € 5,49 / month. .
That said, after downloading Prisma on your device, start the app, grant it the necessary permissions to work properly and, from its main screen, tap onpreview of the image you intend to import into it.
At this point, choose one of the many filters available in the app (some are listed below, but to see them all, press the button Library and select the one you are interested in) and wait a few seconds for this to be applied to your image. Then presses on the symbol oflittle man twice in a row, so as to apply the filter exclusively to the background of your photo (if you press the symbol in question only once, the filter will be applied only to the subject and not to the background). To adjust the degree to which the filter is applied to the background, slide your finger left or right.
As soon as you are satisfied with the result, press the button Save (top right) to save the photo locally, or press the symbol of sharing, to share the photo with other people.
Remove.bg (Online)
In an article of this kind it is impossible not to mention Remove.bg, a Web application that can be used directly via the browser which, using its powerful algorithm, is able to automatically cut out the faces in the photos and change the background, obtaining realistic results.
How to use? First, connect to the Remove.bg home page from your smartphone or tablet (obviously, this resource also works as a computer, if you are interested in it) and presses the button upload Image placed in the center of the page. Then select the image you want to change the background to by pressing on its preview, and tap on the item end o Use (depending on the browser in use).
Once you have uploaded the image of your interest, click on the button Edit, select the scheda background and apply one of the many backgrounds among those available: choosing one of those present in the section Photo, you can select one of the images available by default or load one from your device (Select Photo) and possibly blur it by selecting one of the images that appear in the section Blur; otherwise you can choose a solid color background from the section Color.
When you are satisfied with the result, press the icon of freccia rivolta verse il basso (top right) or on the button Download (depending on the device in use) and then on the button Download image present in the box that appeared on the screen, to save everything. Simple, right?
Other apps to change background to photos
There are so many other apps to change background to photos that deserve to be taken into consideration. Below you will list the ones that, in my humble opinion, are among the best you can install on your device (along with those I have already told you about before).
- Pixlr (Android / iOS / iPadOS) - this free app offers a whole series of photo editing tools thanks to which you can change all the main parameters of your shots: brightness, contrast, temperature, exposure and so on. Furthermore, thanks to the brush tool, you can manually color the background of your shots and create very fun effects. In addition to this, Pixlr allows you to censor any subjects in the background (eg children or passers-by) through the use of the "pixelated" effect included in this app. Basically it is free, but access to all its functions requires a subscription starting at € 1,99 / month.
- Bokeh - Defocused Background (Android) - as you can easily guess from the name, this app allows you to apply the bokeh effect to your shots. Unlike what happens with AfterFocus (of which I have extensively told you a few lines above), Bokeh Background Out of Focus allows you to do this at the same time as a photo is taken and not in the post-production phase.
- Pixelmator (iOS / iPadOS / macOS) - this app allows you to change the background of your photos using some tools that allow you to color it, blur it and modify its main parameters (brightness, contrast, exposure and so on). Pixelmator is available in two versions: the one for iOS / iPadOS devices costs 5,99 euros and masterfully exploits the multi-touch gestures that can be performed on Apple's mobile devices, while the one for macOS costs 32,99 euros and offers some functionalities. advanced editing that is not included in the mobile version of the app.
- PhotoLayers (Android) - this is a free application that allows you to easily “cut out” the subject of a photo and insert it into a new background. I explained to you in detail how to use it in my tutorial on how to make the background of an image transparent.
- Superimpose Studio (iOS / iPadOS) - is a free application for iOS that allows you to extrapolate a subject from a photo and paste it on a new background. Basically it is free, but access to all its functions requires a subscription starting at 2,99 euros / month. I have explained to you in detail how it works in my guide on how to make the background of an image transparent.
- Photoshop for iPad (iPadOS) - is the mobile version of Photoshop that comes closest to the desktop one, thanks to the advanced editing features and the interface, reminiscent of the famous Adobe photo editing program. It integrates numerous tools, some of which are also useful for acting on the background of photos. You can download and use it for free for 30 days, it costs € 10,99 / month (unless you have already signed up for a subscription to the Creative Cloud Photography plan starting at € 12,19 / month). More info here.
- Adobe Photoshop (Windows / macOS) - is the most used photo editing program on the planet and, as you can imagine, it includes tools and features that allow you to edit any section of your photo, including the background. If you wish, you can try Photoshop for free for a trial period of 7 days and, at the end of the trial, you can decide whether or not to subscribe to an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription which, as already mentioned, starts from 12,19 euro / month. If you decide to use Photoshop, but you are not very familiar with this program, do not hesitate to read the guide in which I will briefly explain how to remove the background with Photoshop.
