Fix the edge of a cutout: hair, fur and halos
Background removal gets you ninety per cent. The last ten is the edge: a light halo, a missing strand of hair, a green fringe from the old background. Three fixes, in the order to try them.
Intermediate2 min readUpdated 27 September 2026Editor · Select and mask
Step by step
- After Remove background, put a solid black layer under the cutout, then a white one, and look at the edge at 100 per cent (Ctrl+1) on each.
- For missed parts: click Paint on mask in Properties. Brush brings parts back, Eraser (E) hides leftovers. Soft brush for hair, hard for product edges. Done painting mask when finished.
- For hair: Ctrl-click the cutout's thumbnail in the Layers panel to load what is visible as a selection, then Select, Select and mask….
- Set View to On black or On white. Paint the Refine edge brush along the hair outline, including the gaps between strands.
- Under Edge, use a small Radius for hair, Shift edge at -10 to -30 per cent for a halo, and a little Smooth for a jagged product edge.
- Under Output, tick Clean up colour fringes if the old background tinted the edge, and set Send to New layer with mask. Hide the original to compare.
Which problem, which fix
| You see | Fix |
|---|---|
| A hand or strand missing | Paint the mask with the Brush |
| Bits of background left | Paint the mask with the Eraser |
| Hair looks cut with scissors | Refine edge brush in Select and mask |
| A light rim on a dark background | Shift edge negative |
| Green or blue tint along the edge | Clean up colour fringes |
| Stair-step edge on a product | Smooth 2 to 5 px, or a vector mask drawn with the Pen |
Why does the cutout look fine on white but bad on my dark background?
A light halo of the old background is left along the edge. It disappears on white and glows on dark. Shift edge negative, or paint the edge with a soft Eraser at low opacity.
Should I use the any-subject model for hair?
For people, the standard model is usually better at hair. The any-subject model is for products, animals and objects. Refine the edge afterwards either way.
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