Photoshop Fails to Remove Simple Backgrounds from Images

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Version: 24.6.0
Platform/OS: Windows 10 64bit (Build 19045)
Steps to Reproduce: Load attached Test-Logo.png into Photoshop, press Remove Background button.
Expected Result: The white background removed from the image.
Actual Result: A butchered version of the logo I was trying to extract.

Notes

Twice now, the Photoshop Beta has presented me a toolbar below the workarea (a logo similar to the attached image) I'm working in, and one of the buttons says "Remove Background." This intrigued me because I normally would manually use the magic wand tool in order to select & delete the background from an image like this. However, I gave it a shot, pressed the button, and...went back to the magic wand tool.

Photoshop would either say that it couldn't recognize a background in the image, or upon loading another version/similar image to try again, it would fail horribly and produce a result like the second attached image.

Look, I've been using Photoshop for over a decade and nothing else on the market compares to its usability, reliability, and versatility (and I also don't know their keyboard shortcuts, haha), but this seriously needs to improve. I know subject/background detection can be a complex issue, but with a simple high-contrast & high-resolution logo on a flat white background, I should get better results. The background is obviously the #ffffff color, not anything else...just #ffffff. If it was a busy photo with lots of colors, shapes, angles, pixelation, or had any other complex design, I could understand - but this is as basic a test as it gets. I can't even say this is a "beta" problem per se, as other versions of Photoshop also suffer from this issue.

<LINK REMOVED> makes short work of this task and gives me exactly what I was looking for. Not trying to be cruel, but why would Adobe (a premium product) allow a free online service to do a job (one which Adobe advertises itself as being able to complete) that apparently it struggles to reliably do? I'm baffled.

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Hi @amediaonline you do realize this is a first release beta correct?

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Hey Kevin,

I'm not talking about the Generative Fill function. I'm talking about that, plus Photoshop's general ability to successfully detect subjects and backgrounds for separation/emphasis/removal. I've had this exact same issue since the beginning of my use of the software, which has been much longer than I've had this beta release installed. The button in the toolbar was simply just another version of the same overall issue. I have only tried the AI Generative fill once as I haven't had use for it.

I did give a specific example of the problem and listed a provider who comes up first in search that handles the task in seconds for free (it was removed from my post as if they were being advertised for some gain or something), which hopefully could inspire Adobe to place more emplasis on its ability to recognize apects of images for better subject emphasis/background removal - especially now that it's toting its Generative Fill as a new feature. Who knows, maybe Adobe could take a page out of <COMPETITOR REDACTED>'s book for the process. I don't know...I just want a better Photoshop.

Either way, my bug report stands and I hope it is helpful for the Adobe Product Development team to improve their software. Thanks.

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Hi @amediaonline honestly there is not enough source material to complete the process given your example files.

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Ok

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Expect magic, but only some of the time... 😉

This is what the old Remove Background did on my end ...

I had to think what is "background" here myself.

There is no scientific choice.

Is it a sticker and should only things outside the oval be removed?

Or is it a see-through sign and should it do what it did? (but with a complete oval)

That it doesn't get the complete oval may be the real bug to me... (but maybe it tried to do something intelligent)

Report · Jun 21, 2023

Thanks for your contribution, mate. This is a good example of the problem of which I was alluding in my OP.

Report · Aug 31, 2024

This is an old thread, but maybe this helps others. I struggled with this same issue for a few minutes this morning. Then, after examining the colors I wanted to remove, I used color range to find them and delete them fairly quickly on the first image. The second image required the color range, and then I had to use the marque tool to remove some of the selection before deleting the background. HTH