Photoshop is one of the most popular photo editing tools out there, and with good reason. This versatile software is ideal for everything from fixing minor blemishes and color corrections to completely altering the background of a photo. In this article, we’ll be walking you through the steps you need to take in order to change the background of a photo in Photoshop.

Step 1: Choose your photo

The first step in changing the background of a photo is to choose the image that you want to edit. Make sure that it’s a high-quality photo with plenty of detail, and one that you’re happy with the subject’s pose and lighting.

Step 2: Open the photo in Photoshop

Once you’ve chosen the photo you’d like to edit, open it in Photoshop. You can do this by either dragging and dropping the file into Photoshop or by selecting ‘File’ > ‘Open’ from the application’s menu bar, then browsing to the image location and clicking ‘Open’.

Step 3: Select the background layer

After opening the photo in Photoshop, you should be able to see it in the workspace. From here, you’ll want to select the background layer by clicking on it in the Layers panel. If the photo’s background layer is not locked, you can skip to Step 4. If it is locked, double click the layer to unlock it, then hit ‘OK’.

Step 4: Use the Magic Wand tool to remove the background

Select the Magic Wand tool from the toolbar on the left-hand side of the screen. Once selected, click on the background of the photo to make a selection. Make sure that the selection includes all parts of the background that you want to remove.

Step 5: Refine the selection

Now that you have a selection, you’ll want to refine it to improve the accuracy. Go to ‘Select’ > ‘Refine Edge’ on the top menu bar, which will open up a window with a number of options. Here, you can adjust the settings until you’re happy with the selection. If there are any parts of the subject that have accidentally been selected, you can remove them by using the ‘Refine Radius Tool’.

Step 6: Delete the background

Once you’re happy with the selection, delete the background by hitting ‘Delete’ on your keyboard. This should leave the subject of the photo surrounded by a transparent background.

Step 7: Add a new background

Finally, add a new background to the photo. You can do this by creating a new layer and dragging it below the subject layer. Then, using the Paint Bucket tool, fill the new layer with the color or image you want as the background.