How to remove background of an image in Photos for Mac

Indeed, the easiest way to remove background/save foreground objects is using the AI smart features already present in the iPhone Photos app, then save and AirDrop that edited image to your Mac.

With patient practice, on a Mac, the rudimentary tools of Apple Preview can accomplish much the same thing, much more slowly.

Of the four Markup Selection tools, three tools are especially useful to select parts of the image. They are located in the far left Selection tool icon, and the Magic Wand icon of the Preview Markup toolbar. The fourth, Rectangle, works like Lasso and Smart Lasso, for, obviously rectangular selections.

Lasso

Smart Lasso (tries to auto-complete the area being lassoed.)

Magic Wand (better for removing background, than selecting foreground objects)

Which tool you use to remove some or all of the background, or cut and paste the desired foreground object(s) depends greatly upon how 'busy' the background is, how much you want to erase, and your level of patience.

From Photos, select the desired image, and Export the image to PNG format.

PNG can save the image with the newly-removed background transparent, rather than a non-transparent color.

Open the saved png image with Preview.

Select the Markup tool. If your original image is in Portrait format, you might need to drag the right side of the Preview window in order to find the Markup tool.

With Lasso, you use the trackpad or mouse to draw a line around the object(s) you want to keep.

Once the circle is complete, select Copy, and then File, New from Clipboard.

Smart Lasso attempts to auto-complete the area you want to keep.

Again, select Copy, and then File, New from Clipboard.

Magic Wand works best to remove backgrounds IF the background is mostly the same color, AND the background contrasts significantly from the foreground objects you want to remove.

Select the Magic Wand tool, and click on some part of the background you want to delete.

The selected area will begin to 'flash'.

You can delete it immediately by pressing the Delete key...

The area deleted will now change to the blank background color.

If you Save the image now, the removed background area will be transparent, suitable for pasting the

Dragging your finger/mouse across the image will progressively select a larger area of similar color to the area originally selected.

If you select too much, and some or all of the foreground is highlighted, press ESC to Undo before pressing Delete.

Save the edited image in PNG format frequently as you remove the background.

That way, if you OOPS and remove too much, you can continue from your last saved image, instead of starting from scratch each time.

The attached image of a tulip blossom, has SOME of a very busy background removed using multiple iterations of the Magic Wand tool.

By using a third party editor and the 'Edit With' feature.