DB Labs
What Is iPhone Photo Cutout?
iPhone Photo Cutout is an iOS 16+ feature that lets you lift any subject — person, pet, object, or food — out of its background with a simple long press. The result is a transparent-background PNG you can drag into Messages, paste into Notes, share as a sticker, or save to your library. All processing happens on-device using the Neural Engine. It requires an iPhone XS or later running iOS 16+.
How to Use Photo Cutout on iPhone
Using Photo Cutout takes just a few seconds once you know the gesture. Open any photo in the Photos app, then press and hold on the subject you want to lift. After a brief moment, you will see a glowing white outline appear around the subject — this means iOS has successfully isolated it.
At this point a small menu appears with options: Copy, Share, and Add Sticker. You can also drag the cutout directly from that hold position into another app without lifting your finger.
1 Open the Photo
Open the Photos app and tap any photo containing a clear subject — a person, pet, product, plant, or object. Full-resolution photos work best, but cutouts also work on screenshots and imported images.
2 Long Press the Subject
Press and hold directly on the subject for about one second. A white animated glow traces the outline of the subject. Release when you see the menu appear or when the outline is fully drawn.
3 Choose Your Action
Tap Copy to copy the cutout as a transparent PNG to the clipboard, Share to send it via AirDrop or Messages, or Add Sticker to save it to your sticker collection in Messages. You can also drag the cutout directly into an open app.
What Subjects Work Best
Apple's machine learning model is trained to recognize a wide range of subjects. Results are best when there is clear contrast between the subject and background.
| Subject Type | Cutout Quality | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| People | Excellent | Hair detail is well-preserved |
| Dogs & cats | Excellent | Works with fur texture |
| Birds | Very good | Feathers may have minor fringe |
| Food & drinks | Very good | Works on plates, glasses, cups |
| Cars & vehicles | Good | Complex backgrounds may bleed |
| Plants & flowers | Good | Thin stems can be imprecise |
| Text on signs | Moderate | Use Live Text instead |
Ways to Share and Use Cutouts
Photo Cutout is more useful than most people realize. Once you have a transparent-background cutout, you can use it in many ways:
- Messages stickers: Tap "Add Sticker" and the cutout appears in your sticker drawer in iMessage. Drag it onto any message bubble.
- Drag into Notes: Hold the cutout and use another finger to open Notes, then drop it onto a note.
- Drag into Mail: Same technique — hold with one finger, navigate to Mail with another, drop into the compose window.
- Copy and paste: Copy the cutout and paste it into any app that accepts images — Pages, Keynote, Canva, and more.
- AirDrop: Tap Share after lifting and choose AirDrop to send the transparent PNG to another Apple device instantly.
- Save to Photos: In iOS 17+, you can save the cutout directly as a new photo in your library with a transparent background.
Device and iOS Requirements
Photo Cutout requires iOS 16 or later and a device with an A12 Bionic chip or newer. This covers:
- iPhone XS, XS Max, XR (2018)
- iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max (2019)
- iPhone SE (2nd generation, 2020) and later
- iPhone 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 series (all models)
- iPhone 17 series (all models)
The feature does not work on iPhone X or earlier, even if they run a supported iOS version. All processing is done on-device by the Neural Engine — no internet connection is required and no images are sent to Apple servers.
Photo Cutout vs. iOS 18 Clean Up Tool
These two features are often confused but serve different purposes. Photo Cutout lifts a subject out of its background, preserving the subject as a separate image with a transparent background. The original photo is unchanged.
The iOS 18 Clean Up tool (Apple Intelligence) does the opposite — it removes unwanted objects from a photo and fills the background in seamlessly, as if the object was never there. The original photo is modified. See our guide on the iOS 18 Clean Up tool for a full walkthrough.
Keep Your Photo Library Organized
Photo Cutout creates new image files when you save cutouts to your library. Over time, these can add up alongside your regular photos. If you find your camera roll getting crowded with screenshots, cutouts, and duplicates, it is worth doing a regular cleanup.
For more on managing the photos you actually want to keep, see our guide on iPhone photo search tips and our overview of Apple Photos Memories.