How to Remove the Background From an Image in Figma

Remove background runs on Figma AI credits. Figma charges 1 to 5 credits per image. For comparison, the heavier AI image actions (Boost resolution, Erase, Isolate and Expand) cost 5 to 10 credits each.

Figma's credits page lists these monthly allowances per seat:

• Full seat: 3,000 on Professional, 3,500 on Organization, 4,250 on Enterprise.
• Dev, Collab and View seats, and the Starter plan: 500.

Figma's pages don't agree on who gets the button. The Figma Design help page describes Remove background as a paid-plan feature for Full seats, while the credits page gives Starter users 500 credits a month. Treat it as a Figma AI tool whose availability depends on your plan, your seat and your admin settings, and check your own file before planning around it.

Figma lists other AI image actions alongside it: Boost resolution, Erase, Isolate, Expand and Edit with prompt. The first four cost more credits per use than Remove background, so start with Remove background when all you need is a transparent cut-out.

1. Your admin turned AI tools off. Organization and team admins can disable Figma AI. Ask the admin whether AI features are enabled for your team.
2. Your plan or seat doesn't include it. The help pages conflict here, as described above, so the quickest check is whether the button appears when you select an image.
3. You're out of credits. Allowances are monthly per seat. Other AI actions you ran this month draw from the same pool.
4. The selection isn't the image. Select the image layer directly rather than a frame or group around it, then look at the secondary toolbar again.

A long-running forum thread on this is Remove background not working. If none of the above fits, a plugin is the fastest way to finish the job.

Background remover plugins take the selected image, cut out the subject and put the result back on the canvas. Some run locally and some call an external service, which can mean an API key or a usage limit, so read the plugin page before you install. If you haven't added a plugin before, see how to install Figma plugins.

For product shots, logos and anything with hard edges, a manual mask gives you full control and costs nothing.

1. Pick the pen tool and click around the subject's outline to draw a closed path.
2. Drag the path below the image in the Layers panel. A mask always sits behind what it masks.
3. Select the path and the image, then press ⌃⌘M / Ctrl+Alt+M (Use as mask).
4. Select the path inside the mask group and adjust its points until the edge is clean.

The mask is non-destructive, so the original image is still there if you need to redo the edge. The full rules, including why masks fail inside frames with Clip content, are in how to mask in Figma.

A white background is the easiest case for Remove background and for most plugins, because the contrast with the subject is high. For a simple logo on white, tracing it with the pen tool or redrawing it as a vector often gives a sharper result than a cut-out, and it scales cleanly. If you have the original artwork, import it as SVG instead, since Figma turns SVG files into editable vectors.

If the file already has transparency, such as a PNG with a transparent background, Figma keeps it when you place it with ⇧⌘K / Ctrl+Shift+K or drag it onto the canvas. Nothing needs removing. More on placing, replacing and fitting images in how to add an image in Figma.