Remove color from an image or video

Use the Remove Color adjustment to remove any color or an entire color range from an image or video. Remove Color uses a texture-aware algorithm for removing colors, so the transitions between opaque and transparent areas are especially smooth, even in images with visible compression artifacts.

You can remove color from a single layer or, using a color adjustments layer, multiple layers in a composition.

Remove color from the currently selected layer#

  • Choose Format > Color Adjustments > Remove Color from the Format menu at the top of your screen.
  • In the Tools sidebar, click Color Adjustments and turn on the Remove Color adjustment.
  • Press A on your keyboard and turn on the Remove Color adjustment.

Remove color from multiple layers in a composition#

  • Choose Insert > Color Adjustments from the Insert menu at the top of your screen and turn on the Replace Color adjustment in the Tool Options pane.
  • Click Insert a layer at the top of the Layers sidebar, choose Color Adjustments, and turn on the Remove Color adjustment.
  • Press Shift ⇧ + Command ⌘ + A on your keyboard, and turn on the Remove Color adjustment.

Customize the Remove Color adjustment#

By default, the color to be removed is set to chroma key green. To change it to a different color, in the Tool Options pane, click the color well and choose a specific color you want to remove or pick a color directly from the image using the eyedropper.

  1. Drag the Color Range slider to adjust how many of the colors similar to your selected color should be removed.
  2. Drag the Luminance Range slider to adjust how much color is removed based on the lightness of the tones in the selected color range.
  3. Drag the Intensity slider to adjust the transparency of the selected color range.

Show before and after or reset adjustments#

Show Original: Click the Show Original button or press Control ⌃ + M on your keyboard to see what the image looks like without any color adjustments.

Show Split Comparison: Option ⌥ – click the Show Original button, press Control ⌃ + C on your keyboard, or force-click the canvas.

To reset all Color Adjustments, click Reset at the bottom of the Color Adjustments pane.