Batch remove backgrounds in Photoshop, Canva or LassoCut
You have a folder of photos and every one needs its background removed. Photoshop can do it with an action and its Batch command, Canva can do it for a folder of up to 50 uploads, and LassoCut can do it in the browser, from the command line or through an API. Here is how each one works, according to each company's own help pages, and when each is the better choice.
1. Batch background removal in Photoshop on its own
Photoshop has no single “remove the background from this folder” button. The documented route has three parts: Adobe's own background removal for one image, an action that records what you do, and a command that plays the action on many files. Everything below comes from Adobe's help pages, read on 1 October 2026.
Remove the background from one image
According to Adobe's page Remove background in your images, you select the image layer (active and unlocked), open the Discover panel with the search icon or Help > Photoshop Help, then choose Browse > Quick Actions > Remove Background. Photoshop “isolates the subject and creates a transparent background or a masked layer”. Adobe's own tip: high-contrast images work best, and you can refine the mask with the Brush tool.
Record it as an action
Adobe's Overview of Actions describes an action as a recorded sequence of tasks you can play back on one file or many, and lists “remove background” among its examples. To record one, the Actions panel page says: open Window > Actions, select Create new action, name it, select Record, perform your steps, then select the Stop icon.
One honest caveat: the Adobe pages we read do not say which background-removal command records into an action, or exactly what gets recorded. So record on one photo, play the action back on a second photo, and check the result before you point it at a whole folder. If you want files in a new format, such as PNG to keep the transparency, the action needs a Save As step, as explained below.
Run the action on a folder: File > Automate > Batch
From Adobe's Batch-process files page:
- Select File > Automate > Batch.
- Pick your action in the Set and Action menus.
- Set Source to Folder and choose it (the other sources are Import, Opened Files and Bridge). Tick Include All Subfolders if needed.
- Set Destination: None (leave open), Save and Close (which overwrites the originals) or Folder (a location you choose).
- Select OK, then open the destination folder to check that every file was processed and saved.
Three details from Adobe's batch and droplet options page save a lot of trouble. Batch “typically preserves the original file format”: to save in a new format, record Save As followed by Close in the action and select Override Action “Save As” Commands, otherwise files go to the folder recorded in the action. If the action contains an Open command, select Override Action “Open” Commands, or Photoshop processes the recorded file instead of yours. And under Errors, Log Errors to File keeps a long run going instead of stopping at each problem.
Our advice: never choose Save and Close for this job. Removing a background is not something you want written over the original photo; send the results to a separate folder.
Or use the Image Processor
The Image Processor (File > Scripts > Image Processor) converts a set of files and can also Run Action on each image. It saves as JPEG, PSD or TIFF, each in its own subfolder of the destination, and never overwrites a file. That makes it a good fit when you want a layered PSD per photo; for transparent PNG files, Batch with a recorded Save As step is the route Adobe documents.
When Photoshop is the better choice
If you already pay for Photoshop and every photo will be retouched there anyway, keep the work in Photoshop: the result can be a masked layer you refine in place, and the whole job stays in one app. It costs you set-up time once, then the action is reusable.
2. What Canva offers for several images at once
Canva documents this on its help page Remove photo and video backgrounds, read on 1 October 2026. In Projects, you can remove the backgrounds of all images in a folder (hover the folder, More, Remove background), or open a folder, tick several images and select BG Remover in the bottom toolbar. A whole folder produces a new folder named “[folder name] - Edited” and leaves the originals unchanged; selected images are added to the same folder.
The limits, from the same page:
- Paid plans only. Background Remover is included with Canva's paid plans.
- Up to 50 images: a folder with more than 50 images cannot use it, and the option is greyed out.
- One folder at a time, and only uploaded images: Canva library photos and designs in the folder are skipped.
- Under 9 MB per photo, and photos above 10 MP are downscaled to 10 MP after the background is removed.
- Images where Canva cannot detect a clear subject show an error and stay in the original folder.
When Canva is the better choice: you already have a paid Canva plan, the photos are going into Canva designs, and you have a few dozen at a time. Removing the background where you design saves a download and an upload.
3. Doing it with LassoCut
LassoCut is a background removal service with one account and one credit balance across a browser tool, plugins, a command-line tool and an API. Which one to use depends on where the photos are.
Inside Photoshop: the LassoCut plugin
The LassoCut plugin for Photoshop (Photoshop 2022, version 23.3, or later) adds a panel with a Remove background button. It works on the visible image of the active document, one document per click: the cut-out becomes a new top layer, Background removed, the other layers are hidden rather than deleted, and one Ctrl+Z undoes it all. It does not process several open documents or a folder in one go, so it is for photos you are already editing, not for a batch.
A whole folder: the batch tool
The batch tool runs in the browser with nothing to install. Choose a folder (subfolders are kept if you tick Include subfolders), pick the size, the background (transparent, white or a colour) and the format (PNG, JPG or WebP), and save to a ZIP or straight into a folder in Chrome and Edge. It shows the cost before you start, sends three photos at a time, and lists any photo that failed with the reason. Input is JPG, PNG or WebP up to 22 MB per photo; full-size results go up to 25 MP, PNG up to 10 MP. There is no fixed maximum number of photos. Then open the results in Photoshop or upload them to Canva for the layout work.
Large or repeated jobs: the command line
For the same folder every week, or a run on a server, the LassoCut CLI needs Node.js 18 or later and skips images already done when you run it again:
npm install -g lassocut-cli lassocut login lassocut --size full --output-directory out/ photos/*.jpg
Your own pipeline: the API
To remove backgrounds from inside your own app, shop back office or script, call the API: one request per image, with options the batch tool does not show, such as cropping to the subject. Ready-to-run examples in curl, Python, Node.js and PHP are in the guides.
4. What it costs with LassoCut
There is no subscription. A full-size image costs 1 credit, a preview 0.25 credit, and every account gets 50 free previews a month (up to 10 a day). Packs are $9 for 100 credits, $39 for 1,000, $249 for 10,000 and $1,500 for 100,000, and purchased credits do not expire while your account is open. A photo that fails costs nothing.
| Job | Credits | Cheapest way to buy them |
|---|---|---|
| 10 test photos as previews | 0 (free previews) | included in every account |
| 50 photos at full size | 50 | one pack of 100: $9 |
| 500 photos at full size | 500 | one pack of 1,000: $39 |
| 5,000 photos at full size | 5,000 | one pack of 10,000: $249 |
Prices in US dollars from the pricing page. Photoshop and Canva are priced as part of their own plans, which we do not quote here: check them on Adobe's and Canva's sites.
5. Which one should I use?
| Your situation | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You retouch every photo in Photoshop anyway | A Photoshop action + File > Automate > Batch | Masked layers you can refine, in the app you already pay for |
| Up to 50 uploads, going into Canva designs | Canva's folder background removal (paid plans) | No round trip outside Canva |
| One photo open in Photoshop | LassoCut plugin | One click, result on its own layer |
| A folder of any size, no set-up | LassoCut batch tool | Browser only; ZIP or folder output; cost shown first |
| The same job every week, or on a server | LassoCut CLI | Scriptable; skips images already done |
| Your own app or store back office | LassoCut API | One call per image, from any language |
Whatever you pick, test on your ten hardest photos first: hair, glass, a white product on a white table. With LassoCut that test fits in the free previews. Running a whole catalogue? Batch background removal for 1,000 product photos covers time, cost and resuming a stopped run.
Questions
Can Photoshop remove the background from multiple images at once?
Yes, by playing an action on a folder with File > Automate > Batch, or with Run Action in the Image Processor. Adobe lists removing a background among the things an action can do, but its pages do not say exactly what gets recorded, so test the action on one or two photos first.
How do I keep a transparent background in a Photoshop batch?
Record a Save As step in a format that keeps transparency, such as PNG, followed by Close, and select Override Action “Save As” Commands in the Batch dialog. The Image Processor saves only JPEG, PSD or TIFF.
Can Canva remove backgrounds in bulk?
Yes, on paid plans: for all images in a folder of up to 50 uploads, or for images you select inside a folder. One folder at a time, photos under 9 MB, and results above 10 MP are downscaled to 10 MP, according to Canva's help page.
Can the LassoCut Photoshop plugin process a whole folder?
No. It works on the active document, one click per document. For a folder, use the batch tool in the browser, then open the results in Photoshop.
Is there a limit on the number of images in the LassoCut batch tool?
No fixed maximum. Each photo can be up to 22 MB, the account rate limit is 500 megapixel-images per minute (the tool waits and retries), and a run stops cleanly if your credits run out.
Is it free?
Every LassoCut account gets 50 free previews a month, up to 10 a day. Full-size results cost 1 credit each, from $9 for 100 credits, with no subscription. See pricing.
Try it on your own photos
Drop a photo on the home page to see the cut-out, then create an account for 50 free previews a month and run a folder through the batch tool.
See also: batch processing · photographers · e-commerce.