How to remove a background in Photoshop.

Now, there are two different answers to this. Depending on the exact question.

The first thing people could mean when asking how to remove a background is how to remove the Background layer that photoshop puts in automatically.

This is simple, all you need to do is double click on the layer and you will see this screen:

Rename it to whatever you want and click OK (It defaults to "Layer 0" which is fine). This is now a normal layer and you can treat it as such, simply add a new layer (CMD/CTRL + SHIFT + N) and drag your background layer into the trash icon at the bottom of the layer window.


The second meaning to this question is a little more complicated. What if you've got a white background and you want it to be transparent. Here is what you do

1. Select the wand or magnetic lasso icon, and select the outside of the picture.
2. Inverse the selection (CMD + SHIT + I)
3. Ensure you aren't on the background layer. (If you are double click on it and rename it into a regular layer)
4. Click backspace, and hey presto, you're done!!

If it comes up with the "Fill with content aware" screen, this means you're on a background layer and need to double click.