How to Remove the Background from Stickers
The difference between an amateur sticker and a professional one? The background. Clean stickers with transparent backgrounds look polished and stand out in chat. Sticked's built-in background remover makes this effortless.
Why Remove the Background?
Stickers with backgrounds look like cropped photos pasted into chat. Stickers without backgrounds blend into the conversation — just the subject, floating cleanly. It's the standard look on both Telegram and WhatsApp.
How to Remove the Background
1. Add a sticker to your pack
In Sticked, add a photo from your gallery or camera to any sticker pack.
2. Open the border tool
On the sticker editing screen, tap the border tool (the outline icon). This is where background removal and borders are controlled.
3. Auto-remove the background
Sticked uses AI to automatically detect the main subject in your photo and remove everything else. You'll see your subject isolated on a transparent background.
4. Fine-tune if needed
The auto-detection works great for most photos, but you can adjust if needed:
- Check the edges of your subject
- Make sure nothing important was cut off
- Verify the cutout looks clean at small size (how it'll appear in chat)
5. Add a border (recommended)
Once the background is removed, adding a border makes the sticker pop:
- White border — the most common look, clean and classic
- Colored border — adds personality, matches your pack's theme
- Thick or thin — adjust the border width
Before and After
Without background removal:
- Photo looks like a screenshot pasted in chat
- Background clashes with chat colors
- Hard to see the subject at small size
With background removal + border:
- Subject pops out cleanly
- Looks professional
- Easy to read at any size
Tips for Clean Cutouts
- High contrast between subject and background — a person in front of a white wall cuts out perfectly
- Solid-color backgrounds — single colors are easiest for the AI
- Good lighting — shadows can confuse the edge detection
- Clear edges — subjects with well-defined outlines (people, objects) work better than wispy hair or transparent items
- Simple subjects — one person or object works best. Group photos are trickier but still work.
Get Sticked
Download Sticked for free and give your stickers a professional look with one tap.