Free, runs in your browser

Pixel Art Background Remover

Drop a sprite or sprite sheet and get a transparent PNG back. It removes whole pixels only, so edges stay hard and nothing gets blurred. Your image never leaves your device.

Background remover

How to remove the background from pixel art

  1. 01

    Drop your image

    A single sprite or a whole sheet. The background color is read from the border of the image.

  2. 02

    Tune the cut

    Raise the tolerance if AI noise leaves specks behind, and click any spot that is left to clear it.

  3. 03

    Download the PNG

    You get a transparent PNG at the original size. Turn on Trim to crop the empty space away.

Why pixel art needs its own background remover

Most background removers are made for photos. They soften the edge of the subject and leave a ring of half-transparent pixels around it. On a 32 pixel sprite that ring shows up as a grey or white halo the moment you put the sprite on a dark game background.

This tool works like the magic wand in a pixel editor. It finds the background color, clears every pixel that matches it and leaves the rest exactly as it was. A 64 by 64 sprite comes out as the same 64 by 64 sprite, minus the background.

Gradients, shadows and noisy backgrounds

A color pick works when the background is one flat color. AI image models often add a soft gradient, a drop shadow or a bit of texture, and that needs a remover that finds the sprite itself. SpriteCook's background removal does that, and keeps the edge on whole pixels.

Pixel art treasure chest on a blue-grey gradient background with a soft shadow under it
AI output with a gradient and a shadow
The same treasure chest on a transparent background, with the gradient and the shadow removed
After background removal in SpriteCook
Harder backgrounds
Gradients, soft shadows, and backgrounds that share colors with the sprite.
Hard edges
A hard alpha cutoff, so every pixel is either fully there or fully gone. No grey halo.
Animations
Every frame of an animation gets its background removed in one go.
Cost
Basic is 1 credit per image and 2 per animation. Pro uses Photoroom for the cleanest edges and costs 2 credits per image or 2 per frame on animations.
Remove a background in SpriteCook

Holes in the outline after background removal

Background removal decides pixel by pixel what is sprite and what is background, and the dark outline sits right on that line. Some outline pixels get thrown out with the background, and the sprite ends up with gaps in its outline.

In SpriteCook, Smart outline repair runs by default when you remove the background from a pixel art sprite or animation. It checks whether the sprite has an outline, puts the missing pixels back in the sprite's own colors and cleans leftover background off the edge. It doesn't cost credits.

How Smart outline repair worksAdd an outline to a sprite
Pixel art fox in a green hood after background removal, with small gaps in its dark outline at the ear, cloak and feet
After Basic background removal the outline is missing 12 pixels. Some were cut by the removal, some were gaps already in the art.

For tools and pipelines

Pixel art background removal API

If you run a game, an editor or an asset pipeline that needs transparent sprites in bulk, SpriteCook's Basic background removal is also available over HTTP. Send an image, poll the job, download the PNG.

Input
Any still image (PNG, JPG, WebP) or an animated WebP, as a multipart upload or base64 JSON.
Output
A transparent PNG, or an animated WebP for animations, with hard alpha.
Price
1 credit per image, 2 per animation.
Outlines
Import the sprite as pixel art and remove the background by asset_id to get Smart outline repair as well.
Tuning
Set the alpha cutoff per request with runpod_alpha_cutoff (default 96).
Results
Download links stay valid for 24 hours.
remove-background.sh
curl https://api.spritecook.ai/v1/api/remove-background \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sc_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -F "file=@knight.png"
# {"job_id": "5fd62fa0-...", "status": "queued"}
 
curl https://api.spritecook.ai/v1/api/jobs/5fd62fa0-... \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sc_live_YOUR_KEY"
# {"status": "succeeded", "file": {"url": "..."}}

Using Claude Code, Codex or Cursor? The SpriteCook MCP server has a remove_background tool, so your agent can clean up sprites while it builds your game. Processing a lot of images every month? Get in touch about volume pricing.

Read the API docsThe whole APIGet an API key

More free pixel art tools

Pixel art outline generator

Add a clean 1 pixel outline to a sprite, in any color.

AI pixel art fixer

Snap blurry, upscaled AI pixel art back to its real pixel grid.

Sprite sheet slicer

Split a transparent sheet into frames, or pack a GIF into a sheet.

AI pixel art generator

Make sprites that come out transparent, with the outline intact.

Frequently asked questions

Is the pixel art background remover free?+
Yes. The browser tool is free and needs no signup, because it runs on your own device. AI background removal in SpriteCook and the API use credits, and new accounts get free credits to try them.
Will it blur or resize my pixel art?+
No. It only clears pixels that match the background. It never resizes or smooths the image, so every pixel that stays keeps its exact color, and its position too unless you turn on Trim.
Can I remove the background from a sprite sheet?+
Yes. A sprite sheet is one image, so drop it in the same way and every frame loses its background in one pass. Leave Trim off if the sheet needs to keep its grid.
What is the difference between From the edges and Every match?+
From the edges clears background that touches the border of the image, so a white highlight inside your sprite stays. Every match clears that color everywhere, which also catches gaps closed in by the sprite, like the space between an arm and the body. You can also click a single leftover spot to clear just that one.
Why are there specks or a light ring left around my sprite?+
AI images usually have noise in the background, so a white background is really hundreds of slightly different whites. Raise the tolerance until the specks go, or click them. A soft ring that stays is made of pixels blended from the sprite and the background, and AI background removal with Smart outline repair handles those better.
Why does my sprite have holes in its outline after removing the background?+
The dark outline sits right on the border between sprite and background, so a remover can throw some outline pixels away with the background. In SpriteCook, Smart outline repair runs by default when you remove the background from a pixel art sprite or animation. It puts the missing outline pixels back in the sprite's own colors, for free.
Is there an API for pixel art background removal?+
Yes. POST an image to /v1/api/remove-background, poll the job, and download a transparent PNG. Still images cost 1 credit and animated WebPs cost 2. Coding agents can use the remove_background tool in the SpriteCook MCP server.
Can it remove the background from an animation or GIF?+
The browser tool works on still images and uses the first frame of a GIF. SpriteCook removes the background from every frame of an animation, in the app or through the API with an animated WebP.
Are my images uploaded anywhere?+
Not with the browser tool. It reads the file in your browser and never sends it to a server. Images you upload to SpriteCook or send to the API are stored on SpriteCook, and API results stop being available after 24 hours.