How to remove a background from an image...

Recently I was teaching a Microsoft Publisher 2013 class, and we talked about adding and editing images.  The tricky thing about working with pictures in Publisher is that even though you can insert images with a transparent background, you can't remove the background yourself. 

To do this, head over to Microsoft Word.

Use the same techniques to insert an image that you use in Publisher:

Microsoft Publisher 2016

After you click on the Insert tab, choose either Pictures or Online Pictures to add your picture into your publication (Publisher) or document (Word).

Once you have inserted your image, watch for the contextual toolbar to appear that allows you to edit your pictures.

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Microsoft Word 2016

The contextual toolbar will say Pictures Tools above the Format tab.

When you click on that new toolbar, you will have a lot of additional tools to edit, adjust, and polish your pictures.

We want to look on the far left side of the screen in the Adjust toolbox where we can remove the background.

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Microsoft Word 2016

 When you click on Remove Background, you will notice part of your picture turns violet.  This is the section of your image that will be erased.  If you do not want that part included, or if you want to include other areas, use the "Mark Areas to Keep" and "Mark Areas to Remove" tools to adjust the purple shading.

When you are done, press Keep Changes.  If it did not turn out the way you expected, remember that CRTL + Z will undo your changes and you can start again.   Also, you may need to do some clean-up through cropping or in Microsoft Paint.

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Once you are done with the background removal, right click and choose copy, then paste the image into your publication in Publisher.

You can copy and paste between Microsoft Office products, so making changes in Word and pasting them into Publisher is a good solution to removing the background until Microsoft adds this features into a future version of the software.