BGNINJAOpen the tool →

Remove shadow from photo

A shadow across the pavement, your own from a selfie stick, or a stranger's over the group shot? Paint over it and BGNinja's Magic erase rebuilds the ground, wall or grass underneath. Free, no account, no watermark.

The Shadow edge button is the part built for this job. It widens every stroke by a strip and rounds it off, so the soft, fading rim of the shadow goes too, not just the dark middle. That rim is what usually stays behind as a ghost.

By ShinobiTools Team · Last updated: September 2026

Full resolution. No watermark. Actually free. Most background removers hand you a 625×400 preview and charge for the real file. This one doesn't.

What it removes, and what it doesn't

This takes out shadows that fall on something: pavement, grass, a wall, a table, a floor, snow. There is a surface underneath the shadow, so the AI can rebuild it from the ground around it.

It does not relight a face. A dark shadow across someone's face, a hat brim over the eyes, harsh midday sun, a backlit portrait: that is a lighting problem, and the shadow is part of the person. There is nothing underneath to rebuild. Paint over it and the AI draws a new face from its own guess, which is not your face. This tool will not make a dark face lighter, and we would rather tell you before you upload than after.

How to remove a shadow from a photo

  1. Drop your photo on the eraser above (JPG, PNG or WEBP).
  2. Leave Shadow edge on and paint over the shadow. The dark part is enough, you don't need to trace the soft edge.
  3. Press Erase it. It takes a few seconds.
  4. A faint edge left? Paint over it and erase again.
  5. Download the result.

What the Shadow edge button does

With it on, every stroke gets a paler band added around it. You can see it as the lighter pink border in the picture above, and Erase it sends the stroke and the band together. The band is a quarter of your brush width in the photo's own pixels, never less than 6 or more than 48, so a smaller brush gives a tighter band. Only the shape is widened: the AI still fills it from what is around it.

Turn it off when the shadow touches something you want to keep, like a shoe, a tyre or a bag strap, and follow the edge with a small brush instead.

When it struggles

A shadow on a plain surface is the easy case. It gets harder as the ground gets busier: gravel, patterned tiles, a lawn, leaf litter. The AI cannot know what the pattern was, so it invents something that looks right from a distance, and you will often need a second pass. Long shadows go better in a few strokes than in one. A shadow that covers half the picture, or a whole scene under harsh sun, is not a job for this tool.

Working on the same photo? The same brush also does objects, people and small marks.

Common questions

Is removing a shadow from a photo free?

Yes. It's free, with no account and no watermark, up to 99 MB per photo. Free photos up to 30 megapixels keep their full size.

Can it remove a shadow from someone's face?

No. A shadow on a face is a lighting problem, not something lying on top of a surface, so there is nothing underneath to rebuild. Paint over it and the AI redraws the face from its own guess. This tool removes shadows that fall on the ground, a wall or a table, not on people. To lighten a face, use the exposure or shadows slider in a photo editor.

Can I remove my own shadow from a photo?

Yes, that's the classic use. Paint over your shadow on the ground, leave Shadow edge on and press Erase it. If the shadow touches your shoes or legs, turn Shadow edge off and follow the edge with a small brush so it doesn't redraw them.

What does the Shadow edge button do?

It adds a paler band around every stroke and sends it along with the stroke, so the soft, fading rim of a shadow is erased too. The band is a quarter of your brush width in the photo's own pixels, never less than 6 or more than 48. Turn it off for exact strokes.

Why does a faint outline stay behind after I erase a shadow?

Shadows fade out gradually, so the edge is hard to see and easy to miss with the brush. What's left is the pale outer rim. Paint a little past the visible edge, or leave Shadow edge on, which adds that margin for you. If a trace remains, paint over it and erase once more.

Can I remove the shadow of a selfie stick or a second person?

Yes, if it falls on the ground or a wall. Paint along the whole shadow, in pieces if it's long, and erase each piece. It gets much harder when the shadow crosses a person or a busy pattern.

Can it fix a photo with harsh sunlight and shadows all over it?

Not in one go. It removes one shadow at a time by rebuilding what's underneath. A scene where half the frame is in deep shade, or dappled light under a tree, takes many strokes and looks less believable. The shadows and highlights sliders in a photo editor suit that job better.

What about a shadow on a scanned page or a photographed document?

Use ScanReviver's shadow remover, which is built for pages.

Can I remove a shadow from a product photo?

If it lies on a plain surface, yes: paint over it. If you would rather have the product on a clean white or transparent background, try product photos on white or the background remover.

Are my photos kept?

No. Your photo is processed and deleted straight away: nothing is stored or used to train anything.

Can I remove a shadow from a photo on iPhone?

Yes. Open this page in Safari on your iPhone, upload the photo from your camera roll, paint over the shadow and erase. No app to install, no account, and the download goes to Files.

Is there a limit to how many shadows I can remove?

Not on a single photo. Paint the next shadow and press Erase it again; each pass builds on the last. ↺ Start over takes you back to your original upload.