Photoshop backgrounds for compositing
Original digital backdrops as clean, flat JPG files, up to 2880px and never upscaled. Pick one whose light matches your photo, place your subject, and finish the composite in Photoshop.
What you get in Photoshop
Each backdrop opens as a single Background layer: an empty scene with a clear floor and no people, text or logos. There are no hidden layers, smart objects or actions to learn. Your subject, mask, shadow and colour adjustments are the layers you add on top.
| Shape | High resolution | Free file | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscape | 2880 x 1920 px | 1280 x 853 px, watermarked | JPG, sRGB |
| Portrait | 1920 x 2880 px | 853 x 1280 px, watermarked | JPG, sRGB |
| Square | 2880 x 2880 px | 1280 x 1280 px, watermarked | JPG, sRGB |
All three shapes are crops of the same 2880 x 2880 master, so you can make a landscape print and a square post from one composite setup. See what each size prints at.
The workflow in four steps
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Step 1: Open the backdrop
File > Open the JPG. It is your bottom layer.
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Step 2: Place your photo
File > Place Embedded, so the subject is a Smart Object you can scale freely.
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Step 3: Mask the subject
Select > Subject, then Select and Mask for hair. Output to a layer mask.
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Step 4: Match and ground
Clipped Curves and colour layers to match the light, and a soft Multiply shadow under the feet.
Choose by light direction
The quickest way to a believable composite is a background lit from the same side as your subject. Every scene page lists its light direction and colour. Of our 102 scenes, 28 are lit from the left, 23 from the right, 41 from the front or softly from all round, and 10 from above, such as stage, chandelier and lantern-lit scenes.
Lit from the left
Lit from the right
Front or soft light (easiest to match)
Lit from above
Who uses them
Portrait and family photographers use the scenes for seasonal mini sessions without building a set. Photo booth operators prepare event backgrounds in Photoshop before loading them into the booth (see photo booth backgrounds). And anyone making a card or invitation can drop a cut-out photo onto a scene. For pose and light advice aimed at photographers, read digital backgrounds for photography.
Try any scene free at 1280px first. The clean high-resolution files come with lifetime access, and both follow the same licence.
Photoshop background questions
Are these PSD templates?
No. They are flat JPG backgrounds. You add your subject, shadow and adjustments as your own layers on top. That keeps the files light and works in any version of Photoshop and in other editors.
What size are the files in Photoshop?
Landscape 2880 x 1920, portrait 1920 x 2880 and square 2880 x 2880 pixels, 8-bit sRGB JPG. The free versions are 1280px on the long side with a corner watermark.
Do they work in Lightroom, Affinity Photo or Photopea?
Yes. Any editor that supports layers and masks can composite a subject onto these JPGs. Lightroom on its own cannot stack layers, so do the composite in a layer editor.
Are the backgrounds photographs?
No. They are AI-generated original scenes, each reviewed by a person before it is published. They contain no people, text or logos.