Crop, Remove Background, or Clear the Reference Image Before Searching

You can process the reference image before search. Cropping is useful for keeping only the target region. Background removal is useful when the subject is clear but the background is distracting. Clearing lets you choose a different reference image.

Crop the Image

1. Open the image search dialog.
2. Upload, drag, or paste the reference image.
3. Click the crop action above the image.
4. In Adjust Search Area, use Move Image or Adjust Crop Box and drag the handles to keep the subject or local region. Restore resets the current crop adjustments.
5. Use zoom, rotation or horizontal flip if needed, then confirm and return to the search dialog.
6. Choose the strategy and scope, then start the search.

After cropping, search uses the cropped image as the reference. This works well for extracting a product from a poster, one person from a group photo, or a local area from a long image.

This example keeps a 720×480 region, confirms the crop and searches the sample library with Global.

Eight images return; the full original and its backup rank first at 96.86%. This demonstrates this crop’s workflow, not a guarantee for other crops or a Local Keypoints example.

Remove Background

1. Upload the reference image.
2. Click the background-removal action.
3. Wait for processing to finish.
4. Search with the processed image.

Background removal tries to keep the subject and reduce background interference. It is best for clear products, people, or objects.

Click this action explicitly when needed; search does not automatically remove the reference background. It is separate from Remove Background under the Global Subject options when adding folders, which controls library parsing. If the library used that option, try background removal on a clear reference subject and compare with an original-image search. Avoid it when the background itself is the target.

Clear the Image

Use clear when you want to choose another reference image or restart the search setup.

Clear removes the current reference and its detected/selected colors. Recheck the strategy and scope after choosing another image. Cropping, background removal and clearing affect this search reference only; they do not overwrite the source file or re-parse the library. Upload or paste the original again to restore it.

Common Cases

• If cropped results are too few, reload the original and keep a larger crop. Only Local Keypoints has the minimum-similarity input; adjust it when using that strategy.
• If background removal is not ideal, search with the original image or crop a clearer subject first.
• If you care about color atmosphere, do not crop too tightly.