The right palette makes the product look premium, while the wrong palette creates a halo/fade effect around the edges and a “cheap sticker” feel.
Of course, cleanly removing the background is very important, but it's not the final touch.
There are design decisions that need to be made and variables that need to be considered in order to create a final draft.
That's what we'll be discussing in this article.
Choosing the right background isn't just important for achieving a visually appealing result. The minor friction inherent in the background removal process can also be easily eliminated with this decision.
How?
Let me explain!
Transparent PNGs and alpha (transparency) pixels produce semi-transparent transitions, especially in areas such as hair, fur, glass, smoke, and fine details. This is natural and occurs more often than you might think with this type of surface.
When these transitions blend with the background color, they can sometimes appear as a “dirty” band along the edges or as slight color bleeding.
This phenomenon is known as “edge fringing/halo” in the VFX and design world.
The widespread use of background remover in recent years is no coincidence. What used to be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process can now be done much more quickly.
This shifts the focus of the design process from “how do I remove the background?” to how the image will be presented.
And this is where the real challenge begins: After the background is removed, what often makes the difference is not the cut itself, but the choice of color and contrast.
The same image may feel completely different on different backgrounds; therefore, the decision that will determine the final quality perception is selecting the right color background.
1) Contrast: not just “readability,” but perceived quality
Contrast means clarity, especially in UI icons, product stickers, and typography.
The accessibility standards also express this in numbers: thresholds of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text are generally recommended.
The 3:1 ratio is also commonly referenced for “graphic elements/icons” (especially in UI components).
Actionable recommendations from Eggradients:
- Product image / logo / icon = Think in terms of “at least 3:1”.
- If you're overlaying text = aim for 4.5:1. Contrast checkers like WebAIM are handy for calculating this.
2) For product images: How do you choose a background palette that gives a “premium” feel?
When the background is removed from product photos, errors usually appear at both ends:
A) Very low contrast: The product is embedded in the ground, the edges appear “faded.”
B) Excessive contrast: The product appears to pop out like a sticker, and edge aliasing becomes more visible.
The sweet spot is often:
- Make the background broken tones (off-white, charcoal gray, etc.) instead of pure black/pure white.
- Look at the lightest and darkest areas of the product and keep the background at an “average” tone.
For Instance:
- Rich purples, like deep purples, give a premium + “mystique” feel, especially in cosmetic/creative products, but it's better to try slightly softer purple tones instead of dark purple to avoid the risk of a light halo around the edges.
- Red colors attract attention very quickly; they bring about conversion in small products, but semi-transparent edges on a red background can sometimes appear to “flicker”—so it's generally safer to use red as an accent color.
- Blue colors convey a sense of trust and technology; especially in SaaS/application visuals, a blue background looks “clean” with transparent icons. But you need to control the contrast in products with edge colors close to blue.
3) For UI assets: icons should not “disappear” or “become muddy”
The most frequently encountered issue with transparent icon sets: the icon's fine lines disappear, especially on colored backgrounds. Here are two small tactics that can save the day:
- Optimize for a single background color. The UI generally requires light/dark mode + different card surfaces. Test the icon on 2–3 different backgrounds.
- Aiming for a contrast ratio of around 3:1 between the thin lines of the icons and the background helps solve the “is there an icon or not” problem.
4) How can “color bleeding” and “dull edges” be reduced?
Sometimes background removal looks good, but the “edges remain dull.”
This is often due to light/color reflections from the old background or colors carried by semi-transparent pixels.
This appears as fringing/halo in different composite environments.
Quick solutions (designer mode):
- Test the same image on three backgrounds: light, dark, and saturated colors.
- If you see a halo around the product, make the background a little “warmer”.
- To make the edges of the product stand out more clearly against highly saturated backgrounds (especially red/purple), reduce the background saturation slightly.