Subject lifting with Vision
Uses Apple's foreground instance mask to separate the subject from the background. Large images are downscaled for the model and the mask is scaled back up.
Open source · macOS 14+ · Universal binary · Files & Conversion
Drop a photo.
Get the cutout.
Drop one image or a whole batch and get a transparent-background cutout of the subject, made offline with Apple's Vision framework. Press Space to flip between before and after.
Free & MIT licensed · Apple Silicon & Intel · Latest release
Features
Cutouts without the upload.
Everything runs on your Mac, from subject detection to export.
Batch queue and drop zone
Drop PNG, JPEG, HEIC or TIFF files, or whole folders, onto the window or the Dock icon. Images are processed in the background with per-image progress, and bad files do not stop the batch.
Per-image controls
Choose a transparent, white, black or custom background, set an edge feather from 0 to 5 px, and trim to the subject bounds. Click a subject in the preview to include or exclude it.
Before and after preview
Compare the original and the cutout on a checkerboard, toggled with the Space bar.
Export, copy or drag out
Save PNG with transparency or JPEG, export everything to a folder with a suffix like -cutout, copy to the clipboard, or drag a cutout straight into Finder. Originals are never overwritten.
Private and offline
No network calls, no analytics and no third-party dependencies. Your photos never leave your Mac.
Screenshots
See it in action.
Install
Up and running in a minute.
CutoutDropZone is open source and not notarized with a paid Apple Developer ID, so macOS needs one extra step the first time.
- Download CutoutDropZone-macOS.zip and unzip it.
- Move CutoutDropZone.app to your Applications folder.
- Clear the quarantine flag once, then right-click the app and choose Open:
xattr -cr /Applications/CutoutDropZone.app
- No special permissions are required.
Download
Get CutoutDropZone for macOS
Free, forever. Built for macOS 14 Sonoma or newer, Apple Silicon and Intel.
Not notarized: on first launch right-click CutoutDropZone.app → Open.
- macOS 14 Sonoma+
- Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel)
- MIT licensed · open source
- No ads, no accounts, no telemetry
- Built with Claude Code · how and why
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is CutoutDropZone free and open source?
Yes. It is free to use and released under the MIT license, with the full source on GitHub. If it saves you time, there is an optional Support / Donate button in the app.
What permissions does it need?
None beyond the standard macOS panels. It reads only the images you drop or choose, and writes to the output folder you pick. It does not ask for Accessibility, Screen Recording, Camera or Microphone access.
Where is my data stored?
Your images stay where they are, and cutouts are saved to the folder you choose in Settings. Temporary files for drag-out and for images dropped from browsers live in ~/Library/Caches/CutoutDropZone and are cleared on the next launch.
Why isn't the app notarized?
Notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account, and this is a free project. Right-click the app and choose Open once to get past Gatekeeper, or build it yourself from source with Xcode and XcodeGen.
Was this written by AI?
Yes. CutoutDropZone was generated by Claude Code from a written spec as a clean-room reimplementation, with no code or assets from any commercial app. The full source is on GitHub under MIT, so you can read every line before you run it. It has had less human review than a hand-written app, so bug reports are welcome.
Support ❤️
Built by one person, given away for free.
CutoutDropZone is a free, open-source alternative to paid utilities. If it earns a spot on your Mac, a coffee keeps the updates coming.
☕ Support Or on Ko-fi