Getting Started with Cutout Pro
Cutout Pro is an AI-powered photo processing platform that offers background removal, object removal, image enhancement, and batch editing capabilities. If you’re new to the platform, the number of features, settings, and pricing options can feel overwhelming.
This FAQ covers the questions new users most frequently ask, organized by topic. Whether you’re a solo Etsy seller, an e-commerce brand, or a developer evaluating the API, these answers will help you get productive quickly.
File Formats and Image Requirements
What file formats does Cutout Pro support for upload?
Cutout Pro accepts the following input formats:
| Format | Supported | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG/JPG | Yes | Most common; fully supported |
| PNG | Yes | Including PNGs with existing transparency |
| WebP | Yes | Both lossy and lossless |
| BMP | Yes | Standard Windows bitmap |
| TIFF | Yes | Including multi-page TIFF (first page only) |
| HEIC/HEIF | Yes | iPhone photo format; converted automatically |
| GIF | Limited | Static GIFs only; animated GIFs not supported |
| SVG | No | Vector formats are not supported |
| RAW formats | No | Convert RAW to JPEG/PNG/TIFF before uploading |
| PSD | No | Flatten and export from Photoshop first |
Pro tip: For best results, upload JPEG or PNG at the highest quality available. If you’re shooting with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, export from your camera software as high-quality JPEG rather than uploading compressed web versions.
What’s the maximum file size for upload?
- Web dashboard: 25 MB per image
- API: 25 MB per image (configurable for Enterprise plans)
- Desktop app: 50 MB per image (local processing has fewer constraints)
If your images exceed these limits, resize or recompress them before uploading. Most product photography falls well within the 25 MB limit at standard JPEG quality.
What’s the maximum image resolution?
Cutout Pro processes images up to 4096 x 4096 pixels on standard plans and up to 8192 x 8192 pixels on Pro and Business plans. Images larger than the plan limit are automatically downscaled before processing.
For most commercial use cases (e-commerce, social media, web), the 4096-pixel limit is more than sufficient. Only users working with medium-format camera output or print-resolution files regularly encounter this limit.
What output formats are available?
| Format | Background State | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| PNG | Transparent | Web use, compositing, further editing |
| JPEG | Solid color fill | E-commerce listings, email, social media |
| WebP | Transparent or solid | Web optimization (smaller file size) |
When you choose transparent output, PNG or WebP are your options. JPEG doesn’t support transparency, so if you select JPEG output, removed backgrounds are replaced with white (or your specified color).
Does Cutout Pro preserve EXIF data?
By default, EXIF data is stripped from processed images. This is intentional for privacy (EXIF often contains GPS coordinates and camera serial numbers). If you need to preserve EXIF data, you’ll need to copy it from the original file using a tool like ExifTool after processing.
Credit System
How does the credit system work?
Credits are the currency you use to pay for processing on Cutout Pro. Each operation costs a specific number of credits:
- 1 credit — standard background removal, object removal, basic enhancement
- 2 credits — HD background removal, advanced enhancement/upscaling
- 3–5 credits per second — video background removal
Credits are consumed when processing completes. If processing fails (server error, not user error), credits are refunded automatically.
Do credits expire?
- Pay-per-use credits: Do not expire. Buy a credit pack and use it whenever you need.
- Subscription credits: Monthly allocation resets each billing cycle. Unused credits roll over for one month only — if you receive 200 credits in January and use 150, the remaining 50 are available through February but expire at the end of February if not used.
- Free trial credits: Expire after 7 days.
Can I buy additional credits on a subscription plan?
Yes. If you exhaust your monthly credit allocation, you can purchase additional credit packs at the pay-per-use rate. These top-up credits do not expire.
Do I get credits back if I’m not satisfied with a result?
Cutout Pro does not automatically refund credits for results you’re unhappy with. However, you can:
- Re-process the image using different settings (this consumes additional credits)
- Contact support for credit refunds in cases where the AI clearly failed (e.g., wrong subject removed, garbled output)
The platform’s quality is generally high enough that refund requests are rare, but the support team is responsive when legitimate processing failures occur.
API Access
How do I get API access?
API access is available through:
- Business subscription plan — includes API access with moderate rate limits
- Dedicated API plans — Developer ($19.99/mo), Growth ($49.99/mo), Scale ($149.99/mo)
- Enterprise — custom API arrangements
To get started:
- Create a Cutout Pro account at cutout.pro
- Subscribe to a plan that includes API access
- Navigate to Account Settings → API Keys
- Generate an API key
- Use the key in your API requests via the
Authorizationheader
What does the API endpoint structure look like?
The API follows RESTful conventions:
Base URL: https://api.cutout.pro/v1/
Common endpoints:
| Endpoint | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
/matting | POST | Background removal |
/matting/batch | POST | Batch background removal |
/object-remove | POST | Object/element removal |
/enhance | POST | Image enhancement/upscaling |
/passport-photo | POST | Passport photo formatting |
/credit/balance | GET | Check remaining credits |
Example request (background removal):
POST https://api.cutout.pro/v1/matting
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
Content-Type: multipart/form-data
image: [binary image data]
output_format: png
bg_color: transparentWhat are the API rate limits?
| API Plan | Requests/Minute | Concurrent Requests | Monthly Call Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business (subscription) | 20 | 5 | 500 |
| Developer | 30 | 10 | 500 |
| Growth | 60 | 25 | 2,000 |
| Scale | 120 | 50 | 10,000 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Exceeding rate limits returns a 429 Too Many Requests response. The response headers include Retry-After to indicate when you can resume requests.
Are there SDKs available?
Cutout Pro provides official SDKs for:
- Python —
pip install cutoutpro - Node.js —
npm install cutoutpro-sdk - PHP — available via Composer
Community-maintained SDKs exist for Ruby, Go, and Java, though these are not officially supported.
How do webhooks work?
For asynchronous processing (recommended for large batches), you can specify a webhook URL in your API request. When processing completes, Cutout Pro sends a POST request to your webhook URL with the result:
{
"status": "success",
"image_id": "abc123",
"result_url": "https://api.cutout.pro/results/abc123.png",
"credits_used": 1,
"processing_time_ms": 3200
}Result URLs are valid for 24 hours after processing. Download and store results within this window.
Account and Security
Is my data secure?
Cutout Pro’s security practices include:
- Encryption in transit — all uploads and downloads use TLS 1.3
- Encryption at rest — uploaded images are encrypted on processing servers
- Automatic deletion — uploaded images and processed results are deleted from Cutout Pro’s servers after 24 hours (configurable to shorter on Enterprise plans)
- No training on user data — Cutout Pro states that user-uploaded images are not used to train AI models
- SOC 2 Type II compliance — the platform has undergone third-party security auditing
Can I use Cutout Pro for commercial purposes?
Yes. All paid plans include a commercial use license. You own the output images and can use them for any commercial purpose — e-commerce listings, marketing materials, client deliverables, etc.
The free trial images also have commercial use rights, though the limited number of free credits makes this relevant only for testing.
Can multiple team members share an account?
The Business plan includes up to 3 team seats. Enterprise plans support unlimited team members. Team seats allow:
- Shared credit pool
- Individual login credentials
- Usage tracking per team member
- Admin controls for permissions
The Starter and Pro plans are single-user only.
Processing and Quality
How long does processing take?
| Operation | Typical Time |
|---|---|
| Background removal (single image) | 2–5 seconds |
| Background removal (batch of 100) | 2–4 minutes |
| Object removal | 3–8 seconds |
| Image enhancement | 5–10 seconds |
| Video background removal | 2–3x real-time (30-sec video takes ~60–90 seconds) |
Processing time varies based on image resolution, complexity, and current server load. The priority queue (available on Pro and above) reduces wait times during peak usage.
What if the AI gets it wrong?
Several options for handling imperfect results:
- Manual refinement tool — available in the web editor, provides brush-based keep/remove controls to correct edges
- Re-process with different settings — changing the subject type or processing mode can improve results
- Download the alpha mask — export just the transparency mask and apply it manually in Photoshop for full control
- Contact support — for persistent issues with specific image types, the support team can escalate to the engineering team
Does Cutout Pro work offline?
The desktop application provides limited offline capability. It can process images using a smaller, local AI model when internet connectivity is unavailable. The local model produces lower-quality results than the cloud model but is functional for basic background removal.
Full-quality processing always requires an internet connection to access the cloud-based AI model.
Can I process video?
Yes, with limitations:
- Maximum video length: 60 seconds (standard plans), 5 minutes (Business/Enterprise)
- Maximum resolution: 1080p
- Supported formats: MP4, MOV, WebM
- Credit cost: 3–5 credits per second of video
- Processing time: approximately 2–3x the video duration
Video background removal is resource-intensive and significantly more expensive per-use than image processing. For high-volume video needs, dedicated video editing tools like Runway or Unscreen may be more cost-effective.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
”My image didn’t process correctly”
Check these common causes:
- Low resolution input — images under 500 pixels in either dimension produce lower quality results
- Unusual subject matter — the AI is optimized for people, products, and common objects. Abstract or unusual subjects may not segment well
- Extreme lighting — severely underexposed or overexposed images challenge the AI. Fix exposure in Lightroom or similar before uploading
- Multiple subjects — if the AI removed the wrong subject, try specifying the subject type or using the manual selection tool
”My batch processing is slow”
- Large batch size — batches over 500 images may take longer due to queue management
- Peak usage times — processing during business hours (US/EU) can be slower. Try off-peak processing for non-urgent batches
- HD processing — HD mode takes approximately 2x longer than standard mode
- Server maintenance — check the status page at status.cutout.pro for any ongoing issues
”I’m being charged more credits than expected”
- Verify which operations you’re running — HD processing costs 2 credits instead of 1
- Check if you have multiple operations configured in your batch preset — each operation per image costs credits
- Video processing costs 3–5 credits per second, which adds up quickly
- API requests that timeout and are retried may consume credits on both attempts (contact support for refunds on these)
Getting Help
- Help Center: https://www.cutout.pro/help
- Email Support: Available on all paid plans, typically responds within 24 hours
- Priority Support: Available on Business and Enterprise plans, typically responds within 4 hours
- API Documentation: https://www.cutout.pro/api-docs
- Status Page: https://status.cutout.pro
References
- Cutout Pro Official Website — https://www.cutout.pro
- Cutout Pro API Documentation — https://www.cutout.pro/api
- Cutout Pro Pricing — https://www.cutout.pro/pricing
- Cutout Pro Help Center — https://www.cutout.pro/help
- ExifTool — https://exiftool.org