Remove Background in Adobe Express

I LOVE creating and sharing InfoPics. My favorite iOS app for creating InfoPIcs has (for years now) been Adobe Express for iOS. The app has updated in many ways, but it still retains its core features and UI for quickly adding readable, contrasting text to an image. This morning as I created a “Bible Verse InfoPic” using a photo I took at our church last night, I discovered Adobe Express now includes an AI-powered “remove background” feature! It’s simple to use and accurate, reminding me of remove.bg, which I used with high school students for years at my previous school as they created eBook versions of children’s books for a creative writing class. In this post I want to share a bit more about the “remove background” feature in Adobe Express for iPhone.

Here is the original photo I took last night at our church in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, after our team of staff and volunteers setup our fellowship hall for our special Sunday worship service today. This is the second Sunday for our 2025 Stewardship campaign, for which I’m serving as a co-chair this year.

Compare the original image (below) to the previous / first image, with the background removed.

Isn’t that image background removal remarkable?! This is something I used to do with moderate success using Adobe PhotoShop and its “magic wand” tool before the advent of AI-powered image processing. Adobe PhotoShop is a commercially licensed software program and has been (in the past) something I would use on my laptop computer rather than my iPhone. I love how image background removal is now INTEGRATED into the Adobe Express iOS app, so it’s not necessary to “app smash” or use multiple apps to create a desired InfoPic! Adobe also provides a free web-version of its background remover, which I’m going to add to my “Image Resources” page I use with my middle school students.

To use the “Remove Background” feature of Adobe Express for iOS, tap on just the IMAGE you have added to your project and navigate to the EDIT menu. “Remove Background” is now the second editing button at the bottom of the screen, to the right of “Replace.” “It just works!”

In addition to using the “Remove Background” feature of the app this morning, I also used the “First Nation’s Version” of the Bible, included in the free YouVersion Bible app. I learned about this version of the Bible from Felicia Pine, who is a member of our “ACE Sunday School Class” / Adult Sunday School class. Felicia is a leader in our church “Anti-Racism Council, and a very well-read follower of Jesus.

The NRSV (New Revised Standard Version) of Ephesians 4:1-6 is:

‘I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. ‘

Ephesians 4:1-6

The “First Nation’s Version” of the Bible renames the Book of Ephesians as, “Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Desire.” This is its interpretation of Ephesians 4:1-6:

‘Because I walk the road with our Honored Chief, I have been made a prisoner. I now call on you to join me in representing him in a good way as you follow the path he has chosen for you. Walk with a humble and gentle spirit, patiently showing love and respect to each other. Let his Spirit weave you together in peace as you dance in step with one another in the great circle of life. In this circle we are joined together in one body, by one Spirit, chosen to follow one purpose. There is only one Honored Chief, one common faith, and one purification ceremony. There is one Great Spirit and Father of us all, who is above all, and who works in and through all. ‘

Small Man to the Sacred Family in Village of Desire 4:1-6

What a beautiful interpretation of these verses of Scripture. Per the published licensing terms, I’m including this attribution on this blog post, and have also included it on my Flickr images quoting this version of the Bible:

Scripture quotations are reproduced from First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, copyright © 2021 by Rain Ministries, Inc. Used by permission of Inter Varsity Press All rights reserved worldwide. www.ivpress.com.
https://www.bible.com/versions/3633-FNVNT-first-nations-version