Gone But Never Forgotten: How to Add a Deceased Loved One Into Any Photo

"Does any one know how to add one of my family member who passed away onto a recent family picture?"

Thanks to modern photo editing tools, like FlexClip and more, it’s possible to add a deceased loved one to a family photo, allowing our loved ones to remain part of our story.

Here's how you can add a deceased loved one to a family photo, keeping them close in every chapter of your story.

Add a Deceased Loved One to a Photo(Made with FlexClip)

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Create Video Faster with FlexClip's Pre-Made Templates →

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How to Add a Deceased Loved One Into Any Photo - No Photoshop Required

FlexClip, comes with powerful features, helps you easily combine your photos by adding the departed family members to your wedding, family reunion photos, and more, giving you an easy, browser-based way to bring these special visions to life—no complicated software required. With it, incorporating a lost loved one in an existing photo has never been easier!

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Here’s why it’s ideal for adding a deceased loved one to your photo:

Step-by-Step: Adding a Deceased Loved One Into a Photo with FlexClip

Step 1 Prepare Your Images

Before starting the editing, let's gather the two pictures first:

Choose your base photo, a family gathering, wedding, holiday, or any moment you wish they could have been part of.

Find the photo of your loved one you want to use, choose one with good lighting and a pose that will fit naturally in the final image.

Step 2 Upload the Photos to FlexClip

Click the Get Started Now button to access FlexClip’s editor, and then upload your images. You can drag and drop them directly. Or click the pull-down list button besides the Local Files in Media tab to import your images from your mobile device or some third-party platforms, like Google Drive, Google Photots, etc., if needed.

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Upload the Photos to FlexClip

Step 3 Add Your Photos to the Canvas

Once uploaded, change the aspect ratio of the canvas to make it fir your base photo, and then add the base photo onto the Canvas as the scene so it fills the background by click the Add as Scene icon or drag it directly. After that, drag your loved one’s image onto the base photo as a separate layer.

Add Your Photos to the Canvas

Step 4 Cut Out Your Loved One with AI

Select the layered image, then click AI in the top toolbar to access FlexClip's AI tools and select the AI Image BG Remover.

AI Image BG Remover

Now, you’ll be taken to the AI Image BG Remover to make a cut out of your loved one. Wait for FlexClip to process — it will cut out the background so only your loved one remains. Once finished, and you’re satisfied with the result, click the Apply button to add the cut out image to your base image.

Cut Out Your Loved One with AI

Step 5 Position & Blend the Cutout of Your loved One into the Main Photo

Now, you’ll back to the editor page with the cutout of your loved one added on to the main photo, you can resize and place your deceased loved one where you want in the photo. For a more “spiritual” look, slightly reduce the Opacity of the image so they appear softly blended into the background.

Position & Blend the Cutout of Your loved One into the Main Photo

Step 6 Optional Touches for the Final Photo

Furthermore, you can click the Edit and Stroke to add a glow effect to the person for a ghost effect.

Edit Stroke Effect

Select the stroke effect a soft glow effect and then customize freely to achieve a perfect result. A soft white or pastel color with glowing effect works well for a gentle memorial style, so change the color into white and adjust opacity and more until it looks just right.

Edit Stroke Effect with More Options

Congratulations! You now have a heartfelt composite to treasure or share with family. Disable the Inside Motion effect of your base image and then click the photo on the timeline and hit Export Frame to save your image.

Download Your Photo

Bonus: Besides adding a deceased loved one to an existing photo, you can also combine them into a new photo in any wanted background! The trick is to choose your desired background for the base photo and the add deceased love one and your family member photo as layers on the background, then try the AI image BG remover to cut out the two and then blend them together on the background image.

Sandy /

Has 4-year of professional photographing experience. Very much into recording every detail of life. She is passionate about all things related to video production, and loves to exploring tips and tricks about it.