openclaw-home-pc/skills/image-edit/background-removal.md

Background Removal

Extract subjects from images with transparent backgrounds.

Tools

remove.bg (API)

curl -X POST "https://api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "image_file=@photo.jpg" \
  -F "size=auto" \
  -o "result.png"

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.remove.bg/v1.0/removebg",
    files={"image_file": open("photo.jpg", "rb")},
    data={"size": "auto"},
    headers={"X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
)
with open("result.png", "wb") as f:
    f.write(response.content)

Pricing: ~$0.20/image (50 free/month)

ClipDrop (Stability AI)

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://clipdrop-api.co/remove-background/v1",
    files={"image_file": open("photo.jpg", "rb")},
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
)

Features: Background removal, cleanup, relighting

Photoroom API

response = requests.post(
    "https://sdk.photoroom.com/v1/segment",
    files={"image_file": open("photo.jpg", "rb")},
    headers={"x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
)

Local (rembg)

pip install rembg

# CLI
rembg i input.jpg output.png

# Python
from rembg import remove
from PIL import Image

output = remove(Image.open("input.jpg"))
output.save("output.png")

Models:

• u2net — General purpose (default)
• u2net_human_seg — Optimized for people
• silueta — Faster, smaller

Batch Processing

from rembg import remove
from pathlib import Path

for img_path in Path("input/").glob("*.jpg"):
    result = remove(Image.open(img_path))
    result.save(f"output/{img_path.stem}.png")

Edge Refinement

Raw removal often has rough edges:

1. Feather edges — Gaussian blur on alpha channel
2. Matting models — Use dedicated matting for hair/fur
3. Manual cleanup — Touch up in photo editor

Use Cases

• Product photography
• Profile pictures
• Compositing
• E-commerce listings
• Marketing materials

Quality Tips

• Good lighting — clear subject separation helps
• High contrast — distinct foreground/background
• Clean backgrounds — simpler = better results
• Check hair/fur — often needs manual refinement