Rembg: Effortlessly Remove Backgrounds in Python 📷

What is Rembg? How to use Rembg to remove background from image in Python?

Photo by Ethan Hoover on Unsplash

The rembg module in Python is a library used for removing the background from images. It is based on the Rembg algorithm, which employs a neural network to perform the task of background removal. The algorithm is trained to identify and separate the foreground objects from their backgrounds in images, resulting in images with transparent backgrounds.

Interesting History

The rembg library is based on the Rembg algorithm, which itself has an interesting history. The Rembg algorithm was developed by Dag Sverre Seljebotn, a researcher and software engineer. It is an implementation of the “Alpha Matting with Fully Connected CRFs” paper by Monraba et al. (2016), which presents an approach for accurately extracting foreground objects from images using deep learning techniques.

Dag Sverre Seljebotn initially created a standalone command-line tool called rembg using the Rembg algorithm. This tool gained popularity for its ability to remove backgrounds from images quickly and effectively. Recognizing the usefulness and demand for an easy-to-use Python library for background removal, Dag Sverre Seljebotn further developed the rembg library to provide a convenient Python interface for utilizing the Rembg algorithm.

The rembg library has since gained popularity among developers and enthusiasts for its simplicity and effectiveness in removing backgrounds from images. It has been used in various applications, such as graphic design, image editing, and computer vision tasks. The library continues to be maintained and updated by the open-source community, allowing users to leverage its capabilities for background removal with ease.

How to use Rembg?

The rembg module provides a simple interface for utilizing the Rembg algorithm in your Python code. It allows you to pass an input image to the algorithm and receive the corresponding image with the background removed as output. The output image typically has an alpha channel, which represents the transparency of different parts of the image.

Installation

We need to have the rembg module installed in your Python environment, which you can install using pip:

pip install rembg

Note that the rembg module requires a GPU for acceleration. If you don’t have a GPU, you can try using the CPU version called rembg-cpu, which has slightly lower performance but can still achieve background removal.

Example

Here’s an example of how we can use the rembg module to remove the background from an image:

Input image

import rembg
import numpy as np
from PIL import Image

# Load the input image
input_image = Image.open('input_image.jpg')

# Convert the input image to a numpy array
input_array = np.array(input_image)

# Apply background removal using rembg
output_array = rembg.remove(input_array)

# Create a PIL Image from the output array
output_image = Image.fromarray(output_array)

# Save the output image
output_image.save('output_image.jpg')

Output Image

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Why did the background become jealous of the rembg library?

Because it felt replaced and couldn’t handle being “erased” from the picture-perfect moments!

🙂🙂🙂