Background Removal in NodeJs

Remove backgrounds from images in NodeJs environment with ease and no additional costs or privacy concerns. Explore an interactive demo.

News

• November 8th, 2023: Added support for raw rgba8 export formats.
• November 6th, 2023: Added support foreground, background and mask export type
• November 6th, 2023: Added support for webp and jpeg export formats.
• September 12th, 2023: We released the code of Background Removal NodeJS.

For more detail information please refer to the CHANGELOG.

Overview

@imgly/background-removal-node is a powerful npm package that allows developers to seamlessly remove the background from images in NodeJs. With its unique features and capabilities, this package offers an innovative and cost-effective solution for background removal tasks without compromising data privacy.

The key features of @imgly/background-removal-node are:

• Seamless Integration with IMG.LY's CE.SDK: @imgly/background-removal-node provides seamless integration with IMG.LY's CE.SDK, allowing developers to easily incorporate powerful NodeJS image matting and background removal capabilities into their projects.

The Neural Network model files (ONNX model) are hosted by IMG.LY, making it readily available for download to all users of the library. See the section Custom Asset Serving if you want to host data on your own servers.

Installation

You can install @imgly/background-removal-node via npm or yarn. Use the following commands to install the package:

NPM

npm install @imgly/background-removal-node

Usage

import {removeBackground} from "@imgly/background-removal-node";
// const {removeBackground} = require("@imgly/background-removal-node");

let image_src: ImageData | ArrayBuffer | Uint8Array | Blob | URL | string = ...;

removeBackground(image_src).then((blob: Blob) => {
  // The result is a blob encoded as PNG. It can be converted to an URL to be used as HTMLImage.src
})

Note: On the first run the wasm and onnx model files are fetched. This might, depending on the bandwidth, take time. Therefore, the first run takes proportionally longer than each consecutive run. Also, all files are cached by the browser and an additional model cache.

Advanced Configuration

The library does not need any configuration to get started. However, there are optional parameters that influence the behaviour and give more control over the library.

type Config = {
  publicPath: string; // The public path used for model and wasm files. Default: '`file://${path.resolve(`node_modules/${pkg.name}/dist/`)}/`.
  debug: bool; // enable or disable useful console.log outputs
  model: 'small' | 'medium'; // The model to use. (Default "medium")
  output: {
    format: 'image/png' | 'image/jpeg' | 'image/webp' | 'image/x-rgba8'; // The output format. (Default "image/png")
    quality: number; // The quality. (Default: 0.8)
    type: 'foreground' | 'background' | 'mask'; // The output type. (Default "foreground")
  };
};

Download Size vs Quality

The onnx model is shipped in various sizes and needs.

• small (~40 MB) is the smallest model and is in most cases working fine but sometimes shows some artifacts. It's a quantized model.
• medium (~80MB) is the default model.

Download Progress Monitoring

On the first run, the necessary data will be fetched and stored in the browser cache. Since the download might take some time, you have the option to tap into the download progress.

let config: Config = {
  progress: (key, current, total) => {
    console.log(`Downloading ${key}: ${current} of ${total}`);
  }
};

Custom Asset Serving

The wasm and onnx neural networks are hosted by IMG.LY by default. For production use, we advise you to host them yourself. Therefore, copy all .wasm and .onnx files to your public path $PUBLIC_PATH and reconfigure the library.

cp node_modules/@imgly/background-removal-node/dist/*.* $PUBLIC_PATH

import { removeBackground, Config} from "@imgly/background-removal-node"

const public_path = "file://${ASSET_PATH}" ; // the path on the local file system

//const public_path = "https://example.com/assets/" ; // the path assets are served from

let config: Config =  {
  publicPath: public_path, // path to the wasm files
};

let image_src: Buffer | ArrayBuffer | Uint8Array | Blob | URL | string = ...;

removeBackground(image_src, config).then((blob: Blob) => {
  // result is a blob encoded as PNG.
  // It can be converted to an URL to be used as HTMLImage.src
  const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
})

Debug Outputs

Enable debug outputs and logging to the console

let config: Config = {
  debug: true
};

Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)

If you are running into CORS issues you might want to pass additional parameters to the fetch function via

let config: Config = {
  fetchArgs: {
    mode: 'no-cors'
  }
};

fetchArgs are passed as second parameters to the fetch function as described in MDN.

Who is it for?

@imgly/background-removal-node is ideal for developers and projects that require efficient and cost-effective background removal directly in the browser. It caters to a wide range of use cases, including but not limited to:

• E-commerce applications that need to remove backgrounds from product images in real time.

• Image editing applications that require background removal capabilities for enhancing user experience.

• Web-based graphic design tools that aim to simplify the creative process with in-browser background removal.

Whether you are a professional developer or a hobbyist, @imgly/background-removal-node empowers you to deliver impressive applications and services with ease.

License

The software is free for use under the AGPL License. Please contact support@img.ly for questions about other licensing options.

Authors & Contributors

This library is made by IMG.LY shipping the world's premier SDKs for building creative applications. Start your trial of the CreativeEditor SDK, PhotoEditor SDK & VideoEditor SDK.