[HN Gopher] Show HN: Open-source background removal in the browser
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Show HN: Open-source background removal in the browser
        
       @imgly/background-removal is a powerful javascript library that
       allows seamlessly background removal of images directly in the
       browser. With its unique features and capabilities, this package
       offers an innovative and cost-effective solution for background
       removal tasks without compromising data privacy.
        
       Author : buss_jan
       Score  : 264 points
       Date   : 2023-06-28 13:07 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | hackernewds wrote:
       | amazing library! I've been using pixian.ai but this is a game
       | changer
        
       | revskill wrote:
       | I need watermark removal version.
        
         | dathos wrote:
         | You need to pay for art
        
       | culi wrote:
       | Now if someone can just do this for a WASM AI-powered bitmap to
       | vector conversion library, I'll be set
        
         | toshiyori wrote:
         | Is there already something like that in the markets? As an API?
        
           | kekub wrote:
           | I found this one to be really good: https://vectorizer.ai/
        
       | culi wrote:
       | Seems to be on par with the other best background remover I've
       | tried.[0] The first one I've come across that's open source and
       | this good. And it works in the browser! This is great, thanks
       | 
       | [0] https://www.remove.bg/
        
         | culi wrote:
         | After looking into there are actually a ton of these websites
         | out there. This is the first actual open source one I've come
         | across that runs in the browser (using WASM)
         | 
         | Non-OS freemium competitors:
         | 
         | - https://www.erase.bg/
         | 
         | - https://www.remove.bg/
         | 
         | - https://pixcleaner.com/
         | 
         | - https://removal.ai/
         | 
         | - https://bgremover.vanceai.com/
         | 
         | - https://www.no-background.coffee/
         | 
         | - https://icons8.com/bgremover
        
           | jtriangle wrote:
           | https://www.photoroom.com is also very good for some things.
        
             | isuleman wrote:
             | yes good for creating product images but it leaves a
             | watermark in the free version.
        
           | jrd79 wrote:
           | Another competitor that has AFAIK the best unit pricing is:
           | https://pixian.ai
        
           | isuleman wrote:
           | How can you forget Stability Ai's Clipdrop.co
        
           | toshiyori wrote:
           | Thank you for this list! Some of them have excellent quality
           | in terms of processing time and output. The reason we shipped
           | this library is that it's now possible to run the background
           | removal on the client, which can save a lot of costs.
           | Especially, if this is not a one off feature, but used
           | frequently by each user / customer. We also believe that
           | client side processing will only get better and even more
           | optimised, so we're happy to kick this race off with the
           | library :)
        
       | lionkor wrote:
       | Is there a similar tool as an android app?
        
       | iamflimflam1 wrote:
       | I didn't realise that the preview app on Mac's now has background
       | removal built in. But I'll also be bookmarking this site!
        
         | elishah wrote:
         | Yeah, and as is usually the case, it's not Preview in
         | particular doing it. Preview itself does almost nothing, it's
         | just a wrapper around the standard file handling libraries that
         | everything on the platform uses.
         | 
         | So this is just a normal thing you can do in nearly any context
         | that any image is displayed anywhere on macos/ios. Not only no
         | external site required, but not even any particular application
         | required.
        
         | stephenr wrote:
         | You can also just right click a file and choose "Remove
         | background" from the Actions menu - on iOS this same behaviour
         | is available just by long-press on a photo almost anywhere and
         | drag the resulting foreground-only image, or alternatively hold
         | and then choose "Copy Subject".
         | 
         | Quite different (arguably better but I guess your use case will
         | determine if it's better or worse) results for some images too,
         | e.g. this image (https://www.southwiltonvet.com/files/HedgehogS
         | outhWiltonVet....). The linked demo removes the hands/arms,
         | macOS retains the hands/arms.
         | 
         | On this image (https://media-
         | cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/streams/2014...) the linked
         | demo makes the hands fade away like Greg Kinnear
        
       | nimrody wrote:
       | Unrelated: anything similar for increasing photo resolution? I
       | frequently encounter cases where users upload low resolution
       | images (transferred using Whatsapp or similar) and need to
       | increase the resolution to get something suitable for printing.
        
         | rand0mx1 wrote:
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32628761
        
         | jtriangle wrote:
         | There's nothing automated that produces reliably good results
         | with a variety of content currently.
         | 
         | I've tried https://bigjpg.com https://imglarger.com
         | https://vanceai.com/image-enlarger/ https://www.upscale.media
         | https://photoaid.com/en/tools/ai-image-enlarger
         | https://waifu2x.org <- specifically for animated stuff
         | 
         | Given the similarity of the results of some of these, I'd guess
         | they're using the same model with some input parameter tweaks.
         | 
         | Waifu2x is probably the closest to "reliable" if you're looking
         | to enlarge some sort of animated content.
        
       | moffkalast wrote:
       | Hmm it works surprisingly well, but it would be practical to have
       | some kind of background area selector to help guide it and a
       | threshold to adjust the removal, since the default setup
       | sometimes messes up ever so slightly in some areas.
        
         | jtriangle wrote:
         | The only software I've seen do that is Topazlab's product,
         | which works based on trimapping with some AI edge
         | detection/cleaning thrown in on top of it. Takes some fiddling
         | to get good results, but, easily print quality.
        
       | jjohansson wrote:
       | Amazing tech, congratulations!
        
       | mydriasis wrote:
       | That's awesome! I'm bookmarking this for later. This is something
       | I always find myself wanting.
        
       | ibrarmalik wrote:
       | Where does the model come from? Hard to trust the license when we
       | have no idea with what data it has been trained.
        
       | iamflimflam1 wrote:
       | What are the licensing options? Can I use the npm package in a
       | commercial project?
        
         | dec0dedab0de wrote:
         | It says it's GPL. So yes you can use it in a commercial project
         | as long as it is also GPL. Also, any license that restricts
         | commercial use is neither Open Source as defined by the OSI,
         | nor is it Free Software as defined by the FSF.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2023-06-28 23:00 UTC)