RemoveBackground
RemoveBackground[image]
returns an image with an alpha channel where the background is transparent.
RemoveBackground[image,model]
uses foreground or background model specification.
RemoveBackground[video,…]
performs background removal on frames of video.
Details and Options



- RemoveBackground is also known as foreground-background segmentation. It is typically used to analyze the foreground or background or replace the background.
- RemoveBackground works with arbitrary 2D and 3D images.
- The model specification is used to indicate the foreground that is kept in the image or the background that is removed from the image.
- Possible settings for the foreground or background model specification are:
-
spec background specification spec {"Background",spec} background specification spec {"Foreground",spec} foreground specification spec - Different specifications spec may be useful for each image when separating foreground and background.
- Specifications used for regions with almost uniform color are:
-
"Uniform" region of almost uniform color col region of almost uniform color col marker specify the region using a marker {…,d} allow amount d of variation from the specified color - Markers can be given as an image, a graphics object, or a list of points {{x1,y1},{x2,y2},…} in the standard image coordinate system, where x runs from 0 to width, y runs from 0 to height, and position {0,0} corresponds to the bottom-left corner of the image.
- Brightness specifications can be given by:
-
"Bright" brighter foreground or background "Dark" darker foreground or background - In-focus and out-of-focus separation:
-
"Blurred" blurred region {"Blurred",r} assume blur factor of r - Specification based on image saliency:
-
"Salient" saliency object detection based on neural networks - Using the "Salient" specification, the following options can be given:
-
BatchSize Automatic how many examples to process in a batch TargetDevice "CPU" the target device on which to perform training - If an image already has an alpha channel, the result will have an alpha channel equal to the computed foreground map multiplied with the original alpha channel.

Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (3)
Scope (11)
Separate almost uniformly colored background:
Specify the color and threshold for uniform background detection:
Specify a marker for detecting the uniform background:
Markers can also be specified by a list of coordinates:
Separate almost uniformly colored foreground:
Specify the color for uniform foreground detection:
Specify the marker for uniform foreground detection:
Separate background from a salient foreground segmentation:
Generalizations & Extensions (1)
Applications (5)
Segment an object specified by a marker:
Count birds in a picture by first removing the uniform background:
Extract the shape of each component:
Detect the background in an image and replace it with fully transparent pixels:
Compose the foreground on top of a different background:
Chroma key compositing or chroma keying is a common technique to remove the background (typically green) from an image or video:
Find the shade of the green used in the background:
RemoveBackground replaces green pixels of the image with fully transparent pixels:
Compose the foreground over a slightly blurred background to also get an out-of-focus effect:
Properties & Relations (1)
The foreground mask is stored as the alpha channel:
Use AlphaChannel to extract it:
Text
Wolfram Research (2014), RemoveBackground, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RemoveBackground.html (updated 2023).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2014. "RemoveBackground." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2023. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RemoveBackground.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2014). RemoveBackground. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/RemoveBackground.html