Alpha Matte (Binary)#

Return a grayscale alpha matte as a PNG.

Cost: 1 credit on HTTP 200.

Prefer this over the cutout endpoint when you need a full-resolution master: keep the original locally, optionally send a ~1024 px proxy, then apply the matte yourself. Edge detail is capped at model inference resolution (~1024 long side).

Binary sibling of /v1.0/alpha-channel-base64. Response metadata is returned in X-Input-Dimensions, X-Processed-Dimensions, X-Was-Downscaled, and optional X-Image-Type-* headers.

Endpoint#

POST /v1.0/alpha-channel

Base URL: https://api.withoutbg.com · Spec: openapi.json

Example (cURL)#

cURL

curl -X POST \
  -H "X-API-Key: $WITHOUTBG_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/input.jpg" \
  --output result.png \
  "https://api.withoutbg.com/v1.0/alpha-channel"

Authentication#

Provide your API key in the request header:

API key header

X-API-Key: <your_api_key>

Request#

Content-Type: multipart/form-data

Fields#

  • file (string, required)
  • include_image_type (boolean, optional) · default true — When true (default), include photo vs graphic probabilities in X-Image-Type-* headers. Set false to skip.
  • keep_mask (string, optional) — Optional Keep mask: marked pixels become fully opaque. One stroke on a person or object that was cut away brings back all of it. It is an image with the same width and height as the input (after EXIF orientation) or as the returned matte (processed_dimensions). White (light, opaque) pixels mark the area; black or transparent pixels mark nothing, so paint white strokes on a black or transparent canvas. The image is matted, then the strokes edit that matte: a rough stroke is enough, then edges are refined again. To fix a result further, send all strokes so far again. Where keep_mask and remove_mask overlap, Remove wins. Maximum size: 5.0 MB.
  • remove_mask (string, optional) — Optional Remove mask: marked pixels become fully transparent. One stroke on an extra person or object removes all of it. It is an image with the same width and height as the input (after EXIF orientation) or as the returned matte (processed_dimensions). White (light, opaque) pixels mark the area; black or transparent pixels mark nothing, so paint white strokes on a black or transparent canvas. The image is matted, then the strokes edit that matte: a rough stroke is enough, then edges are refined again. To fix a result further, send all strokes so far again. Where keep_mask and remove_mask overlap, Remove wins. Maximum size: 5.0 MB.

Response#

Success Content-Type: image/png

Response headers#

  • X-Input-Dimensions — Decoded input size as `width,height` (pixels).
  • X-Processed-Dimensions — Size after server prep downscale (longest side / megapixel caps) as `width,height`. Not the model inference resolution (~1024 long side).
  • X-Was-Downscaled — Whether the input was downscaled during server prep (`true`/`false`).
  • X-Image-Type-Photo — Optional photo-class probability from image-type classifier.
  • X-Image-Type-Graphic — Optional graphic-class probability from image-type classifier.

Errors#

StatusDescriptionDetail
401Invalid API KeyInvalid API Key
402Insufficient credit. Please top up API credits.Insufficient credit. Please top up API credits.
403Credits Expired. Please top up API credits. If you have existing credits, they will be reactivated.Credits Expired. Please top up API credits. If you have existing credits, they will be reactivated.
413File size too large. Maximum file size is 20.0 MB.File size too large. Maximum file size is 20.0 MB
415Unsupported Media Type. Supported formats are: JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, GIF.Unsupported Media Type. Supported formats are: JPEG, PNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, GIF.
422Validation ErrorValidation Error
429Rate limit exceeded (product policy: 30 requests/minute per API key). May be returned by the API gateway. Retry with exponential backoff.{"error":"Too Many Requests","status":429,"message":"Rate limit exceeded. Please try again later"}
500Internal Server ErrorInternal Server Error. Please contact support: contact@withoutbg.com

Contract sections are generated at build time from OpenAPI. Markdown mirror: /docs/pro-model/alpha-matte-binary.md