Tag
“alpha channel”
9 posts
- Technical Deep Dives··8 min read
Why Sharpening a Cutout Draws a Halo Around Fur
Upscale a cutout of a long-haired pet and a bright rim appears along the fur. The model did not do it — an alpha-blind sharpening pass did, by averaging in the black that sits behind every transparent pixel. Here is the mechanism, the fix, and exactly what the numbers behind it were measured on.
Technical Deep Dives··8 min readHow NSS Verifies a Transparent Export Before You Download It
A checkerboard preview is not proof that a file contains usable transparency. Here is how NSS keeps straight alpha intact, verifies the encoded format, decodes the export again, samples soft-edge pixels, and falls back safely when PNG integrity fails.
Technical Deep Dives··9 min readVideo Background Removal Is Back: How the New Recurrent Engine Works
Video background removal is back, rebuilt around a recurrent matting network that carries state from frame to frame — so the result does not flicker the way per-frame masks do. Here is how the new engine works, why it runs entirely in your browser, and where its limits are.
Technical Deep Dives··8 min readWhy AI Upscalers Leave Seams and Soft Edges — And How We Fixed Ours
An AI upscaler can sharpen a photo beautifully and still leave a faint grid across it, or a crisp subject with a strangely soft outline. Both are avoidable. Here is what actually causes them, and the two fixes we shipped.
Technical Deep Dives··10 min readSegmentation vs Matting: Why a "Good" Mask Can Still Look Cut Out
A perfect outline still looks pasted when hair and fur need partial transparency. Here is why segmentation and matting are different jobs, and why the harder one costs more.
Technical Deep Dives··8 min readHow to Remove Backgrounds from Photos with Hair and Fur
Hair, fur, and fine strands are the hardest subjects for background removal AI. This guide covers why it's difficult, how Fast and Best Quality models handle it, and how to get the cleanest results using edge refinement.
Technical Deep Dives··9 min readThe Difference Between Straight Alpha and Premultiplied Alpha (And Why It Matters)
A clear technical explanation of straight alpha vs premultiplied alpha — what each means, why premultiplied alpha causes the "black fringe" problem, and how to tell which one your tool produces.
Tutorials··10 min readWorking with Transparent PNGs in Photoshop: The Definitive Guide
Everything you need to know about transparent PNGs in Photoshop — why they show black, how straight vs premultiplied alpha works, and how to verify your export has true transparency.
Technical Deep Dives··8 min readWhy Your Transparent PNG Shows Black in Photoshop (And How to Fix It)
The premultiplied alpha problem explained: why most free background removers produce PNGs that show black in Photoshop, and what to look for in a tool that gets it right.