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There is a classical way of removing background in Inkscape using Bezier curves. This is often quite lengthy process.

Is it possible to remove the background of an object based on background color (e.g. to tell only to remove yellow background)? Or some clever method that is able to detect what is object and what is background?

If so, could you describe the tools that are available in Inkscape?

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You could probably try to "trace bitmap", using the "Multiple scans" with "Colors", with the "remove background" option, and choosing "2" scans.

Original Bitmap

Trace Bitmap

Then, click "Ok", select both the bitmap and the vector result :

Trace result

Then rightclick, and select "Set Clip" :

Clipped result

Far from perfect, but it's a good start.

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    Yes, it's quite usable if the background is in one color. Thanks.
    – xralf
    Feb 6, 2013 at 14:46
  • The real problem faced with this method is the letters are a little bit blurry or the shape of the font is lost.
    – Ranjith Siji
    Jan 3, 2017 at 8:11
  • Just want to mention that the results are (as you might expect) REALLY good for removing backgrounds from raster images that were originally vector graphics (situations where you don't have access to the original).
    – Multihunter
    Aug 3, 2018 at 9:05
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There are some filters available in Inkscape which can speed up complicated tasks.

For instance, i wanted to remove white background of an image to make it transparent. I used the following method / filter in Inkscape.

  1. Select the image object.

  2. For versions < 0.91
    Go to Filters -> Transparency Utlities -> Light Eraser
    For version 0.91
    Go to Filters > Fill & Transparency > Light Eraser

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    It uses erosion and dilatation though.
    – Wok
    Jul 21, 2015 at 9:48

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