Remove Borders (Remove Letterbox from Picture)
This is the API documentation to our tool "Remove Borders", also known as "Remove Letterbox from Picture". This tool allows to remove any letterbox and/or pillarbox from a JPG or PNG image.
Quick Start
Endpoint
This endpoint is used to remove borders from images.
POST https://api.editingtools.io/v2/remove-borders
Authentication
This API requires Basic Authentication. The "Authorization" header should be set with the Base64 encoded string of "apikey:YOUR_API_KEY".
Authorization: Basic <base64Encoded(apikey:YOUR_API_KEY)>
Headers
Content-Type: multipart/form-data
Specifies the format of the request body.
Authorization: Basic <base64EncodedString>
Authentication credential.
Request Body
The request can contain the following parameters:
Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
---|---|---|---|
file |
File | Yes | The image file to upload and modify. Accepted formats are:
|
range |
Int | Yes | Default value: 5 (Recommended value)Defines the area in pixels in which the actual edge of the image is to be cut off. Possible values: 0 to 10 pixesl. 0 should only be used for high res images without compression, like PNGs. If an image is compressed (e.g. JPEG), it is recommended to use a higher value as the edge of the image may be blurred. If the result still contains a small border, raise the number. |
removeLetterbox |
Boolean | Yes | Default value: true . Defines if a letterbox should be removed from the image (border top and bottom). Set false to prevent removing it. |
removePillarbox |
Boolean | Yes | Default value: true . Defines if a pillarbox should be removed from the image (left and right). Set false to prevent removing it. |
base64 |
Boolean | No | If set to true , the generated file will be returned as base64 string. |
cURL Examples
The following examples show how to use the API with cURL commands. If you are using a different language, we recommend using https://curlconverter.com to convert the commands for other languages like: PHP, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Rust, Ansible, C , C#, ColdFusion, Clojure, Dart, Elixir, Go, HAR, HTTP, HTTPie, Java, JSON, Kotlin, MATLAB, Node.js, Objective-C, OCaml, PowerShell, R, Swift and more.
cURL Request Example 1
This is an example of how to remove all borders from an JEPG image.
curl -X POST "https://api.editingtools.io/v2/remove-borders" \
-u "apikey:YOUR_API_KEY" \
-F file=@/path/to/myfile.jpg \
-F range=6 \
-F removeLetterbox=true \
-F removePillarbox=true
cURL Request Example 2
This is an example of removing only the letterbox and get the image returned as base64 string.
curl -X POST "https://api.editingtools.io/v2/remove-borders" \
-u "apikey:YOUR_API_KEY" \
-F file=@/path/to/myfile.jpg \
-F range=6 \
-F removeLetterbox=true \
-F removePillarbox=false \
-F base64=true
Responses
Success (HTTP 200 OK)
If the image was successfully generated, the API will return a 200 OK
status code with a JSON object containing the file details.
Field | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
code |
String | HTTP status code. |
status |
String | A descriptive message about the process. |
timestamp |
String | Timestamp of file creation (ISO 8601). |
data |
Object | An object containing details about the generated file. |
data.fileName |
String | Name of generated file. |
data.fileUrl |
String | Download path of the generated file. |
data.fileSize |
Int | Size of the generated file in bytes. |
data.fileChecksum |
String | MD5 hash of the generated file for validation. |
data.fileBase64 |
String | Image encoded as Base64 string. |
Response Example 1
The request returns the path to the file.
{
"code": 200,
"status": "Success",
"timestamp": "2025-05-22T16:05:44Z",
"data": {
"fileName": "result_image.png",
"fileUrl": "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png",
"fileSize": 140,
"fileChecksum": "013579b834b3f36a29cf8434ebf77a32"
}
}
Response Example 2
The request returns the file also as Base64 string.
{
"code": 200,
"status": "Success",
"timestamp": "2025-05-22T16:06:11Z",
"data": {
"fileName": "result_image.png",
"fileUrl": "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png",
"fileBase64": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAAN....K5CYII=",
"fileSize": 140,
"fileChecksum": "013579b834b3f36a29cf8434ebf77a32"
}
}
Error Responses
Error responses typically include an appropriate HTTP status code and a JSON body containing an error message.
{
"code": "400",
"status": "Bad Request"
}
Download File
After the process is successfully completed, the file can be downloaded using the values returned under fileUrl
and fileName
.
cURL Request Example (macOS or Linux)
Example to download the file to the Desktop. Uses -o
to specify the output file path.
curl -o ~/Desktop/{fileName} "{fileUrl}"
curl -o ~/Desktop/result_image.png "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
cURL Request Example (Windows with PowerShell)
curl -o "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\{fileName}" "{fileUrl}"
curl -o $env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\result_image.png "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
cURL Request Example (Windows Command Prompt with cURL installed)
curl -o "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\{fileName}" "{fileUrl}"
curl -o %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\result_image.png "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
Python3 Request Example
import os
import urllib.request
name = "result_image.png"
url = "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
# Construct the path to the Desktop for example
local_path = os.path.join(os.path.expanduser("~"), "Desktop", name)
# Download the file
try:
urllib.request.urlretrieve(url, local_path)
print(f"File downloaded successfully and saved to: {local_path}")
except Exception as e:
print(f"Failed to download file: {e}")
wget Request Example (macOS or Linux)
Example to download the file to the Desktop. Uses -O
to specify the output file path.
wget -O ~/Desktop/{fileName} "{fileUrl}"
wget -O ~/Desktop/result_image.png "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
wget Request Example (Windows with PowerShell)
wget -O "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\{fileName}" "{fileUrl}"
wget -O "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\result_image.png" "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
wget Request Example (Windows Command Prompt with wget installed)
wget -O "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\{fileName}" "{fileUrl}"
wget -O "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\result_image.png" "https://editingtools.io/download/demo/path/result_image.png"
Endpoint URL
https://api.editingtools.io/v2/remove-borders
Authentication
This API requires Basic Authentication. The "Authorization" header should be set with the Base64 encoded string of "apikey:YOUR_API_KEY".
Authorization: Basic <base64Encoded(apikey:YOUR_API_KEY)>
Data Handling
Request parameters must be UTF-8 encoded. Results are returned as UTF-8-encoded JSON. By default, datasets will be inside the data tag.
Error Handling
This API service uses standard HTTP response codes to indicate whether a method was completed successfully. HTTP response codes in the 2XX range indicate success. Responses in the 4XX range indicate some sort of failure, while responses in the 5XX range indicate an internal system error that cannot be resolved by the user. The following error codes are used by the API:
Code | Description |
---|---|
200 | OK. The request was successful. |
201 | Created. The entity was created. |
202 | Accepted. The request was accepted. |
400 | Bad request. Please check error message. |
401 | Unauthorized: Username or Api Key is not valid. |
402 | Upgrade Required: This feature requires an active Pro subscription. |
403 | Forbidden: The request is understood, but it has been refused or access is not allowed. |
404 | Not found: The URI requested is invalid or the resource does not exist. |
422 | Unprocessable Entity. A process failed. |
429 | Too Many Requests. Try again in some seconds. |
500 | Internal Server Error. Something is broken. |
502 | Bad Gateway. API is down. |
503 | Service Unavailable. API is up but overloaded with requests. |
504 | Gateway Timeout: API is up but requests reached timout. |
Rate Limits
To prevent abuse and spam, the API has limits at various levels. If you receive error code 429 (Too Many Requests)
, it means you have reached a rate limit.
If you receive a rate limit error, you should stop making requests temporarily. If the retry-after
response header is present, you should not retry your request until after that many seconds has elapsed. To prevent rate-errors, we recommend to wait 300 ms
to 800 ms
between requests to the same endpoint.
Also there is a general limit to the api and all requests made:
Limit | Requests |
---|---|
General limit per minute | 50 |
General limit per hour | 1000 |
Recommended wait time between requests | > 200 ms |
Recommended wait time between requests to one endpoint | > 600 ms |
The general limits per minute and per hour can be changed upon request.
Upload Limits
The maximum upload size for any single request — including file uploads — is 100 MB
. This is a hard limit and applies regardless of your API plan or usage level.
If your request exceeds this size, it will be rejected before reaching our servers. To ensure successful uploads:
- Make sure uploaded files are under 100 MB.
- For larger media, consider splitting files before upload.
- Requests close to the limit may still fail due to encoding or header overhead.
Timezone
This API endpoint returns the time as an ISO 8601 timestamp
in the UTC time zone. These timestamps look like 2025-01-10T15:05:06Z
.
Localization and Languages
This API supports multiple languages. For instance, it can display the text of a status message in a different language.
Accept-Language: LANGUAGE
Example
To set the preferred response language to Spanish, add this header:
Accept-Language: es
cURL Example
To apply the language in a cURL request, add the following header:
-H "Accept-Language: es"
Available Languages
The following list contains all the currently available languages. Note that setting a language header does not guarantee a translated response, as not all texts are translated. If no language is set or a translation is unavailable, the default response will be in English.
Code | Language |
---|---|
en | English |
de | German |
fr | French |
es | Spanish |
ru | Russian |
it | Italian |
el | Greek |
pl | Polish |
pt | Portuguese |
lt | Lithuanian |
ko | Korean |
ja | Japanese |
zh | Chinese |
id | Indonesian |
tr | Turkish |
nl | Dutch |
ro | Romanian |
fi | Finnish |
cs | Czech |
hu | Hungarian |
ar | Arabic |
nb | Norwegian Bokmål |
sk | Slovak |
sl | Slovenian |
sv | Swedish |
lv | Latvian |
et | Estonian |
bg | Bulgarian |
uk | Ukrainian |
da | Danish |