> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.poof.bg/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Processing Failed

> The model or encoder failed on this image

**HTTP Status:** 500

```json theme={null}
{
  "code": "processing_failed",
  "message": "The model could not process this image. Try a smaller image or a different format.",
  "request_id": "req_3f6a2c1e-9b0d-4e7a-8c21-5d1f0a9b7e42",
  "doc_url": "https://docs.poof.bg/errors/processing-failed"
}
```

## Reasons and How to Fix

### The Image Could Not Be Processed

The image was decoded successfully, but the background removal model or the output encoder failed on it. The `message` says what to try. The request is not billed.

**Common causes:**

* Very large dimensions close to the 6000 px per side / 36 MP limit
* Unusual color modes (CMYK, 16-bit, indexed with odd palettes)
* Extreme aspect ratios (e.g. very thin strips)
* An output combination the encoder cannot produce for this image

**To fix:**

1. Resize the image to a smaller resolution and retry
2. Convert it to a standard 8-bit RGB JPEG or PNG
3. Try `format=png` with default `channels`
4. Retry once; if it fails again with the same image, the image itself is the cause

```python theme={null}
from PIL import Image

img = Image.open("photo.tiff").convert("RGB")
img.thumbnail((4096, 4096))
img.save("photo.jpg", quality=90)
```

### Retry Strategy

Unlike [`upstream_error`](/errors/upstream-error), this error is usually deterministic for a given image, so retrying the identical request rarely helps. Change the input first.

```python theme={null}
import os
from poof import Poof, ServerError

client = Poof(api_key=os.environ["POOF_API_KEY"])

try:
    result = client.remove_background("photo.jpg")
except ServerError as e:
    if e.code == "processing_failed":
        result = client.remove_background("photo-resized.jpg")  # smaller/re-encoded copy
    else:
        raise
```

## Need Help?

If the problem persists, contact us at [support@poof.bg](mailto:support@poof.bg) with your `request_id` and the image (if possible) so we can investigate.