diff --git a/app.py b/app.py
index 5993b6d55040185cc3b18440d20218604ef5699c..7f089f19cb22dfdfa05895d9ea7146040f38e512 100644
--- a/app.py
+++ b/app.py
@@ -247,6 +247,10 @@ def hpgl (id):
     # to SVG
     svg = ascii2svg(ascii_input, params['weight'])
 
+    svg = re.sub(r'\<rect class="backdrop" x="\d+" y="\d+" width="\d+" height="\d+">\<\/rect\>', '', svg, flags=re.M)
+
+    #print(svg)
+
     # store as a temporary file
     (svg_file, svg_path) = tempfile.mkstemp('.svg')