diff --git a/Changelog.rst b/Changelog.rst
index 5bfcc9f..b554727 100644
--- a/Changelog.rst
+++ b/Changelog.rst
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ ChangeLog
 2.0 (unreleased)
 ----------------
 
-- Drop deprecated qr_code_scanner() method.
+- Drop deprecated qr_code_scanner() method
+- Add helper to add background color on image
 
 
 1.2 (2017-03-09)
diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 917726b..3866048 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -35,3 +35,24 @@ How To use ZbarLight
 
     codes = zbarlight.scan_codes('qrcode', image)
     print('QR codes: %s' % codes)
+
+Troubleshooting
+===============
+
+In some case ``zbarlight`` will not be able to detect the 1D or 2D code in an image, one of the known cause is that the
+image background color is the same as the foreground color after conversion to grey scale (it's happen on images with
+alpha channel). You can use the ``copy_image_on_background`` function to add a background color on your image.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    from PIL import Image
+    import zbarlight
+
+    file_path = './tests/fixtures/two_qr_codes.png'
+    with open(file_path, 'rb') as image_file:
+        image = Image.open(image_file)
+        image.load()
+
+    new_image = zbarlight.copy_image_on_background(image, color=zbarlight.WHITE)  # <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Add this line <<<<
+    codes = zbarlight.scan_codes('qrcode', new_image)
+    print('QR codes: %s' % codes)
diff --git a/docs/reference.rst b/docs/reference.rst
index 829f6f6..0e361df 100644
--- a/docs/reference.rst
+++ b/docs/reference.rst
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@ Reference
 =========
 
 .. automodule:: zbarlight
-    :members: scan_codes
+    :members: scan_codes, copy_image_on_background
diff --git a/src/zbarlight/__init__.py b/src/zbarlight/__init__.py
index a0171f5..0f05c83 100644
--- a/src/zbarlight/__init__.py
+++ b/src/zbarlight/__init__.py
@@ -7,7 +7,17 @@
 
 
 __version__ = pkg_resources.get_distribution('zbarlight').version
-__ALL__ = ['Symbologies', 'UnknownSymbologieError', 'scan_codes']
+__ALL__ = [
+    'Symbologies',
+    'UnknownSymbologieError',
+    'scan_codes',
+    'copy_image_on_background',
+    'BLACK',
+    'WHITE',
+]
+
+WHITE = (255, 255, 255)
+BLACK = (0, 0, 0)
 
 
 class UnknownSymbologieError(Exception):
@@ -42,3 +52,18 @@ def scan_codes(code_type, image):
     if not symbologie:
         raise UnknownSymbologieError('Unknown Symbologie: %s' % code_type)
     return zbar_code_scanner(symbologie, raw, width, height)
+
+
+def copy_image_on_background(image, color=WHITE):
+    """Create a new image by copying the image on a *color* background
+
+    Args:
+        image (PIL.Image.Image): Image to copy
+        color (tuple): Background color usually WHITE or BLACK
+
+    Returns:
+        PIL.Image.Image
+    """
+    background = Image.new("RGB", image.size, color)
+    background.paste(image, mask=image.split()[3])
+    return background
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/sample_need_white_background.png b/tests/fixtures/sample_need_white_background.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c2b5ef
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/fixtures/sample_need_white_background.png differ
diff --git a/tests/test_scan_codes.py b/tests/test_scan_codes.py
index 2b4ad81..f7ae31b 100644
--- a/tests/test_scan_codes.py
+++ b/tests/test_scan_codes.py
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ class ScanCodeTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def assertIsNone(self, obj, msg=None):  # Python 2.6 hack
         return self.assertTrue(obj is None, '%s is not None' % repr(obj))
 
-    def get_image(self, name):
+    def get_image(self, name, ext='png'):
         return pil_image(
-            os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'fixtures', '{0}.png'.format(name))
+            os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'fixtures', '{0}.{1}'.format(name, ext))
         )
 
     def test_no_qr_code(self):
@@ -59,3 +59,22 @@ def test_unknown_symbology(self):
             zbarlight.UnknownSymbologieError,
             zbarlight.scan_codes, 'not-a-zbar-symbologie', image,
         )
+
+    def test_need_white_background(self):
+        """
+        User submitted sample that can only be decoded after add a white background
+        """
+        # Not working
+        image = self.get_image('sample_need_white_background')
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            sorted(zbarlight.scan_codes('qrcode', image) or []),
+            [],
+        )
+
+        # Working when adding white background
+        image_with_background = zbarlight.copy_image_on_background(image)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            sorted(zbarlight.scan_codes('qrcode', image_with_background) or []),
+            sorted([b'http://en.m.wikipedia.org']),
+        )