In the following tutorial, you will learn how to get rid of a white background in Illustrator and how to remove the background from a picture in Illustrator.
Once you've learned how to delete a background in Illustrator you can head over to Envato Elements, where you can get unlimited downloads of stock videos, music, graphics, photos, fonts, and more.
What You'll Learn in This Tutorial
- How to remove a background in Illustrator
- How to get rid of a white background in Illustrator
- How to remove the background from a picture in Illustrator
1. How to Remove a White Background in Illustrator
Simply go to View > Show Transparency Grid (Shift-Control-D) to remove the default white background. Go to File > Document Setup (Alt-Control-P) whenever you wish to adjust the settings of your transparent background.
2. How to Change the Color of the Background in Illustrator
Step 1
By default, your artboard(s) and your canvas will be white.
To change the color of your artboard, go to File > Document Setup (Alt-Control-P). Check that Simulate Colored Paper box and then you can adjust the color of your artboard using the top color box.
Step 2
To change the color of your canvas, go to Edit > Preferences > User Interface. You can check that Canvas Color: Match Brightness box and the color of your canvas will change depending on the Brightness level that you choose.
You can also simply draw a shape on top of your artboard to change its color. Pick the Rectangle Tool (M) and use it to create a shape that covers your entire artboard, and then set the fill color as you wish.
You can also open the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and lock this shape to make sure that you won't select or move it by accident.
3. How to Remove the Background From a Picture in Illustrator
Step 1
Pick the Pen Tool (P) and use it to draw a path around the portion of the photo that you wish to keep. Once you're done, select the path along with the photo and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make. This is one of the easiest methods that you can use to remove a background in Illustrator.
Step 2
Alternatively, you can use an opacity mask. When it comes to opacity masks, keep in mind that white makes things visible and black invisible, while shades of grey will lead to partial transparency.
For this example, I drew a path around the section of the photo that I wanted to hide and made it black (R=0 G=0 B=0). Select this black shape along with the photo and click the Make Mask button from the Transparency panel (Window > Transparency). Remember to also uncheck that Clip box.
Congratulations! You're Done!
Now that you've learned how to remove a background in Illustrator, feel free to use these techniques in your future projects.
You can find some great sources of inspiration at Envato Elements, with interesting solutions to improve your design portfolio.
Want to Learn More?
We have loads of tutorials on Envato Tuts+, from beginner to intermediate level. Take a look!
