How-to guide / Illustrator
How to remove a background in Illustrator
Illustrator artboards are already transparent; the background usually lives in a placed photo or a white rectangle.
You’ll need: Adobe Illustrator (any recent version).
Turn on the transparency grid
View → Show Transparency Grid, so you can see what is really transparent.
Delete background shapes
If there is a white rectangle behind your artwork, select it with the Selection tool and delete it.
For a photo, use a clipping mask
Draw around the subject with the Pen tool, select both the path and the image, then Object → Clipping Mask → Make.
Export with transparency
File → Export → Export As → PNG and set Background Color to Transparent, or save as SVG.
For a raster logo
Image Trace (Window → Image Trace) with “Ignore White” ticked turns a flat logo into vectors without the white background.
What Illustrator can’t do well
There’s no one-click photo background remover in Illustrator; photo cutouts are better done in a raster tool.
Questions people ask
Why is there a white background when I export from Illustrator?
The export’s Background Color is set to White, or a white shape sits behind the art. Choose Transparent in the PNG options.
How do I remove the white from a traced logo?
In the Image Trace panel, open Advanced and tick Ignore White before expanding the trace.
Is there a faster way than Illustrator?
If you just need the cutout, drop the picture into QuickCut’s free background remover: no signup, a transparent PNG in seconds, with edge controls and erase/restore brushes. Then open the PNG in Illustrator.