How to remove a background in Illustrator

In recent versions of Illustrator, you can remove the background from a placed photo directly: select the image and choose Remove Background in the Contextual Task Bar, and the background becomes transparent. Vector artwork works differently. There are no background pixels to erase, only shapes, so you delete or mask those shapes and export a PNG with a transparent background. Which route fits depends on whether you have a photo (raster) or artwork made of paths (vector).

Photo or vector: what works in Illustrator

Illustrator is built around vector paths, and none of these methods gives you a brush for refining an edge strand by strand, the way Photoshop's Select and Mask does. For portraits with loose hair or pets with fur, cut the photo out in a pixel editor first, then place the transparent PNG in Illustrator.

Remove Background on a placed photo

Adobe's help describes the command this way: it identifies the outline of the subjects in an image and replaces the rest with transparency. Select the image with the Selection tool, then choose Remove Background in the Contextual Task Bar. If that bar isn't showing, Adobe lists four other places: the Quick Actions section of the Properties panel, the Control panel, the right-click menu and the Object menu.

The result replaces the original image on your artboard, so undo straight away if the cutout isn't usable. If you can't find the command anywhere, your version may predate it; update Illustrator, or use one of the methods below.

Hide the background with a clipping mask

For a product or object with a clean outline, a clipping mask works in any version:

1. Draw a shape around the subject, for example with the Pen tool. Adobe's help notes the clipping path must be a vector shape.
2. Choose Object > Arrange > Bring to Front so the path sits above the photo.
3. Select both the path and the image, then choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

Everything outside the path is hidden rather than deleted, so you can edit the path later or release the mask entirely. The edge follows your path exactly, which is ideal for boxes, bottles and furniture and a poor match for hair.

Logos and simple graphics: Image Trace

If a logo or drawing only exists as a JPG or PNG on a white background, Image Trace can redraw it as vector shapes and leave the background out:

1. Select the placed image and choose Window > Image Trace.
2. Pick a preset, such as Black and White for a one-color logo.
3. Open Advanced. In recent versions, turn on Ignore Color and pick the background color with the color picker; older versions have an Ignore White checkbox instead.
4. Click Trace, then Expand to turn the result into editable paths, and delete any leftover background shapes.

If the source image already has a transparent background, the Transparency option stops it from being traced as white. Keep in mind that Image Trace creates new artwork that imitates the image. That suits flat logos and line art; for a photo, it produces vector art rather than a cutout of the original. To discard a trace and get the source image back, select it and choose Object > Image Trace > Release.

Vector artwork: delete the background

In artwork drawn in Illustrator, the "background" is usually a rectangle or shape behind everything else. Select it and delete it. The artboard's white is not an object: choose View > Show Transparency Grid, and any area without artwork appears as a gray and white checkerboard, the usual way apps display transparency. Those areas stay transparent in a PNG exported with a transparent background color.

Exporting a transparent PNG

In File > Export > Export As, choose PNG. The PNG Options that follow include:

• Background Color: Transparent keeps transparency, while White or Black fills it. This is the setting that decides whether your PNG is transparent.
• Resolution: higher values give better quality and a larger file.
• Anti-aliasing: smooths jagged edges; deselecting it helps keep the hard edges of line art.

If the document has several artboards, select Use Artboards to export each artboard as a separate file. To output several sizes or formats at once, File > Export > Export for Screens offers PNG alongside JPEG, SVG, PDF, WebP and TIFF.

Doing it in the browser instead

For a photo or a logo that only exists as an image, Background Remover PNG makes a transparent PNG in your browser for free, with no signup, and the image is processed on your own device instead of being uploaded. Its remove-a-color tool handles flat logo backgrounds, and the full-size PNG places straight into Illustrator. For more on logos, including when you need the designer's vector file, see removing the background from a logo.