How To Remove Background From Picture In Adobe Illustrator

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If you are working on a design, there may come a time when you need to eliminate the background from an image in order to achieve your desired outcome. Thankfully, with the help of Adobe Illustrator – a highly effective graphic design software – there are several features available to simplify this process. This tutorial will provide a step-by-step guide on how to successfully remove a background from an image using Adobe Illustrator.

Step 1: Open Adobe Illustrator

First, launch the Adobe Illustrator program on your computer. If you do not have Adobe Illustrator installed, you can download it from the Adobe website.

Step 2: Import Your Image

To import the image, navigate to the menu bar at the top of the screen. Click on File > Open, and select the image from which you want to remove the background.

Step 3: Select the Image

After opening the image in Illustrator, you need to select it. You can do this by using the Selection Tool (the black arrow) from the tool palette on the left.

Step 4: Choose the Clipping Mask Option

With the image selected, navigate to the top menu and click on Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

At this point, you may notice that nothing has changed with your image — that’s because we haven’t defined the area of the image we want to keep (or “clip”) yet.

Step 5: Define Your Clipping Area

The clipping area is the part of the image you want to keep. Everything outside this area will be removed.

    1. Select the Pen tool (press P on your keyboard or click the Pen icon in the left-hand tools menu).
    2. Click to create anchor points around the area of the image you want to keep.
    3. After you've outlined the area, connect your last anchor point with the first one to close the path.

Step 6: Make the Clipping Mask

With the path created, you now need to select both the path and the image together. You can do this by clicking and dragging over both, or by holding down the Shift key while clicking on each.

Once both are selected, go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make again. This time, the background of your image should disappear, leaving only the part within your defined clipping path.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You’ve successfully removed the background from an image using Adobe Illustrator. Remember that practice makes perfect. The more you use these tools, the more proficient you’ll become. So don’t be afraid to experiment and create amazing designs.