Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 9/11/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have a jpg image that I'd like to separate the white background from the color image. In photoshop this kind of function is a snap!  i would just use the paint bucket tool or the magic wand. Illustrator is driving me batty! when I use either of these tools, the entire image is selected, color image and all.  I need to either change the background to transparent, or to a different color.


Thank so much for any help you can provide!

ANSWER: Hi Amanda,

Illustrator is not the easiest program for this, Photoshop would be better. There are two ways to do this in AI. First, use the live trace function to turn this into vector artwork and remove the white spaces. Or two, you can trace this by hand using the pen tool and create a clipping mask using that shape and the image.

That should do it, but I would recommend brining in a layered PSD file with transparency applied.

Thanks

Kevin



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks!

Where is the live trace tool?  I had already tried hand tracing, but didn't have much luck.

I would use photoshop, but unfortunately I no longer have access to it.

Answer
HI Amanda,

First, this is only available with CS2 and CS3. After you place your image, make sure you have it selected and look at the option bar below your menus. You will see a button called "Live Trace" Click that once and then some presets and options will activate to the left of the button. Choose whichever preset or use the palette button to customize your settings. When you are finished, click "Expand" and your image will now be vector. This works ok on photos, but text is an issue, and I noticed the saw blade has some on it. You may need to recreate this afterwards. Either way, once expanded, you can either click and delete the white areas with the direct select tool, or in the custom window you can click a button to ignore white backgrounds in Live Trace before you expand.

Thanks

Kevin