Expert: Amy - 2/22/2009

Question
when i import a clipart image to my illustrator file, there is a white square behind/around the image. is it possible to make that white go away so it doesn't look overlaid on the background color?

Answer
Tiffany,

You would have to draw a clipping mask around the colored portions of the image to block out the white parts.

There are several ways to do this.

By Hand
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Using the pencil or the pen, carefully trace the image you want to mask. It doesn't matter what the fill or stroke of the lines are at this point. When you have completed tracing, you're going to turn that path into a clipping mask. Choose the path you have just drawn and the clip art image and choose Ctrl + 7 or Object > Clipping Mask > Make. You can then use the white arrow tool to adjust the anchor points of the path wherever you need to.

Using Live Trace
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You can use live trace to create the path automatically or even to turn the clip art into vector art. For instructions on how to use live trace to create the path to use as a clipping mask, please refer to Illustrator's help files or check out one of the many videos you can find if you google "Illustrator Live Trace video tutorial."
There are a lot of good tutorials out there.

Using PhotoShop
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There is also a third way that involves PhotoShop. Open the clip art in PhotoShop.

Using the Magic Wand, select the object.

Now open the Paths window.

Using the flyout menu in the upper right of the Paths window, choose "Make Work Path." When prompted for a tolerance, type in a number between .5 and 1.0.  This is how "loose" the path will be around the object.

You'll see the "Work Path" appear in the Paths Window.

Double click on that new path's icon in the Paths Window and a "Save Path" dialog will appear. Give it any name you want.

Using the flyout menu on the Paths Window once again, choose "Clipping Path" and select the path you made. You can ignore the flatness setting.

Now Save the document as PhotoShop EPS format and place it into your Illustrator document.

If you don't want to go through this every time you use clip art, you can look for (or buy) a source for WMF or vector format clip art that is compatible with vector drawing programs like Illustrator.

Knowing how to make a clipping path is a useful skill to have because eventually, you'll need to know how to do it!

-Amy