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How to Remove a White Scan Background in Illustrator

Make a scanned logo's white background transparent in Illustrator with Image Trace and Ignore White, then clean, check and export the vector artwork.

Published

Contents
  1. The short answer
  2. Before you start
  3. Step-by-step: trace the scan and drop the white
  4. If Ignore White is unavailable or white shapes remain
  5. Why Multiply blend mode is not a fix
  6. Clean up paths and lettering
  7. Confirm the result
  8. Export with transparency preserved

The short answer

Illustrator has no single command that turns the white pixels of a scanned image transparent. A scan is a raster image, meaning a grid of colored pixels. Every pixel in it is opaque, including the white paper. To get a logo with no white background, convert the scan into vector artwork, meaning shapes defined by paths and anchor points rather than pixels. Then make sure no white shapes are left behind.

Image Trace does this conversion. Its Ignore White option tells it not to create shapes for white areas. After you expand the trace, the result is editable paths with empty space where the paper was. Anything placed behind the logo shows through, including the counters (the enclosed spaces inside letters such as O, A or e).

Before you start

  • Use the cleanest, sharpest scan available. Dust, paper texture, JPEG compression artifacts and uneven lighting all get traced as unwanted shapes.
  • Scan straight, or straighten the image first. Tracing a crooked scan produces crooked paths.
  • If the print is faded or gray rather than crisp black on white, raising contrast in a raster editor before placing it usually makes tracing easier.
  • Confirm you have the right to reproduce the logo. Redrawing artwork does not grant reuse permission, and a vector file format does not prove ownership or editability.

The menu names and panel options below follow recent Creative Cloud releases of Illustrator. No version-specific documentation was supplied for this guide. If a label or option location differs in your copy, check Adobe's help for your version.

Step-by-step: trace the scan and drop the white

  • 1. Open or create a document and choose File > Place to bring in the scan. Click once to place it at full size.
  • 2. Turn on View > Show Transparency Grid (Shift+Ctrl+D on Windows, Shift+Cmd+D on macOS). The default white artboard looks the same as an opaque white background, so this grid is what lets you see real transparency.
  • 3. Select the placed image and open Window > Image Trace.
  • 4. For a one-color logo, set Mode to Black and White, or start from the Black and White Logo preset. For a multicolor logo, choose a color mode and limit the number of colors to those actually in the design.
  • 5. Turn on Preview so changes update on the artboard.
  • 6. Adjust Threshold (black-and-white mode) until edges are solid without filling in fine details. Then adjust Paths (how closely the trace follows the pixels), Corners (how readily sharp corners form) and Noise (the size below which specks are ignored).
  • 7. Expand the Advanced section. Under Options, check Ignore White. If you are tracing in a color mode, set Method to Abutting, which creates cutout paths instead of shapes stacked on top of each other.
  • 8. When the preview looks right, click Trace if it hasn't already applied. Then choose Object > Image Trace > Expand, or click Expand in the Control or Properties panel. This turns the tracing object into ordinary editable paths.
  • 9. Check the transparency grid. It should show through around the logo and inside the letter counters.

If Ignore White is unavailable or white shapes remain

In some versions or modes, Ignore White may be grayed out. If so, trace and expand as usual, then remove the white shapes manually:

  • 1. Ungroup the expanded artwork with Object > Ungroup.
  • 2. Click one white shape with the Selection tool.
  • 3. Choose Select > Same > Fill Color to select every shape with that white fill.
  • 4. Press Delete.

Check this method carefully. If the trace stacked shapes instead of cutting them out, deleting a white counter can leave a solid black or colored shape underneath, so the inside of an O fills in. Retrace with Method set to Abutting, or knock out the counters with the Shape Builder tool or the Minus Front option in the Pathfinder panel. Scans also often contain near-white grays from paper tone, and Select > Same > Fill Color will not catch those. Look for them in Outline view.

Why Multiply blend mode is not a fix

Setting the scan to Multiply in the Transparency panel makes white seem to disappear over colored backgrounds inside Illustrator. The white pixels are still in the file. They reappear when the artwork is placed in another application, exported to a format that doesn't preserve the blend mode, or put on a background where Multiply behaves differently. Use it as a quick preview, not for delivery artwork.

If you need to keep the logo as a raster image rather than vectorizing it, Illustrator is the wrong tool for deleting pixels. Remove the background in a raster editor and save in a format that supports transparency, such as PNG.

Clean up paths and lettering

Removing the white is only part of turning a scan into usable logo artwork. Traced shapes often have too many anchor points, wobbly curves and slightly rounded corners where the original was sharp.

  • Use View > Outline (Ctrl+Y or Cmd+Y) to see bare paths and spot stray specks, overlapping fragments and leftover white shapes.
  • Object > Path > Simplify reduces anchor points. Compare the result against the scan so curves don't drift from the original design.
  • The Smooth tool and the Direct Selection tool fix individual curves. Redraw straight edges, circles and other geometric parts with the Pen or shape tools instead of relying on the trace.
  • Traced lettering becomes shapes, not editable text. If you can identify the typeface and have a license that covers the use, you can retype the wording, match it to the scan, and convert it with Type > Create Outlines before delivery so recipients don't need the font installed. Otherwise, refine the traced letterforms by hand.
  • Remove the original scan from the document, or move it to a locked, hidden layer if you want it for reference while editing.

Confirm the result

  • With the transparency grid on, the grid shows around the logo and inside all counters.
  • Selecting the artwork shows paths and anchor points, not an image bounding box. The Links panel or Window > Document Info (set to Embedded Images or Linked Images) shows no leftover raster in the final file.
  • Select > Same > Fill Color on any white area finds nothing that shouldn't be there.
  • Placing a colored rectangle behind the logo, then deleting it, shows the background through every intended gap.
  • Fill colors match the logo's specified colors rather than the slightly off values a scan picks up.

Export with transparency preserved

Format | Keeps transparency | Typical use
AI, PDF, EPS, SVG | Yes, as vector paths with no background shape | Editable masters, print vendors, web graphics
PNG | Yes, if Background Color is set to Transparent | Raster use where vector isn't accepted
JPEG | No, always fills a solid background | Avoid for logos that need a transparent background

For PNG, choose File > Export > Export As (or Export for Screens), pick PNG, and set Background Color to Transparent in the options. Set resolution to suit the destination. Vector formats need no background setting, because the white artboard is not saved as part of the artwork. Before sending files, reopen each export and check it over a non-white background, since a vector file extension alone does not prove the file contains only clean vector content.