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ivy_2003
ivy_2003
Participant
January 28, 2026
Answered

9-slice Scale Images

  • January 28, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 84 views

Hi!I have had the hardest time downloading files from shutterstock/adobe stock and opening them up in illustrator to find they are "9-slice scale images." I don’t know much about these I guess? They are images on a transparent background, but when the background is removed the image changes completely and no longer have the same effects. 

 

When I try to move the file from Illustrator to photoshop as a smart object the transparent background comes with it. If I try to remove it there the same thing happens. I'm sure there is an easy way around this but I'm kind of lost. 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

    Correct answer c.pfaffenbichler

    If this is about Illustrator please post on that Forum. 

     

    As for Photoshop: 

    I suspect the structure of the Illustrator file contains objects of various Blend Modes that naturally appear differently when there is no background. 

    Could you please post a screenshot with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible? (Both from Illustrator and Photoshop) 

    2 replies

    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 28, 2026

    …opening them up in illustrator to find they are "9-slice scale images." I don’t know much about these I guess? 

     

    9-slice scale images solve a specific problem, and are available on stock services to serve as, for example, scalable buttons on a web page. If you need an image for any other purpose, then you might not want to download any 9-slice scale images.

     

    Part of being a 9-slice scale image is having a central slice with a repeating tiled background, and backgrounds in edge/corner slices that do not repeat. If this intended behavior is part of why you’re getting unexpected results, then again, you might need a graphic that is not a 9-slice scale image.

    ivy_2003
    ivy_2003Author
    Participant
    January 28, 2026

    Thank you! While this is helpful I seem to run in to it over and over again with most files on stock services now anytime I download a vector. Downloading a rasterized file would work I guess but I would have to remove the tiled background every time. Is there no way to work within the 9-slice image and produce the image with no background?

    Conrad_C
    Community Expert
    Conrad_CCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 28, 2026

    I am not an expert on 9-slice scale images, but it looks like you would have to resolve this in Illustrator because that’s where they’re created. Some quick web searches suggest that if you want to change the background in one of these images, 9-slice scale images are set up using the Symbol feature in Illustrator.

     

    What I would try in Illustrator is to expand the symbol instance on the artboard (using a command such as Object > Expand) so that it is no longer a symbol, becoming just a normal Illustrator graphic. Then you can select any object containing an unwanted background, and change or remove that background.

     

    Because so much of this is about Illustrator, if you want more details about any of those steps from those who know more about Illustrator and 9-slice images than I do, you can pursue this further in the Illustrator community here.

    c.pfaffenbichler
    Community Expert
    c.pfaffenbichlerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    January 28, 2026

    If this is about Illustrator please post on that Forum. 

     

    As for Photoshop: 

    I suspect the structure of the Illustrator file contains objects of various Blend Modes that naturally appear differently when there is no background. 

    Could you please post a screenshot with the pertinent Panels (Toolbar, Layers, Channels, Options Bar, …) visible? (Both from Illustrator and Photoshop) 

      ivy_2003
      ivy_2003Author
      Participant
      January 28, 2026

      Thank you for the reply. The issue originally

      occurs in illustrator but I need the files moved to photoshop. If I need to move to the illustrator thread I can do so. Here are the two screenshots

      jane-e
      Community Expert
      jane-eCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 28, 2026

      ​@ivy_2003 

      Watch the 4 ½ minute video from Brian Wood (author of the Illustrator Classroom in a Book series to learn about 9-point scaling in Illustrator symbols:

      Scale content in Illustrator with 9-slice scaling

       

      It does not exist in Photoshop.

       

      Jane

       

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