maintain white components with a transparent background

[7anya76]

Hello, Can anyone tell me how I can live trace an image in illustrator, maintain white components of the image but also have a transparent background? When I check ignore white... it ignores all the white, leaving transparent portions where white should be. How can I differentiate the white I want to keep from the default white background that live trace insists on adding? Any suggestions appreciated Thanks

[sishamIAGD]

Can you post the image so we can better advise?

[7anya76]

here's two versions... the one on the blue background gives you an idea of what I hope to image trace but although the original file I bring into illustrator has a transparent background... as soon as I trace it the white sails just disappear into the background

[7anya76]

what I want is just the boat and white sails...no background at all

[sishamIAGD]

Don't do ignore white when tracing then just select the background once traced and delete, does that not work?

[7anya76]

no... as soon as i trace, the sails disappear into the background

[Jacob Bugge]

Anya,

no... as soon as i trace, the sails disappear into the background

What happens if you click beneath the hull with the (Direct) Selection Tool (you may also select the traced image and Ungroup)? If you hit the background white you should be able to delete it as already suggested by Sam in post #4.

[Monika Gause]

For tracing this, you will need to recolor either the background or the sail. Then trace, expand and apply whichever color you like.

But maybe just manually tracing it will be faster and give you a better result.

[7anya76]

Pardon my ignorance Monica...how do I manually trace? Or how do I cut and separate the boat and sails away from the background? When I trace and expand....

[Monika Gause]

7anya76  schrieb

Pardon my ignorance Monica...how do I manually trace? Or how do I cut and separate the boat and sails away from the background? When I trace and expand....

You trace manually with the pen tool.

For autotrace you need to change the color of either the sail or the background Illustrator can't tell white from transparent and that's that.

[sishamIAGD]

You can do it very quickly like this...

EDIT: SORRY THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH MY RECORDING SOFTWARE! 😞

[sishamIAGD]

Learn to use the pen tool and you can draw it within a minute...

How to draw with the Pen, Pencil, or Flare tool in Illustrator

[Monika Gause]

sishamDSS  schrieb

Learn to use the pen tool and you can draw it within a minute...

How to draw with the Pen, Pencil, or Flare tool in Illustrator

This is what I have been trying to tell them since post #5.

But I'm only a zebra. Nobody trusts a zebra.

[DougKatz]

And all this time I thought you were an eminently trustworthy giraffe with honest eyes, a long graceful neck, and a reserved approach to conversation, favoring listening over speaking.