Shape Overlapping

[spontaneousgood]

I'm trying to draw a kind of background image, with bubbles overlapping, and I want the final product to be a vector with a transparent background.  I can draw it with a solid white background, like I started below, and I know that I can take each individual bubble, and cut the excess off, but I was wondering if anyone knows of an easier way to do it, where I can just remove the white for the whole piece at once, but not see the overlapping lines underneath, like I would see if I just make the background of the bubbles transparent? 

[Kurt Gold]

There are a couple of possible approaches, depending on which version of Illustrator you are using.

Which version is it?

[spontaneousgood]

CC 2020. 

[Kurt Gold · Accepted solution]

You can use the Shape Builder tool in Delete mode (Alt key modifier) to delete the unwanted bits. Or you can make a Live Paint Group and remove them with the Live Paint Selection tool.

You can also use the Pathfinder palette or the Shaper tool, but you will then get slightly different results.

[spontaneousgood]

The live paint group worked! Thanks so much! 

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Or you can use a Knockout Group which will still let you rearrange the circles.

[spontaneousgood]

Oh interesting, I'll have to look into this too!