How to Change the Background in Illustrator

This practical guide walks through how to change the background in illustrator, explains the main requirements, and highlights common issues that may appear along the way.

How to change the background in Illustrator

How to make the background transparent in Illustrator

A transparent background helps when you need to merge images together and don't want the background colors to affect each other. You can quickly change the settings by following the steps below:

Go to the File menu option and select Document Setup.

View the background settings and change the Artboard to Transparent.

Leave the other settings as default or change them as needed.

Click OK.

Return to the File menu and select Export.

Save the image file as PNG to keep the transparency

How to change background color in Illustrator

Instead of a transparent or white background, you can easily change the color to match the theme of the image. The process is roughly the same as above, but there are a few tweaks you need to pay attention to.

Open the file for which you want to change the color or create a new document.

Return to the File and Document Setup section.

In the Transparency section, click the Simulate Colored Paper check box.

You will see two swatches on the right. Choose the one above.

A palette will appear in a new window. Select the color you want and make any adjustments in the right panel.

Click OK and open the swatch below.

You can choose the same color for the background or choose a second tone if you want a checkered background look.

When you're done, go out of the window and open View > Show Transparency Grid.

You should now see the new background color in your Illustrator project