How do you "Set Transparent Color" in Adobe Illustrator?

Question

I have a graphic logo which is a series of overlapping shapes, where all are filled white. See below:

I want to set the white color transparent everywhere it appears in the graphic without revealing what is behind each shape. If I try with the general method of setting transparency to 0%, I see all the outlines behind each shape (which is not what I want). See below:

I want it to look like this:

I have tried Knockout groups but cannot seem to get them to work. I ideally do not want to go and individually group each overlapping shape and apply knockout groups to each as there are so many in this logo. Any idea please?

Answer 1

One Method....

• Select > Select All
• Object > Expand Appearance (if available)
• Object > Expand (just Click OK in the popup)
• Object > Expand (if it's still available and not screened back)
• Pathfinder Panel (Window > Pathfinder) - click the Merge button
• Use the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow) to click (and select) a white shape
• Select > Same > Fill & Stroke
• Hit the Delete key on the keyboard

This..

• Expands all strokes converting them to filled shapes.
• The Pathfinder function removes areas of strokes that are behind fills and not visible due to white objects covering them.
• The delete command removes the white objects.

---

This does make the art more difficult to edit further in the future. If you feel you will need live strokes and shapes for further editing, then it's best to work on a copy of the artwork until you are familiar with how all this will change construction.