Adobe Illustrator CC - How do I erase part of image

Question

How do I get rid of the excess picture outside of the circle? When I use the eraser tool, once I release the left mouse button the picture comes back.

Answer 1

The Eraser tool doesn't work like that. The best option is probably to use your circle as a clipping path.

1. Select your circle and Copy (cmd+C).
2. Select the background and Paste in Front (cmd+F).
3. With the duplicate circle and the background image selected, hit cmd+7 (or go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make)

Answer 2

1. Use Select circle tool (M) to select the circle
2. (Ctrl + J) to copy the selected circle onto the new layer
3. Use Round shape tool (U) to draw a grey circle under your image. The grey color is the color of the border of the circle
4. Select all canvas with (Ctrl + A)
5. (Ctrl + Shift + C) to copy all visible pixels
6. (Ctrl + N) to create a new document
7. (Ctrl + V) to paste the copied picture
8. Save it or use anywhere you need