How does one make a background color on illustrator or is it best not to and put that in photoshop later?
Maybe a colored box in illustrator but then remove it at the end and add a real background in photoshop?
Uh, there is a square tool, and you can drag it any size.
Am I totally missing what your talking about?
No thats what I meant by colored box. I was asking to see if there was a different way of doing it that just sets the background color.
An Illustrator document doesn't have a "background". In fact, it doesn't even have boundaries really, what you see is just what is going to print using the current settings. So the "background"(what you see on screen) is white but really it's transparent, there's no "background" there.
If you'd posted this in design instead of Front End you would have got your answers faster.
What RDS said is absolutely correct.
there is an option to change the display colour of the artboard though - If you just want to change your artboard colour, do this:
In the top menu go to "file", then click on "document setup". In the document setup window, select "transparency" then "simulate paper", click on the top grid colour swatch, and you can choose a new colour with the colour picker there. That will change your artboard colour for this document only, and won't affect printing.
The only disadvantage here is that it will add a transparent tone to all of the art, too, like if you were printing on coloured paper (surprise, susrprise)
good info ari... thanks
Thanks for adding nothing to the conversation, Dan! I love your engrish blog post that's basically a giant block quote. Well done!
Hey Arigato,
how my post don't add nothing to conversation?!
Nobody has noted than if we change the background in the "canonical" way you pointed out after we can't follow to stroke properly with withe . Next time take your Time for Reading... If you try to read my Blog too fast it will seem you only a Giant Blockquote 
Nonetheless Thankyou for Your Appreciation Dude!
Nobody can Know Everything
You realize that this thread is, like 4 years old, right?
Anyway, welcome aboard
(but really, I don't see what's different between what you said and what ari said)
He's a spammer strinky, don't fall for it. Do not take your Time for Reading! Nonetheless Yourwelcome!
Heh, fair enough. It didn't look like his blog was selling ads or anything. I would just guess that he's bad at English and pretty young.
Hey Guys I didn't thought you where so Envious
You Loose on Details about english Grammar What Slang?!
I know than on the Internet people try to Read message Too Fast 4 grasp the Most in the Less... Slow Down and take the Time to Find Differences between my Message and that of Arigato
If you think to be the Great Experts you missed the Fact than Out There are Much Newbies that are Really Needing an Easy, Clear and Good Solution.
Take Care... Cheers!
Mate, you're lousy at English and a terrible designer (judging from your blog) the least you can do is be humble.
Hey Stinky,
I see You are Envious But to Discuss about me and my blog you have to Open another thread
Did you Forget what is the Subject of this Discussion?!!
Please Stay on Tech-Matter and don't Loose yourself in Design or English Grammar!
(disregard, I suck dog's cocks)
This is going to be fun. You should start a thread in Waiting For Godot so we can do this right 
Did somebody write a troll-bot?
Originally posted by Dan Gaz
after we can't follow to stroke properly with withe . Next time take your Time for Reading...
Dan, this is not a question of grammar. Your post is barely intelligible. While I understand your point that using the artboard colour feature does not show white "properly", the original question is pretty clear about not wanting to add a layer to the file. I did note that artboard colour will affect all the display of all colours - which naturally includes white.
Did you really think that nobody here understands layers?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps your flawed grasp of the language prevented you from understanding the original question, and permits you to continue in the mistaken belief that you have exclusively grasped a subtlety that we were all, in fact, already aware of - and were aware of 4 years ago. I do commend you on replying more quickly this time, though.
Also worth noting, I second Stinky's assessment - you are a terrible designer. Your blog is a visual atrocity.
I would have gone with nightmare but atrocity works.
Oh Arigato?!
You are trying to Bring very Down the Level... I Don't will Follow you! You are only trying to Fight and make Confusion.
Enough of you, Everybody is Free and Able to Make his Free Impression on the Goodness of My Answers and the Appearance of My Blog! How are you, To Give Sentences?!
Also if not "Ggramatically" Ccorrect and Visually dDisturbbing My answer is what a Newby need to Know and you Still Missing to Realize this "Simple Reality" :(
dDisturbbing
What is that? An echo effect? Acid trails?