I've never had this problem before. I'm saving my images in Photoshop with no background. But when I place them into Illustrator they have a white background. I've tried it as a Tiff, Png, PSD, and EPS file. I've even tried placing files that I have used on other projects and they have a background. 

I have figured out that it is something to do with this AI file only, as I've opened a new AI file and placed the same images without a problem. So I'm thinking my customer checked some box somewhere and I can not find. Help Please!!

Also, when I show the Transparency grid it shows the items as a transparent background, but still cuts out what's behind it. 

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6bYfO.jpg)