Lightguides are disclosed. More particularly, lightguides that include a lightguiding layer and a light extracting layer having a structured surface are disclosed. The light guiding layer is optically coupled to a first set of structures of the structured surface at given locations, and is not optically coupled to a second set of structures at given locations, thereby producing total internal reflection at the second locations. The selective optical coupling may be achieved by a number of different contemplated means as discussed herein. The lightguides allow for distribution of light along with redirection towards an image viewer without a number of commonly required optical elements in backlights.