CUTTING OUT OBJECTS IN ILLUSTRATOR

Creating minimal vector imagery may seem pretty simple in theory, but it’s easy to stumble across a few problems when creating your own images. One common issue is when you need to add detail into shapes, which often involves cutting shapes out of objects to create holes.

Again, it sounds simple, but can get quite confusing— unfortunately, you can’t just use the eraser tool. After this mini-tutorial, hopefully this step will be made clear.

In the first image (above, left), the shape in the center is white but after a little transformation and cutting out, it is transparent (above, right).

One way of taking the front shape and cutting it through the back shape is by using the pathfinder. To do this, first highlight both shapes, then go to the pathfinder tab. In the shape modes section, go to the second icon called ‘minus front’. When you highlight over the icon it should say this. Click on it and it should cut out the polygon shape from the square, as seen in our example.

Another way is to use the shape builder tool. Select both objects, hold the ‘alt’ key and select the object you want to cut through. Using these two tips should help massively to cut holes in your designs.