Now that you know the basics of the Shape Builder Tool, you can go on to experiment with creating more complex designs. Click in the negative space in the center of your shapes, then delete the outer shapes to reveal your new shape. As you release, you will be left with your new shape.Ĭreate Mode - Create shapes from negative spaceĭraw and overlap various shapes, then highlight all of your shapes and select the Shape Builder Tool from the left toolbar.

As you drag over the shapes you want to remove, hold down Alt or Option on your keyboard, you will notice a minus symbol appear. Click in the shape of the overlapping shapes, then using the Selection Tool (black arrow) drag your new shape to the side.Įrase Mode - Remove overlapping shapes to create new shapesĭraw and overlap various shapes, then highlight all of your shapes and select the Shape Builder Tool from the left toolbar. Your shape should look something like this.Įxtract Mode - Create new shapes from the overlapped shapesĭraw and overlap various shapes, then highlight all of your shapes and select the Shape Builder Tool from the left toolbar. The red outline will depict your remaining shape when you release your cursor, so you can use this as a guide.

As you hover your cursor over the individual shapes, the shapes will turn grey.Ĭlick into any shape and drag your cursor across all the shapes you want to merge. In this tutorial we will cover the following Modes of the Shape Builder Tool: Merge Mode - Merge multiple shapesĭraw and overlap various shapes, then highlight all of your shapes and select the Shape Builder Tool from the left toolbar.

Pathfinder tool illustrator