![path finder tool path finder tool](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nVr2PRWEjiA/maxresdefault.jpg)
The Divide Tool would divide the shapes along the intersecting paths and create more shapes. The final shape is grouped together and if you want to edit these shapes separately then right click and select Ungroup. Instead of selecting the intersection area of two or more shapes it would exclude it from the final shape. ExcludeĮxclude Tool has the exact opposite functionality of the Intersect Layer tool. Intersect Tool can work with more than two shapes and only the area intersected by all the shapes would be selected to create the new shape. You have to select the Layers with the Selection Tool (V) and then click on the Intersect tool in the pathfinder panel. The Intersect layer tool would select the path or the area where the layers intersect each other. If you place two shapes on top of the bottom shape then the path information of both of those would be removed from the bottom shape. Minus Front can work with more than two shapes. After Selecting the shapes, click on the Minus Front. You have to select the two shapes with the Selection Tool(V) or you can press and hold Shift and then click on both the shapes to select them. It lets you subtract or minus the top shape from the bottom shape. This tool would remove the overlapping areas of the top shape from the bottom shape. The two shapes would be combined with their paths joined together. You have to select the shapes, you want to combine together, with the Selection Tool(V) and then click on Unite in the Pathfinder Panel. Unite tool would combine two shapes together to create a new shape. The tools and the their functions are explained below. The Shape modes and the Pathfinder tools. Then click unite in the pathfinder tool, now the house is one blue shape.You get two sets of tools in the Pathfinder panel. So first, select all three shapes (not the window or door). For this little house icon, I would start by making all of the blue shapes one (they are there separate shapes currently for those who don’t have illustrator- chimney, roof and bottom). Each image you create will follow a different process so you are able to see the big picture. If you are looking to have a vector shape with a transparent background (.png), the house really needs to be made into one shape, queue pathfinder. However, without finalizing it, we can see when a background color is added, there are flaws in the design.Īt best, this image can be a. To the untrained eye, this icon looks finished. In the example provided, I have created a very simple house icon. Under shape modes, the options you have are “Unite,” “Minus Front,” “Intersect” and “Exclude.” We will start with “Unite.” I primarily use the shape modes, but sometimes it is also necessary to use the pathfinders. When you open it, this is what it looks like:Īs you can see, there are four shape modes and six pathfinders. I always keep my pathfinder window in the my right tool bar when closed it looks like this: To open the pathfinder window on your computer, either go Window > Pathfinder or Shift+Command+F9. If not, follow along with the images provided.
![path finder tool path finder tool](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xdvH3zC5tt4/maxresdefault.jpg)
#Path finder tool download
If you have Illustrator, please download the zipped. It is king, and it will make your life effortless. It is the glue and scissors of the vector world. This tool is the end all be all of tools in Illustrator. The next tool worthy of an entire blog post is the pathfinder tool. In my last blog post we talked about outlining strokes, which is a very simple yet critical part of designing in Illustrator. Logo Design - It's Pretty, But is it Functional? Part 2: The Pathfinder Tool - Shape Modes