In the world of digital design, Adobe Illustrator is the industry standard software, empowering artists and designers to create visually captivating and precise illustrations.
Among all the powerful tools and features, the Shape Builder Tool holds a special place, offering designers a versatile and efficient way to manipulate and combine shapes to make new shapes.
My name is Kerry and in this article, I will show you what is the Shape Builder Tool in Adobe Illustrator and how to use it.
Ready? Let’s get going!
Contents
What is the Shape Builder Tool in Adobe Illustrator?
The Shape Builder Tool is a feature in Adobe Illustrator that enables designers to easily combine shapes by merging overlapping objects within a single workspace. You can also use it to subtract and divide shapes.
- Merging Shapes: By simply clicking and dragging across overlapping shapes, designers can effortlessly combine them into a single entity. The tool intuitively recognizes areas of intersection and merges them, eliminating the need for manual pathfinding operations.
- Subtracting Shapes: Besides merging shapes, the Shape Builder Tool offers the ability to subtract one shape from another. By selecting the shapes to be subtracted and dragging across the areas to be removed, designers can quickly create intricate cutouts and negative spaces.
- Dividing Shapes: Another powerful feature of the Shape Builder Tool is the ability to divide shapes into multiple parts. By selecting the shapes and then drawing a line across them, designers can separate the shapes along the path, enabling the creation of complex and detailed compositions.
How to Use the Shape Builder Tool in Adobe Illustrator
You can follow the simple steps below to use the Shape Builder Tool in Adobe Illustrator:
Step 1: Select two or more overlapping shapes or create shapes and position them in an overlapping position. Ensure that your artwork consists of multiple overlapping shapes, as the tool only works on overlapping shapes.
Step 2: Choose the Shape Builder tool from the toolbar. (The icon for the Shape Builder Tool resembles two circles overlapping with a dotted line in between.)
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Shift + M to activate the Shape Builder Tool.
Step 3: With the shapes selected, click on one of the selected shapes and drag through the shapes you want to combine. As you hover on a shape, you’ll see the shape highlighted.
As you do this, the selected areas will be filled with a semi-transparent color. Release the mouse button to complete the merge. This process allows you to create new shapes by merging existing ones.
Step 6: If you want to subtract a shape, press and hold the Alt (Option on Mac) key while dragging the Shape Builder Tool across the shape. When you release, the area you click or drag through will be removed.
Tip: After combining or cutting shapes, you can always use the Direct Selection Tool (keyboard shortcut: A) to select and manipulate individual shapes. You can move, resize, or rotate shapes as needed to achieve the desired result.
Final Thoughts
We hope that by following the step-by-step guide, you can unlock the full potential of the Shape Builder Tool and take your Adobe Illustrator skills to new heights. Experiment, explore, and have fun creating beautiful and unique artwork!
We would love to hear from you! Do you have any tips or strategies for using the Shape Builder tool in Adobe Illustrator? Comment down below with any tricks to utilizing this function or additional questions that you might still have about this topic!
