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How do I cut out part of a shape in Illustrator?

Last updated on September 24, 2022 @ 6:24 pm

There are a few ways to cut out parts of shapes in Illustrator. The most common way is to use the Select tool (or the Direct Selection tool if you are using a mouse) and click and drag to create a selection around the part of the shape you want to cut out.

Then, use the Cut tool (or the Cut Selection tool) to slice the selected area from the shape. .

If you want to slice the entire shape, you can use the Cut command (or the Cut Selection command) with the option to create a new shape as the result. You can also use the Pathfinder tool to create a path that cuts the shape along its selected line.

Finally, you can use the Freeform Rectangle tool to create a rectangle that covers the selected area.

PRO TIP: When cutting out part of a shape in Illustrator, be careful not to accidentally delete any other parts of the shape that you don’t want to. If you’re not careful, you could end up with a shape that’s not quite what you were intending.

When cutting shapes out, it’s important to keep in mind that Illustrator’s default layer settings affect the results of your cuts. For example, if you use the Cut tool to cut out a shape on a layer that is locked, the shape will be cut out of the layer and the layer will be unlocked.

If you want to keep the layer locked while you cut out the shape, you can use the Lock Layer Options command (or the Lock Layers command if you are using a mouse).

A final note about cutting shapes in Illustrator: Be sure to use the correct shape layers when cutting. For example, if you are cutting out a shape from a layer that contains text, you will need to use a shape layer that is locked so that the text layer isn’t changed.

Now that you know how to cut out parts of shapes in Illustrator, be sure to try some of the different methods to see which one works best for the task at hand.

Dale Leydon

Dale Leydon

Sysadmin turned Javascript developer. Owner of 20+ apps graveyard, and a couple of successful ones.