In this article, I will show you How To Cut A Shape In Illustrator. When designing with Adobe Illustrator and wanting to cut an object, you can use multiple tools to cut an object, or you can cut and divide an object into multiple parts.
For cutting vector objects you can use Eraser Tool and Knife Tool.
Using the Pathfinder tool to cut objects can be handy, although it’s more famous for creating shapes. Well, when cutting objects to create different shapes, take some time and have a look at them.
In this tutorial, you will learn four easy ways to cut an object in Adobe Illustrator using different tools. I’ll also include tips on when to use which, with practical
examples.
Note: all screenshots are taken from Adobe Illustrator CC 2021 Windows 10 version. Mac and other versions
can look different. Windows users change the Command key to Ctrl
Method 1: Pathfinder tool
There are many different options to cut shapes from the Pathfinder panel. If you don’t see it under the properties panel, go to the overhead menu Windows> Pathfinder to open it.
Note: If you want to use the Pathfinder tool to cut an object, you need at least two overlapping objects. You
can use any option from the Pathfinder panel on a single object.
In this tutorial, I will show you the options used in the Pathfinder tool to cut an object (which is 70% of the options), including Trim, Divide, Minus Front,
Minus Back, Exclude, Intersect, and Crop.
See how you can cut an object using each of the options below. Once you have decided how you want to cut your object, simply select the object and click one of the options below. You can ungroup to separate the cut objects.
Trim
You can use the Trim Tool to cut the shape from the top layer of an object. Creating a paper-cut effect. For Example, you can use it to make a logo cut for some marketing materials.
Divide
The Divide Tool is similar to the Trim Tool. This tool cuts and divides an object into different parts along its intersecting paths.
You can use it to change the colors of different parts within a shape or move the shapes around to make a shape poster.
For example, you can turn something like this: into something like this: As you can see, the only shapes I used were circles and squares but then it created more shapes after I cut the overlapping paths using the Divide tool.
Minus Front & Minus Back
Do you want to create a crescent moon? This is the easiest way to do it. All you need to do is create two circles and click Minus Front (or Minus Back).
Minus Front deletes the shape on top, while Minus Back deletes the shape at the bottom.
For example, here are two overlapping circles. By choosing Minus Front, it will delete the circle on the top, which is darker in color than the other. So the end result will be a lighter color in the shape of a crescent moon.
If you choose Minus Back, as you can see, it cut out the bottom lighter-colored circle, leaving the darker color shape of a crescent moon.
Exclude
This tool deletes the overlapping area of overlapping shapes. This makes it easy to cut overlapping areas. For example, you can use make abstract patterns decorative borders, and text effects.
Intersect
This tool is opposite to the Exclude tool because it only keeps the shapes of the intersecting (overlapping) area shapes.
For example,
you can quickly make a quarter circle using this tool. Simply overlap a circle and a square. Click Intersect.
Crop
Crop Tool almost looks like the Intersect tool except that it does not delete the top object. Instead, You can see the selection, ungroup, and edit it.
Let’s see an example. As you can see, the ‘‘O’’ is the top object and the overlapping area is the small area between the letter L and O.
If you click Crop, you’ll still be able to see the outline of the letter O together with the overlapping area that’s cropped out.
You can ungroup to edit it. In general, the Pathfinder Tool can be used to cutting objects to create new shapes.
Method 2: Eraser Tool
The Eraser Tool can be used to erase brush strokes, pencil paths, or vector shapes. Select the Eraser Tool (Shift + E) from the toolbar, and brush on the areas that you want to cut.
There are a few circumstances in the Eraser Too doesn’t work. For instance, if you are trying to erase a live text or a raster image, it wouldn’t work, because the Eraser Tool only edits vectors.
Simply choose the Eraser Tool and brush on the part of the object that you want to cut out. For example, I erase/ cut a small part of the heart so that it does not look dull.
You can adjust the eraser size by pressing the left and right brackets [ ] on your keyboard.
Method 3: Scissors Tool
The scissors Tool is great for cutting and dividing paths. When you want to cut an object filled with strokes, scissors can help.
Let me show you a quick example of how to cut this cloud shape.
Step 1: Choose the Scissors Tool © from the toolbar.
Step 2: Click on the path to select a path in between the anchor points that you clicked.
For example, I clicked on the two points that I have circled out. If you use the selection tool to click on the path in between, you can move it.
You can also change the fill from stroke to color and see how the shape is cut.
Method 4: Knife Tool
The Knife Tool can be used to divide parts of a shape or text to make different edits, separate shapes, and cut an object. If you want to make a freehand cut, this is the best way to go.
This tool can cut or divide any vector shape. If you want to cut a shape from a raster image, you will need to trace it and make it editable first.
Step 1: Add the Knife Tool to your toolbar. You can find it in Edit Toolbar > Modify and drag it wherever you want it to be on your toolbar.
I recommend putting it together with other erasing tools.
Step 2: Choose a Knife from the toolbar and draw on the object to cut it. If you want to separate the shapes, you have to draw through the entire shapes.
Step 3: Ungroup to delete the part that you don’t want. You can move it or change its color. If you want to cut straight, hold the Alt key (Option key for Mac users) while you draw.
You can also use the Knife Tool to cut and edit the outlined text to create a text effect like this
You can apply the same process as cutting an object: Use the knife to draw the cut path, ungroup
and choose individual parts to edit.
Conclusion
Whichever option you choose, your ability to edit the anchor points of the vector. The Pathfinder panel is the best for cutting to create new shapes. Scissors work best with paths and the knife is best for a freehand cut.
I can’t say which tool is the best because they are good for different projects. Remember all the tools I mentioned above have one thing in common: they only work on vector objects!
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