
But these days, any time to I want to permanently merge or subtract shapes, I use the Shape Builder tool. If you need to do this, be sure to use the Pathfinder effects ( Effect > Pathfinder), not the Pathfinder panel, which doesn’t preserve the original shapes. Learn step-by-step Learn about the shape builder tool and what it does in Adobe Illustrator Subtract one shape from multiple shapes using the shape builder. However, Pathfinder operations are still useful when you need to preserve the original shapes. For me, this tool has replaced an old way of doing things with the Pathfinder panel ( Window > Pathfinder). Illustrator’s Shape Builder allows you to merge vector shapes or subtract them from one another, making it easy to turn simple objects into more detailed imagery.

In the final section of the dialog box, you can change the fill and stroke highlight options if they’re hard to see because of the colors in your artwork.


You can also opt for straight-line selections with Shape Builder or leave the default Freeform option enabled so as not to constrain the movement of your cursor while you drag across shapes. A special cursor indicates that this option is enabled, and the affected stroke is highlighted. The ellipse on the left has been split into two shapes.
